Night Swarm

About

Night Swarm is a single player casual role playing shooter game with fantasy and dark fantasy themes. It was developed by Fubu Games and was released on December 4, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Night Swarm is a vampire-themed roguelite RPG bullet hell where you play as a fearsome young vampire lord rising to power. Gather loyal allies, unleash devastating abilities, and fight back against the relentless werewolf hordes that threaten to consume the night. BUILD YOUR SWARM. TEAR THROUGH THE PACK. Ancient powers of the dark stand behind you, each offering unique, cursed blessings to aid yo…

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81%Audience ScoreBased on 518 reviews

gameplay56 positive mentions

grinding18 negative mentions

Engaging and addictive gameplay with a satisfying progression loop that blends survivor-like action and roguelite RPG mechanics.
Unique art style featuring board game piece characters and a gothic vampire aesthetic, complemented by a fantastic and immersive soundtrack.
Strong meta-progression systems including companions, relics, equipment, and castle upgrades that enrich gameplay and replayability.

Some players find the game grind-heavy, with progression feeling slow or requiring repetitive runs to unlock harder difficulties.
AI-generated art and voiceovers were used, which has drawn criticism and affects immersion for some players.
Certain game systems feel underdeveloped or unbalanced, including limited skill variety, underwhelming bosses, and pacing issues leading to repetitive gameplay.

gameplay
122 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
52%
2%
The gameplay is widely praised for its addictive, smooth, and satisfying roguelike loop that blends mechanics from vampire survivors, Hades, and other genre staples, offering meaningful progression, variety, and a motivating growth system. However, some players note repetitiveness over many runs, limited weapon differentiation, occasional balance and difficulty issues, and a grindy meta progression that relies heavily on RNG. Overall, the game’s fast-paced combat, strategic positioning, and atmospheric presentation create an engaging experience with depth, though it may benefit from further content and system refinements.
- “The core gameplay loop is simple to jump into — move, survive, evolve — but the mechanical depth kicks in fast and keeps you hooked for 'one more run.'”
- “The gameplay loop is smooth and satisfying, with each round pushing you to think faster, adapt smarter, and refine your approach.”
- “Great meta progression, fun abilities, and satisfying gameplay that doesn't feel like a grind.”
- “Bad points: all weapons are the same and the upgrades don't change the gameplay at all.”
- “This game feels good but is so incredibly unsatisfying to play, the weapons are all the same they don't have any special gimmicks, for a game that relies on killing stuff for the entire gameplay it's very disappointing.”
- “The meta-progression items and the upgrades seem to have no meaningful effect on your gameplay, while being grindy to get, which is further exacerbated by the fact that you are basically gambling for some of these upgrades.”
graphics
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
51%
45%
4%
The game features a distinctive and stylized art style that blends gothic vampire and dark fantasy aesthetics with a tabletop miniature look, creating a unique and immersive visual experience. While some find the board game-style character models charming and fitting for the genre, others feel they appear unfinished or simplistic. Overall, the graphics are praised for their atmosphere, artistic design, and how well they complement the gameplay and music, despite occasional concerns about system resource demands.
- “Graphically and audibly, Night Swarm nails the mood: moody gothic / horror-fantasy art style, atmospheric environments, and the soundtrack plus sound design add real weight to each run.”
- “Great graphics, fantastic music, and smooth gameplay make this an easy recommendation.”
- “The static 'miniature models' aesthetic works because it's not the kind of genre where detailed animations matter that much.”
- “The game is very resource hungry for the visuals it offers.”
- “There's also zero practical graphics settings.”
- “The art style isn't really that bad but the character models being little board pieces is kinda just awful imo, it really feels like placeholders you'd see in an early demo, makes the game feel unfinished.”
music
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
39%
4%
The game's music is widely praised as exceptional, with many calling the soundtrack epic, atmospheric, and a standout feature that greatly enhances immersion and intensity. Reviewers highlight its quality, driving energy, and perfect fit with the game's style, often recommending the game solely for its soundtrack. Some note a lack of variety or minor grating elements like voices, but overall, the music consistently receives high acclaim.
- “To start with, this game's soundtrack is the most epic soundtrack I've ever heard in a video game.”
- “The soundtrack is an absolute standout — genuinely a feast for the ears.”
- “The ost also goes insanely hard, every track is a banger and it's definitely the highlight of the game imo.”
- “Not selling the soundtracks as mp3?”
- “The level paths and music also start to feel repetitive if you play in long sessions.”
- “Same thing for the music.”
story
66 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
78%
5%
The story centers on a vampire lord reclaiming his castle, providing light lore and atmospheric context rather than deep narrative or character development. While some players appreciate the voiced dialogue and thematic elements, many find the plot simple, repetitive, and underdeveloped, serving primarily as an excuse for gameplay rather than a compelling story. Overall, the storytelling adds flavor but remains secondary to the roguelike action experience.
- “As a vampire lord, this is a survivors-like action game centered on a classic revenge story to reclaim your stolen castle and territory from the hands of werewolves.”
- “The story and development of your castle has been great and the variation in the builds for each run has been fun and kept my interest.”
- “The story line is enjoyable with great music as you do your vampire runs.”
- “Character portraits, voice acting, dialogue, story, upgrade systems, even the weapons are flavored via AI generation... it's slop all the way down.”
- “Story - barely any story, has somewhat of one, but it's simple and just an excuse to go killing.”
- “The characters and story are a bit forgettable, which is unfortunate.”
grinding
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
95%
Grinding in the game is a mixed experience, with many players finding it excessive, slow, and sometimes frustrating due to high costs, RNG elements, and minimal impact of upgrades, especially in later runs. However, some appreciate the grind as rewarding and integral to progression, though early and meta-progression stages often feel particularly tedious or unbalanced. Overall, grinding can feel like a chore to some, while others enjoy the long-term investment it offers.
- “But it's just not very fun. The first difficulty is way too easy, but changing difficulty is bound to meta progression (which is way over the top). You won't do enough damage without grinding to change the difficulty, so runs become boring and your actions don't matter much.”
- “Quest NPC missions become way too grindy and a chore to do. After a while, you get locked out of progress because the rewards are bugged and you can't unlock the next tier.”
- “The progression is really grindy. Most of the new weapons feel meh and useless, and some have no combination at all, which makes unlocking them even worse.”
atmosphere
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
18%
19%
The atmosphere is widely praised for its dark, gothic, and horror-fantasy aesthetic, supported by grand orchestral music and immersive sound design that heighten the mood and tension. While visuals and audio effectively pull players into a richly crafted world, some note that AI-generated art and voiceovers can occasionally detract from the immersion. Overall, the game delivers a compelling, intense atmosphere that enhances the addictive gameplay experience.
- “The grand orchestral background music further heightens the atmosphere, skillfully expressing the world of gothic horror.”
- “Graphically and audibly, Night Swarm nails the mood: moody gothic/horror-fantasy art style, atmospheric environments, and the soundtrack plus sound design add real weight to each run.”
- “I love the art style and I absolutely love how this game pulls me into the world and gives me this beautiful, dark atmosphere.”
- “The use of AI art and voiceovers really kills some of my enthusiasm and ability to take the atmosphere seriously.”
- “Music and atmosphere/sound effects are lacking or underwhelming.”
- “Despite the gothic theme, the atmosphere fails to immerse or captivate effectively.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
49%
13%
The game generally offers high replayability, with features like multiple save files, character customization, base expansion, and difficulty modes contributing to long-term engagement. However, some players feel it lacks a strong desire for repeated play despite its value. Future updates with new characters may further enhance replay value.
- “The ability to expand your base, recruit new followers, and shape your character over time adds meaningful long-term depth and replayability.”
- “Out of all of these types of games I've played, this has the most replayability.”
- “Also, offers a lot of replayability and multiple difficulty modes.”
- “As a long-term game for its price, I didn't feel much replayability nor a sense of 'I want to play more'.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is highlighted by its charmingly quirky movement animations, which make character models resemble playful tabletop pieces hopping around. Additionally, the lighthearted and amusing elements, such as overpowered abilities and thematic touches like the vampire theme, contribute to a fun and consistently entertaining experience.
- “What takes the cake is the movement animations; the models are all like tabletop game pieces and hop around in such a funny way that I can't help but love it.”
- “Also, so far all the bosses are just reskins of a tree, that might change further in but it's pretty funny.”
- “Using a vampire theme is another plus for me, and although the visuals seem cartoony, they fit perfectly — especially with the funny walking animations.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
20%
60%
The game features smooth and well-optimized performance overall, with updates successfully addressing initial issues. It runs particularly well on the Steam Deck, providing natural controller support. However, dashing currently causes noticeable stuttering regardless of vsync settings, slightly impacting the movement experience.
- “It also runs great on Steam Deck, with smooth performance and controls that feel natural on a controller.”
- “Dashing causes noticeable vsync-like stuttering, with vsync on or off, it still does it.”
- “Apart from the performance of the dash ability, movement seems fine.”
- “The updates have fixed initial issues with performance.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
50%
Character development is engaging and allows meaningful investment through unlocking skills, relics, and artifacts. While initial character designs may seem off-putting, they become more appreciated after a few runs. Overall, the progression system adds depth and enhances the gameplay experience.
- “You can also invest in your own character development, great stuff.”
- “Another important aspect is that you invest in your character by unlocking relics and artifacts, and you probably either finished unlocking all skills in the character development tree or are close to it.”
- “While at first I found the character designs weird and off-putting (due to prior experience with other roguelikes), after a couple of runs I found them nice.”
- “Another grain of salt is funny - as mentioned before, you invest in your character by unlocking relics/artifacts, and you probably have either finished unlocking all skills in the character development tree or are close to it.”
- “Almost didn't give it a chance due to the character design being that of a gameboard piece.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The game is generally stable, running smoothly with polished performance and natural controls, especially on the Steam Deck, and appears largely bug-free based on user experience. However, some users note initial issues with bugs upon release that affected their overall impression.
- “It's just a well-made, competent, clean, bug-free (as near as I can tell) and reasonably priced experience.”
- “The look and feel is highly polished, and it runs great on Steam Deck.”
- “It also runs great on Steam Deck, with smooth performance and controls that feel natural on a controller.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional experience of the game is largely negative, leaving players wanting to avoid further engagement. It seems to evoke feelings of discomfort or dissatisfaction.