With a “survivor” as part of the game, you already know what to expect. As usual, there’s no story, so your first run begins with the only available character on the first map. Each character comes with unique stat boosts and a pet that either supports you or, more often, deals damage alongside you. You then choose your starting weapon, which also comes with varying stats. Characters and weapons are unlocked once their requirements are met.
Progress is wave-based, but you must survive the onslaught for a set amount of time to complete a stage. The maps are small, so mastering dodging is essential. Fortunately, aiming and shooting are automatic, following the genre’s conventions, though you can disable this if you prefer. Another nice feature is a separate run button that lets you move away from area attacks that are marked with a red mark on the ground.
Each wave increases in duration and spawns stronger enemies, which also yields more resources. Coins are the main drops, while experience appears less frequently. Earning enough experience allows you to level up and gain a skill point, which can be used only after the wave ends. Skill points are used to choose one perk from a random selection of four.
Perks are standard, including options like increased damage, critical chance, and movement speed. Some may appear in higher rarity tiers, enhancing their stats by a better percentage, so it’s usually wise to pick one of these.
After every wave, a shop appears offering four options. If you don’t like the selection, you can reroll, though the cost increases with each use. You can also sacrifice some health for extra coins, but this requires caution. While you slowly regenerate health and can recover it from defeated enemies, damage can add up quickly.
The shop offers several types of items. The first are spells, which act as secondary weapons that fire alongside your main weapon. You can equip up to three spells, and you can sell them to make room for new ones or upgrade them by purchasing the same spell again. The game tends to offer upgrades frequently, so you rarely find yourself with nothing to buy.
The second type is gear, divided into five categories such as helmets and shoes. While the selection is limited, some collections grant perks based on the number of pieces equipped. There’s no inventory system, so buying new gear replaces your current items. Like spells, buying duplicates can upgrade them or offer a chance for a higher rarity tier.
When upgrading a spell or piece of equipment to a higher rarity, you can choose from multiple perk options. You may either increase the existing perks by half their value or boost a single perk by double while accepting a negative effect. Depending on the strength of the perk, taking the sacrifice can sometimes be worth it.
The final shop category is passive items, which grant various bonuses. For example, they might increase poison damage, improve your chances of better reroll options, or provide other benefits. Passives also come in different rarity tiers, with legendary passives being rewards for completing wave challenges, such as avoiding damage, not using your dash, or killing enemies within a specific area. After each wave, you select one passive from three random offers.
A run typically lasts ten waves. Win or lose, there is no special currency or permanent upgrades. Instead, new gear, spells, and items are unlocked through quests and achievements. This makes selecting the right gear and perks in the shop crucial. Despite its standard gameplay and absence of unique surprises, the game offers a wide variety of characters and plenty of achievements.
