Vampire Survivors' 0.6.1 update adds a bonus stage and two new mechanics

(Image credit: poncle)

Hit roguelite bullet hell extravaganza Vampire Survivors got a new update today, and while its 0.6.0 iteration will feature "less content than usual," there's still plenty of new material and adjustments to sink your pointy teeth into:

New Content

1 bonus stage
1 relic to access 2 minor gameplay mechanics
2 new arcanas
1 more rank for the Skip power-up

Tweaks

Halved base duration of Shadow Pinion and Valkyrie Turner
Shadow Pinion and Valkyrie Turner striking attack has a damage bonus depending on how long it has been "charged"
Arcana XIX - Heart of Fire also affects Valkyrie Turner's striking attack and Phiera Der Tuphello
Every bonus point in Armor now also increases retaliatory damage by 10%. Retaliatory damage is currently inflicted by NO FUTURE and Arcana XIX
Music and music mods can now be previewed in stage selection screen
Rerolls can now be used to draft Arcanas

Bugfixes

Unfortunately, due to one of the new game mechanics, the time has come to fix the Bone-stuck-in-the-boss glitch
Tentative fix to items sometimes not levelling up near the end of a run

If this represents developer Poncle's slower pace of content updates, it's still very impressive for a solo developer, and especially for a game that costs just three bucks.

PC Gamer's Rich Stanton caught up with Poncle back in March, discussing the origins of the "accidental" indie hit, its unbeatable price, and Poncle's philosophy for balancing such a strange game. I certainly wish more developers behind singleplayer games would take his lead and not worry too much about balancing—I've had too many beloved OP strats in RPGs snatched away by cruel, cruel devs.

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You can follow Ted on Bluesky.