Tyler Colp is a games writer at Polygon specializing in criticism and reporting about extraordinary players and communities.
Vampire Survivors is a roguelike perfectly designed to swallow your holiday vacation whole, and it's free for the next 24 hours on PC via the Epic Games Store.
The premise is simple: Slay little monsters until you become a god. Every run of Vampire Survivors is an opportunity to find some combination of abilities that clears the screen and earn enough gold to come back even stronger on the next one. There are several characters to try, bosses to fight, and secrets to find, too.
Vampire Survivors was one of our favorite games of 2022, and we liked it so much that it's also one of our favorite roguelikes ever. Its simplicity is what keeps you coming back, and probably what has sparked the horde of Vampire Survivor-likes all over Steam. The OG, however, is king.
I'd argue Vampire Survivors is also one of the best games for the Steam Deck. And even though today's giveaway isn't available on Steam, well, nobody can stop you from putting the Epic Games Launcher on there. It runs great on Valve's handheld PC and won't fill your storage space up.