Best of October 2022

Ep. 10 - Spellbook Demonslayers

Yet another Survivor Game Nemo? Surely there are more interesting and unique games out there. My answer to my own question was yes, but also no. When an idea, like that of a progression driven top-down shooter in a more or less limited arena with various playable characters and different synergy based upgrades and weapons, becomes so widespread that there are more iterations, wanna be’s and blunt copy paste attempts than you can count, something of interest has happened. Among the many competent Survivor Games, what some have tried to dub ‘Bullet Heaven’ (really!), are few very outstanding titles.

Outstanding for different reasons, some because they took the idea of Vampire Survivors (which in turn was inspired by Magic Survival, a mobile game) and made changes to the core concept or added their own spin on progression, graphics and scope, like Nomad Survival or Soulstone Survivors. Among those outstanding games in a new and still growing genre of top-down shooty thingies, Spellbook Demonslayers is probably the one I found most compelling after only two or three jumps through its hoops.

It sets itself apart from the clear inspiration of Magic Survival /Vampire Survivors with detailed, comic style graphics and a core gameplay system that is different enough to be very engaging and fun to explore even for players who already spend A LOT of time on similar games, all while being similar enough to be of instant interest for genre fans.

Give it a go, you shall not be disappointed if you are looking for something to play after Vampire Survivors has been dealt with!