Some key ideas from Vampire Survivors have been shotgunned into the dwarf-powered mine-'em-up Bore Blasters, which I've found incredibly hard to put down from the moment I tried it in this week's Steam Next Fest.
You pilot a little helicopter-like ship deeper and deeper into the ground of various biomes, clearing a path with frankly excessive weaponry ranging from a machine gun to bombs to Vampire Survivors staples like orbiting axes. Destroy and collect ore to gain XP that unlocks temporary, draft-style upgrades for the run – more damage, special drones, faster fire rate, and so on. The ore you collect will later be spent on permanent upgrades to your vessel, letting you tank more hits, dive longer thanks to more fuel, and again deal extra damage.
It's a dead-simple formula that got its hooks into my brain in approximately 11 seconds. The pixel art and music are fantastic, and the dwarf theming is flavorful and funny. (That dwarf tag arrived just in time.) It's just plain fun to destroy and collect a zillion shiny pieces of ore, and Bore Blasters ups the ante with waves of flying enemies, massive treasure chests waiting for you at the end of each level, and – eventually – a roster of pilots with different special abilities.
Beyond the timeless thrill of Make Number Bigger, I reckon the secret sauce is in the tempo. You're almost never idling in place casually chipping away at rocks – if you are, you're doing it wrong, because the key to a fast run is cleaving a path through the softer materials. Your special ability gives you a shot of momentum, treasure chests in the ground catch your eye, buried explosives can clear a path all at once – there's always something extra being added into the chorus of destruction. Coupled with a watertight progression curve that reminds me of Flash game greats, Bore Blasters is a recipe for simple, snacky fun. I suspect it'll devour some hours when it arrives on March 8.
I played the lawless competitive RPG dominating Steam Next Fest like the second coming of Dark and Darker, and I'm immediately biased because I haven't died yet.
