Updated April 21, 2026: Vampire Crawlers is released on Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. Poncle and Nosebleed Interactive are patching frequently, so some numbers and unlock requirements may shift over time. We'll keep this updated.
Vampire Crawlers, Poncle's roguelite deckbuilder spin-off on Vampire Survivors, looks familiar on the surface: same weapons, same enemies, same lo-fi pixel charm, but the jump from bullet heaven to turn-based dungeon crawling is a bigger shift than it looks. This Vampire Crawlers beginner's guide breaks down the combo system, evolutions, village upgrades, and everything else you need to stop dying early and start actually building broken decks.
Is Vampire Crawlers Beginner-Friendly?
Yes, and more so than you might expect from a roguelite deckbuilder. Vampire Crawlers eases you in through a short tutorial that introduces the combo system, and dying never feels punishing because your village upgrades and character unlocks carry over permanently between runs. If you're coming from Vampire Survivors, the biggest adjustment isn't the genre shift, it's the pace. There is no pressure to react instantly. Every combat turn lets you think, plan your card order, and sequence your plays before committing. The game rewards deliberate thinking over reflexes.
If you're coming from other roguelite deckbuilders like Slay the Spire 2, the key mindset shift is that Vampire Crawlers is a dungeon crawler first. You're navigating multi-floor, first-person grid dungeons, and deciding which routes to take before you face the floor boss. Card drafting happens through level-up rewards and chests, not standalone reward screens after every fight. Building around synergies still matters, though.
NOTE: Vampire Crawlers is a spin-off of Vampire Survivors developed jointly by Poncle and Nosebleed Interactive. It reuses characters, weapons, and locations from the original game but plays as a completely separate genre: a turn-based, mana-based card battler inside first-person dungeons. No experience with Vampire Survivors is required.
Best Crawler for Beginners in Vampire Crawlers
Antonio is the best Crawler for beginners in Vampire Crawlers. He's one of the first characters you encounter in the game and comes with a straightforward starting deck built around the Whip, one of the most intuitive weapon cards in the game with clear, single-target damage. He's very efficient when playing cards in the right order without demanding complicated setups, which makes learning the combo system much easier.
Once you've completed a few runs with Antonio and have a feel for how mana, combos, and evolution gems interact, Imelda Belpaese is an excellent second Crawler. She has strong synergy with the Magic Wand card line and is the baseline character for unlocking several others through the Unlocks menu, including Pasqualina Belpaese. Learning her kit early also opens up the Inlaid Library dungeon progression faster.
Hold off on Arca and Mortaccio until you're comfortable with the core systems. Arca is heavily oriented around the Fire Wand and reward stacking mechanics that don't click until you understand how to sequence mana costs efficiently. Mortaccio requires defeating 444 Skeletons to unlock, which means you'll naturally play him later, but his Bone-based kit also has a higher skill floor when it comes to deck construction. There are many more crawlers in the game, so go to the Town Hall to check the unlock requirements. That said, at the beginning, you'll use heroes that are easiest to play with.
Crawler Unlock Order for Beginners
Crawlers unlock through specific in-game achievements tracked in the Town Hall of the Village. You don't need to win a run to make progress on most of them. Check the Unlocks menu regularly, as you'll often be surprisingly close to the next Crawler without realizing it.
| Crawler | Unlock Requirement & Difficulty |
|---|---|
 Antonio Starting weapon: Whip | Unlock Requirement Rescue Antonio in the Mad Forest (very early story beat) |
 Imelda Belpaese Starting weapon: Magic Wand | Unlock Requirement Available from the Inn at the start of the game |
 Gennaro Belpaese Starting weapon: Knife | Unlock Requirement Defeat the Mantichana boss in Mad Forest |
 Pasqualina Belpaese Starting weapon: Runetracer | Unlock Requirement Reach Level 20 with Imelda Belpaese in the Inlaid Library |
 Poe Starting weapon: Garlic | Unlock Requirement Play Garlic cards 25 times across any runs |
 Arca Starting weapon: Fire Wand | Unlock Requirement Play Fire Wand cards 100 times across any runs |
The Vampire Crawlers Core Loop, Explained
As you already got used to in Vampire Survivors, every run in Vampire Crawlers starts from scratch. You pick a Crawler at the Inn, step into a multi-floor dungeon, and work your way through rooms of enemies, chests, and loot until you reach the boss. Here is what that Vampire Crawlers loop looks like:
- Explore the dungeon in first-person. Dungeons are grid-based with 90-degree movement similar to old RPGs like Might and Magic or Eye of the Beholder. You navigate hallways, interact with items (marked as dots on the map), open chests, and eliminate enemies that are positioned around the map.
- Fight enemies with your card hand. When you engage enemies, turn-based combat begins. You draw a hand of cards from your deck and spend mana to play them. Balancing between armor and offensive cards while creating combos is a key to victory (using cards in a mana value order)
- Level up to draft new cards. Killing enemies earns experience. Once you level up, you choose new cards to add to your deck. This is where your deck's identity takes shape: choosing weapons, utility cards, and Item Cards that support your chosen evolution.
- Gems and power-ups. Chests are your main source of Evolution Gems, which transform base weapon cards into their evolved forms. Some chests also offer customization gems that can buff individual cards with extra effects.
- Defeat the boss to complete the dungeon. Each dungeon ends with a boss fight. Clearing it unlocks the next dungeon and earns gold and rewards you carry back to the Village.
- Return to the Village after the run. Gold from your runs is spent at the Power Ups Shop on permanent stat upgrades. New Crawlers, cards, and content unlock through the Town Hall's Unlocks menu as you meet milestone conditions across multiple runs.
TIP: Check the Unlocks menu in the Town Hall regularly. You're often one or two runs away from unlocking a new Crawler or dungeon without knowing it. Passive progress toward milestones happens even on failed runs.
How the Combo System Works in Vampire Crawlers
The combo system is the single most important mechanic to understand in Vampire Crawlers, and the one the game's tutorial covers least thoroughly. The core rule is straightforward: play your cards in ascending mana cost order each turn, and each card in the sequence multiplies the effect of the next one. Starting with a 0-mana card, then a 1-mana card, then a 2-mana card, and so on, chains together a combo that snowballs with every step.
Here's what that looks like in practice - when you play cards in ascending Mana cost order, each following card will be more powerful, thanks to the Combo Multiplier. Push the chain to 4, 5, or 6 cards deep, and individual cards start hitting for many times their base value. The official description from poncle calls this "snowballing, turn-based carnage," and it earns that label quickly once you create a deck that has enough mana and card pull cards.
TIP: Wild cards extend your combo stack without requiring the strict cost-order rule. If you pick up a Wild card, use it to bridge gaps in your mana cost sequence, such as jumping from a 1-mana card to a 3-mana card without breaking the chain. Wilds are some of the most valuable cards in the game regardless of character.
The practical implication for deck building is that your deck should have cards at every mana cost level, not just a pile of high-damage 2 and 3-mana cards. A handful of expensive cards cannot chain a combo because you can't descend into the lower mana steps first. Early drafting should prioritize filling out your 0-mana and 1-mana slots before stacking up the big payoff cards at higher costs.
There's also a Turboturn element to combat: the game is designed so you can play cards as quickly or as slowly as you want. The outcome is always precise, regardless of how fast you input.
TIP: The multiplier stacks per card in the chain, but resets after the turn ends. A single turn where you chain 8 cards in ascending order is more powerful than two separate turns with partial combos. Plan your whole hand sequence before committing to the first card.
How Evolutions Work in Vampire Crawlers
Evolutions are the most impactful power spikes in any Vampire Crawlers run. Each evolution transforms a base weapon card into a stronger evolved form that deals significantly more damage and often gains entirely new abilities. To evolve a weapon card, you need three things at once: the correct Base Card, the matching Item Card, and an empty gem socket on your Base Card.
When you have both the Base Card and its Item Card and then open a chest or interact with a Gem Station, you'll be offered the option to apply an Evolution Gem. Accepting it fuses the pair into the evolved weapon. The item is consumed in the process, which is why you should never apply regular customization gems to a card you're planning to evolve: filling the gem socket locks out the evolution trigger.
TIP: Some Item Cards are marked "Destroyed after use." These cards cannot be used to trigger evolutions. Hollow Heart is one confirmed example. If you see that text on an Item Card, treat it as a one-time combat buff, not an evolution ingredient. Check the card description before committing it to your evolution strategy.
Here's a quick-reference table of the confirmed evolutions currently in the game. For the full breakdown of gem requirements and tips on evolving faster, see our Vampire Crawlers Evolutions guide.
| Base Card | Evolved Form | Required Item Card | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whip | → | Bloody Tear | Hollow Heart |
| Knife | → | Thousand Edge | Bracer |
| Magic Wand | → | Holy Wand | Empty Tome |
| Axe | → | Death Spiral | Candelabrador |
| King Bible | → | Unholy Vespers | Spellbinder |
| Fire Wand | → | Hellfire | Attractorb |
| Garlic | → | Soul Eater | Pummarola |
| Runetracer | → | NO FUTURE | Duplicator |
| Santa Water | → | La Borra | Candelabrador |
TIP: Focus your run around one or two evolution pairs at most. Spreading your drafting across three or four different weapon lines means none of them will have the correct Item Card at the right time. Pick your evolution target early and draft to support it.
Village Upgrades: What to Prioritize First
Between runs, the Village is where Vampire Crawlers' meta-progression lives. The Power Ups Shop lets you spend gold earned during runs on permanent stat upgrades that apply to all future runs. With gold scarce early on, knowing which upgrades to prioritize is the difference between runs that spiral out of control on the later dungeon floors and runs where you feel genuinely powerful.
The most efficient early investment is Greed. Greed increases coin acquisition by 25% per rank. Getting it to Rank 2 or 3 as quickly as possible creates a compounding advantage: more gold per run means you can afford more Power Ups faster, which means stronger subsequent runs. Almost every guide and review covering Vampire Crawlers points to Greed as the first upgrade worth maxing, and the math backs that up.
After Greed, Might is the next priority for most builds. Might directly increase your damage output across all weapon cards, which shortens fights, reduces total damage received over a dungeon floor, and lets you push further. Here's a rough upgrade priority for the opening hours:
| # | Upgrade & Why |
|---|---|
| 1First | Greed Increases coin acquisition by 25% per rank. The compounding return on investment here is the best in the shop. More gold per run means every subsequent upgrade comes faster. Target: Rank 2 to 3 ASAP |
| 2Second | Might Flat damage boost that applies across all weapon cards. Shorter fights mean less total damage taken per dungeon floor, which keeps your health high enough to engage trickier enemy rooms. Target: Rank 2 early |
| 3Third | Max Health / Recovery A larger health pool gives you more room to take damage during tough fights while learning new enemy patterns. Recovery upgrades reduce how punishing individual mistakes are across a long dungeon run. Situational -- adjust to your playstyle |
TIP: If you're finding a specific dungeon too difficult to progress through, run an earlier dungeon with a deliberate coin focus instead of forcing progress into harder content. Repeating Mad Forest once or twice with Greed maxed will build a gold base, and choose Gold instead of card upgrades.
How to Unlock Dungeons in Vampire Crawlers
Not all dungeons (maps) are available at the start. In the spirit of a true roguelike game, you must meet requirements to unlock the next map. Visit Town Hall for more information.
| Dungeon | Unlock Requirement & Notes |
|---|---|
| Mad Forest Dungeon 1 | Available from the start The starting dungeon. Home to the Mantichana boss. Run this dungeon multiple times early for coin grinding and character leveling. The Guiding Light relic drops here once you hit Level 10. |
| Inlaid Library Dungeon 2 | Unlock: Reach Level 10 in Mad Forest Introduces harder enemy patterns and multi-floor navigation. Required for unlocking Pasqualina Belpaese. Features the Library West Wing and Library Sanctum variants for advanced players. |
| Teeny Bridge Dungeon 3 | Unlock: Reach Level 15 in Inlaid Library A transitional dungeon with distinct environmental hazards. Complete it to unlock the Dairy Plant. Home to the Mine Cart destruction challenge needed to unlock Carreello. |
| Dairy Plant Dungeon 4 | Unlock: Complete Teeny Bridge Features the Milk Elemental boss and unlocks Ramba. One of the tougher mid-game dungeons. Requires a well-evolved deck and a clear combo strategy to clear consistently. Complete it to unlock Milk Factory. |
| Furious Forest / Berserk Wood Mad Forest Variants | Unlock: Complete Mad Forest (Furious Forest) / Complete Furious Forest (Berserk Wood) Harder remixed versions of Mad Forest with stronger enemy variants. Berserk Wood contains a hidden Coffin required to unlock Pugnala. |
Dungeons in Vampire Crawlers are multi-floor, first-person environments built on a grid. Movement is locked to 90-degree turns and cardinal direction steps, giving the dungeons a classic dungeon crawler feel that rewards methodical exploration over rushing toward the exit.
One mechanic that trips up new players: smash every candelabra and light source you see. After you find the Guiding Light relic (unlocked by reaching Level 10 in Mad Forest), all breakable light sources appear on your minimap. Smashing them will sometimes reveal Floor Chickens hidden behind them.
TIP: Don't be afraid to die, but make sure you know what your run is about. If it's about farming Gold, head to easier maps. If you're looking to unlock Crawlers, focus on cards and enemies that are part of the requirements, even if that lower your chances of success in that run.
Quick Beginner Tips for Vampire Crawlers
- Always play 0-mana cards first. Holding a 0-mana card and leading with a more expensive one breaks your combo chain for the entire turn. Sequence from lowest to highest cost, always.
- Don't fill gem sockets on cards you want to evolve. Evolution requires an empty gem socket. Buffing a weapon card with a customization gem before you have its matching Item Card is one of the most common early mistakes. I would go even further and completely ignore those cards, taking much-needed coins instead.
- Greed first, always. The Power Ups Shop upgrade that increases coin acquisition pays for itself faster than any other upgrade. Get it to Rank 2 or 3 before spending gold elsewhere in the shop.
- Save Chicken HP restore for boss fights. The HP restoration from chickens is not large, but it can be run-saving if held for a boss fight or a particularly dangerous elite encounter. Don't eat them immediately after finding them unless you're low on health.
- Smash everything you see. After unlocking the Guiding Light relic, all breakable items appear on your minimap. Each offers rewards, from cards to health.
- Limit your evolution targets to one or two per run. Chasing three or four different weapon evolutions means your Item Cards won't line up with your Base Cards in time. Pick an evolution pair early and draft around supporting it.
- Cards that draw more cards are disproportionately strong. Any card that lets you draw additional cards extends your combo potential. These are consistently among the highest-value pickups regardless of character.
- Utility and armor cards belong in your combo chain, too. Don't build a hand that is all damage. Defensive and utility cards at lower mana costs serve double duty: they fill out your combo sequence and protect you from enemies.
- Repeat easy dungeons early. If later dungeons are consistently ending your runs, you likely need more village upgrades. Running Mad Forest one or two more times with a coin focus before pushing into the Inlaid Library is almost always more efficient than facing enemies that are too strong.
- Read the Unlocks menu before each session. Several crawler unlocks and dungeon variants are closer than they look. Knowing you need 15 more Garlic card plays to unlock Poe might change which cards you draft this run.
Vampire Crawlers FAQ
Vampire Crawlers launched on April 21, 2026, on Steam (PC), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S. It is also available Day One on Xbox Game Pass. Mobile versions for iOS and Android are planned for later in 2026. The game is Steam Deck Verified.
Vampire Crawlers costs $9.99 / EUR 9.99 / GBP 9.99 across all platforms. Regional pricing is adjusted based on purchasing power rather than direct currency conversion. The game is also included on Xbox Game Pass on Day One at no extra cost.
No. Vampire Crawlers is a fully standalone game. It reuses characters, weapons, and environments from Vampire Survivors but plays as a completely different genre: a turn-based dungeon crawler and roguelite deckbuilder. New players who have never touched Vampire Survivors can start with Vampire Crawlers without missing anything essential to the experience.
The combo system works by playing your cards each turn in ascending mana cost order. Start with a 0-mana card, then a 1-mana card, then a 2-mana card, and so on. Each card played in the correct sequence multiplies the effect of the next card in the chain. The higher you stack the combo, the more powerful each subsequent card becomes. Wild cards let you extend the chain across gaps in your mana cost spread.
To evolve a weapon in Vampire Crawlers, you need three things: the Base Card for the weapon, the matching Item Card, and an empty gem socket on your Base Card. When you have both cards and then open a chest or interact with a Gem Station, you will be offered an Evolution Gem. Applying it transforms the Base Card into its evolved form and consumes the Item Card in the process. Do not apply customization gems to a weapon you plan to evolve, because filling the socket blocks the evolution trigger.
Turboturn is Poncle's name for Vampire Crawlers' input-handling system. It lets you play cards at whatever pace you prefer, whether that is slow and deliberate or as fast as you can tap. The outcome of each turn is always precise, regardless of input speed. New players benefit from using this to slow down and plan their full card sequence before committing to a play, since there is no time pressure during their turn.
Vampire Crawlers was developed jointly by poncle (the studio behind Vampire Survivors, led by Luca Galante) and Nosebleed Interactive (known for Arcade Paradise). It is published by poncle. The game was first revealed on November 20, 2025, and entered a public demo phase on February 23, 2026, before its full release on April 21, 2026.
We'll keep this Vampire Crawlers beginner's guide updated as poncle and Nosebleed Interactive patch the game through its launch period and beyond. For more, check out our Vampire Crawlers Evolutions guide for every confirmed evolution recipe in the game, and follow us on Twitter and TikTok to stay up to date on your favorite games!
Nebojša Prijić is a Managing Editor at Pro Game Guides with over 25 years of experience in journalism, screenwriting, and copywriting. He previously worked as Editor-in-Chief of Maxim Serbia magazine and the IGN Adria website. Nebojša is an old-school gamer who loves real-time strategies, shooters, and RPGs, but most of all, he plays Roblox and mobile games with his son. He remembers the first Diablo, PC games on a single floppy disk, and playing Mortal Kombat on the keyboard.