From Digital Sun Games, the developers behind Moonlighter and Cataclismo, ReVamp sees you taking control of Dracula himself and setting up defences to protect yourself and your castle from mortals who want to end the bloodsucker.
ReVamp was just announced at the Future Games Show Spring Showcase Powered by HyperX, a new game that combines roguelite and tower defence mechanics with a clearly Castlevania-inspired theme. The studio is calling it a "tower-defencevania" - a fresh hybrid that bridges strategy and action.
Rather than watching from afar, you're directly involved in the chaos. As Dracula, you get to move freely through your modular castle, configuring it room by room and even on the fly to create an impenetrable fortress. Features over 100 room layouts for constructing and reconfiguring your fortress, with 40+ minion types including werewolves, chimaeras, and wyverns to defend against waves of enemies.
Werewolves, skeletons, rat swarms, and plenty of other underlings will also be ready to deploy to protect your home. But you can join the fray yourself too, using melee attacks and blood magic to obliterate the escalating waves of noble knights and holy warriors intent on staking Dracula through the heart.
The roguelite structure keeps each siege feeling fresh. Due to being bound to the moon goddess Achlys, death is not the end for Dracula, and each time you rise and harvest the blood of defeated attackers, you can unlock new castle chambers, bolster your legions, and unlock new abilities to improve your castle defence efforts for the next attack. This creates a cycle of building, failing, learning, and strengthening that's become the hallmark of successful roguelikes.
Thematically, it all seems very inspired by Netflix's Castlevania animated series, casting Dracula as a tragic figure tortured by the loss of his true love. Visually, though, it goes for a more chunky, painterly aesthetic that looks great in motion.
At the time of writing there isn't a confirmed release date for ReVamp, but Digital Sun has said it will host multiple playtests in the coming months to gather community feedback. The Steam page is up, so if you're intrigued just add it to your wish list for updates.
For Digital Sun, ReVamp represents another ambitious genre mashup after the shop-keeper roguelike Moonlighter. Digital Sun has already shown off a creative flair for both roguelike mechanics and tower defence in its previous games, so it seems a fair bet that these two great tastes will taste great together.