I like auto-shooter. It makes the connection with auto clickers, and they are both games you play with your brain turned off and a lot of crap is flying around on the screen for spectacle
this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2025
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Doesn't everyone call them bullet heaven games?
Survivor-like or something. Developers already name all their clones "Survivors".
RBH - Reverse Bullet Hell
I've heard "Bullet Heaven" used
Vampvivor!
It's definitely not a "rouguelike" because it lacks the number one important aspect of either roguelikes (or rogue lites ) which is random generation.
It's not really bullet hell because while the enemies can shoot the focus is not on dodging bullets but on finding any viable way to manage the hoard, which could involve kiting or tanking, dependant on your build.
So what common elements does the genre have, if we look at games like Vampire Survivors and Brotato?
- Victory is defined not by achieving a set objective, but on surviving a fixed time or number of waves
- Shooting is automatic (you don't have to fire, only move)
- Camera is usually top-down to help with visibility
So maybe:
2D Wave-Survival Autoshooter
Since roguelike is also derived from the game rogue, is simply suggest something like survivor-like. Your suggestion has the problem: not all are 2D, not all have distinguishable waves, and not all are auto shooters :D
Yea nah, for it to take off it needs to be short and memorable, "2d wave-survival autoshooter" is just word salad and too cumbersome to use, imo - it's more of a short description rather than a name.
Definitely not roguelike because those are turn based. It could be roguelite but only in some aspects
Swarm survivor?
I've seen them referred to as Survivor-like games. I guess that's similar to how souls-like and rogue-like genres were defined by those respective games.
"Pokey the Penguin"
“Autoshooter” feels like it encapsulates the genre well enough.
On Steam I often read the term "Danmaku", but I think that's just the Japanese word for "bullet hell"? I dunno.
弾幕 (read: danmaku) is literally translated as “bullet curtain” to refer to a barrage of bullets that are so close together they form some kind of veil, or curtain. But yeah, it’s what we know as “bullet hell” in English.
I’ve seen Vampire Survivors referred to as “reverse bullet hell” at some point, but didn’t look like that stick.
It"s a top-down shooter, plan and simple.
Honestly they already have the answer, I think Survivor-Like is the perfect one, and coincidentally the one that was used first (as I recall). Makes sense considering we have Rogue-Likes, and used to have Doom-Likes.
All the other ones are too broad. Action Rogue-Like describes many other types of games, bullet heaven/bullet hell or whatever doesn't apply to all Survivor-Likes as some don't even have bullets, and Vampire-Survivors-Like is just too long.
Since it's like a gladiator fighting unfair battles for the amusement of the player, I suggest we call it:
Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the TRUE emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.
or Spartacus.
Wait, for years I’ve heard people refer to them as metroidvania games, in honor of those two games which defined that particular playstyle.
Is this something different?
You are thinking of a different vampire game. Vampire Survivors has no elements of metroidvania in its design that I can think of.