TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
Blood Dungeon sees a distinctive indie studio apply its design smarts to an exhausted modern genre, with surprisingly conservative but enjoyable results.
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What is it? Nidhogg creators take on the 'bullet heaven' or Survivors-like rogueliteRelease date August 26, 2026Expect to pay TBCDeveloper MesshofPublisher MesshofReviewed on RTX 3060 (laptop), Ryzen 5 5600H, 16GB RAMSteam Deck Officially "unknown", but works greatLink Steam
Blood Dungeon adheres rigidly to the autoshooter or 'bullet heaven' format: it's about moving around a scrolling arena auto-gushing projectiles that turn a steadily increasing horde of enemies into XP. Every level up grants a choice between two or three randomised perks or improvements, steadily turning the player into a blur of pulsating DMG-emitting fireworks. Rounds are usually over in less than ten minutes.
I loved Vampire Survivors but then I got over it. I've never been gripped by any of the clones. But Blood Dungeon has some appealing bullet points going for it: it transforms the commonly top-down autoshooter into a sidescrolling platformer. At a glance, it looks more like Spelunky than it does Brotato or Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor.
The presentation is more appealing than your average bullet heaven fare too: Blood Dungeon is the work of Nidhogg studio Messhof and their distinctively globular 2D art style is a perfect fit for precision-oriented action. Animations in particular are often brilliant, and the music—which its creator Matthew Hoey aptly describes as dungeon drum 'n' bass—is simultaneously madcap and hypnotic.
There's no denying Blood Dungeon is a sleek, well-wrought take on this modern subgenre. It's probably among the best examples of it. But as the hours I spent with it wore on it started to feel exquisitely meaningless. I was reminded why I dropped Vampire Survivors.
Blood Dungeon starts like all roguelites: vainly. I am Gun Man, a man with a piddling machinegun which shoots every 1.21 seconds. Thanks to the blood left by my fallen enemies, within a minute I've upgraded it to shoot twice rather than once, and then, thirty seconds later, I've acquired a sword that rotates around my body, shredding bats as I roam the lurid halls. By the time I die there are four double-sized swords surrounding me, my gun issues five bullets per round virtually non-stop, and the halls have turned into impenetrable walls of monster flesh.
Every map has a fixed layout but the locations of items and keys are, for the most part—but not entirely—randomised.
Five hours later I've unlocked a handful of other characters and all six of the maps. I've upgraded my health, my jump height, my damage output, the amount of weapons I can equip per run, and my repertoire of powerful upgrades has expanded dramatically. If I'm lucky my character will be lost among an overwhelming array of erupting, tantruming firepower by the eighth minute.
My favourite weapon for achieving this is easily the bouncing ball, which can demolish most of the game's first bosses within seconds if I focus on upgrading it. I also love the turrets and the laser, though the shotgun whose spread can be increased from three to upwards of 13 shots is pretty fun too.
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I also like most of the characters, except the unwieldy flying mosquito (I'll admit it's a skill issue). They all throb with panic, which well they should. My overall favourite is probably Skinja, who cartwheels around the maps at a blinding pace while issuing volleys of the aforementioned shotgun pellets. I also liked the Baby, whose low health is well-compensated by a revolver that one-shots most early round enemies. There's also Hypnomancer, who loads out with gas which, naturall...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
PC Gamer's got your back
Our experienced team dedicates many hours to every review, to really get to the heart of what matters most to you. Find out more about how we evaluate games and hardware.
What is it? Nidhogg creators take on the 'bullet heaven' or Survivors-like rogueliteRelease date August 26, 2026Expect to pay TBCDeveloper MesshofPublisher MesshofReviewed on RTX 3060 (laptop), Ryzen 5 5600H, 16GB RAMSteam Deck Officially "unknown", but works greatLink Steam
Blood Dungeon adheres rigidly to the autoshooter or 'bullet heaven' format: it's about moving around a scrolling arena auto-gushing projectiles that turn a steadily increasing horde of enemies into XP. Every level up grants a choice between two or three randomised perks or improvements, steadily turning the player into a blur of pulsating DMG-emitting fireworks. Rounds are usually over in less than ten minutes.
I loved Vampire Survivors but then I got over it. I've never been gripped by any of the clones. But Blood Dungeon has some appealing bullet points going for it: it transforms the commonly top-down autoshooter into a sidescrolling platformer. At a glance, it looks more like Spelunky than it does Brotato or Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor.
The presentation is more appealing than your average bullet heaven fare too: Blood Dungeon is the work of Nidhogg studio Messhof and their distinctively globular 2D art style is a perfect fit for precision-oriented action. Animations in particular are often brilliant, and the music—which its creator Matthew Hoey aptly describes as dungeon drum 'n' bass—is simultaneously madcap and hypnotic.
There's no denying Blood Dungeon is a sleek, well-wrought take on this modern subgenre. It's probably among the best examples of it. But as the hours I spent with it wore on it started to feel exquisitely meaningless. I was reminded why I dropped Vampire Survivors.
Blood Dungeon starts like all roguelites: vainly. I am Gun Man, a man with a piddling machinegun which shoots every 1.21 seconds. Thanks to the blood left by my fallen enemies, within a minute I've upgraded it to shoot twice rather than once, and then, thirty seconds later, I've acquired a sword that rotates around my body, shredding bats as I roam the lurid halls. By the time I die there are four double-sized swords surrounding me, my gun issues five bullets per round virtually non-stop, and the halls have turned into impenetrable walls of monster flesh.
Every map has a fixed layout but the locations of items and keys are, for the most part—but not entirely—randomised.
Five hours later I've unlocked a handful of other characters and all six of the maps. I've upgraded my health, my jump height, my damage output, the amount of weapons I can equip per run, and my repertoire of powerful upgrades has expanded dramatically. If I'm lucky my character will be lost among an overwhelming array of erupting, tantruming firepower by the eighth minute.
My favourite weapon for achieving this is easily the bouncing ball, which can demolish most of the game's first bosses within seconds if I focus on upgrading it. I also love the turrets and the laser, though the shotgun whose spread can be increased from three to upwards of 13 shots is pretty fun too.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
I also like most of the characters, except the unwieldy flying mosquito (I'll admit it's a skill issue). They all throb with panic, which well they should. My overall favourite is probably Skinja, who cartwheels around the maps at a blinding pace while issuing volleys of the aforementioned shotgun pellets. I also liked the Baby, whose low health is well-compensated by a revolver that one-shots most early round enemies. There's also Hypnomancer, who loads out with gas which, naturall...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?