"Grind Survivors is a fantastic game held back by a grindy chance based progression system that makes enthusiastically recommending it very difficult."
I understand that the very name “Grind Survivors” implies that it will be grindy, but there is a radical difference between grind and chance based progression, and Grind Survivors is firmly of the latter variety.
When you can lose hours of progress due to a “bad roll” on your endgame weapon, and players are forced to replay missions repeatedly in effort to progress to higher difficulties, Grind Survivors stops feeling like a game, and starts to feel more like a chore, which is a shame, as in all other regards, Grind Survivors is one of the most unique and enjoyable action roguelikes on the market.
Grind Survivors looks fantastic and performs very well considering how many enemies are on screen at one time during the later stages of each map. While I cannot be certain every asset is unique, and no asset store assets are used, that is far less important for games in the action roguelike genre, with even Vampire Survivors using mostly store-bought assets.
Far too many action roguelikes try to recreate the gameplay of Vampire Survivors without improving upon the formula (hard to do) or adding unique mechanics to differentiate their own title.
While some have done so, and done so very well, as someone who has reviewed well over 30 action roguelikes over the past few years, I have to say Grind Survivors has done what many have failed to do, create gameplay mechanics that capture the fun and replayability of Vampire Survivors, while incorporating new mechanics and progression changes that make Grind Survivors feel like a game in its own right, and not just a clone of what is popular.
I love collecting weapons, and forging them into higher tiers, and the ability to improve weapons itself is great, even if the “Improve” feature is ruined by punishing RNG that more often than not forces players to lose all progress, especially as a weapon’s upgrade level increases.
Grind Survivors is an action rogue-like game developed by Pushka Studios and published by Assemble Entertainment, it released on 16 March 2026, and is available exclusively on PC.
Grind Survivors supports the following peripherals:
Grind Survivors is unrated and contains:
I like Grind Survivors, it’s a fantastic game, but the chance based improvement system needs to be cast back into the abyss from which it came. Without the chance based improvement system Grind Survivors would be an easy 9/10, however until the system is removed or optional, I can only award it 7/10, as while gameplay is fun, being forced to replay the same maps over and over in effort to reach higher difficulties feels more like a chore than entertainment.
Ultimately Grind Survivors is a fantastic game held back by poor design choices that honestly seem out of place with how well the rest of the game is designed.
We found Grind Survivors to be a good game, meaning it is likely to be enjoyable for most players, despite having a few areas that could be improved upon.
"Vampire Survivors, often copied and never beaten, proves that excellent gameplay and affordable pricing will win out over poor gameplay and excellent visuals any day of the week."
"If I said anything good about Land of the Survivors, I would be lying."
"Striving for Light: Survival is a failed spin-off of a failed early access action rogue-like, and while it's not the worst game to throw its hat into the ring, its chances of surviving are slim to none."
