6 Best Bullet Heaven Games, Ranked

The term has been around for a few years, but Steam finally made Bullet Heaven an official genre on May 18, 2026. Inversion to Bullet Hells, Bullet Heaven Games they feature automatic attacks and require players to focus on their movement and positioning. Basically we are talking about The surviving vampires and the successors that emerged from its explosion in popularity.

These days, these games are more common than the classic Bullet Hells and have a habit of hitting big, mainly due to their simple but addictive gameplay loops and the fact that they tend to be quite cheap. Let's celebrate this 'new' genre by highlighting the same the best bullet heaven games.

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6

HoloCure – Save the fans!

Bullet Heaven heavily based on the Hololive Fandom

  • A big tribute to the Hololive fandom

  • Players can battle as their favorite Hololive idols throughout the game

Developed in collaboration with Japanese VTuber agency Hololive, HoloCure – Save the fans! allows players to enjoy the game as their favorite VTubers, also known as Hololive idols. Each idol has unique abilities that they can use to fend off the hordes of mind-controlled fans that have been programmed to attack them. As the name of the game suggests, the idols' task will be to save their fans and free their minds from the trance they are in.

hades official art zagreus megara thanatos riding charon's boat

Roguelikes that perfectly balance their difficulty

These roguelikes can be punishing, but their balance of difficulty is extremely rewarding.

Players will need to collect power-ups and upgrade their abilities to survive the hordes of fans and emerge victorious. As the game progresses, new idols are unlocked, allowing for more playstyles and endless possibilities. All in all, HoloCure – Save the fans! is a great tribute to the Hololive fandom and the idols who help keep it relevant and with a strong fan base.

5

Boneraiser Minions

A necromancer using his undead to fend off enemies

  • Friendly unit management and strategic combat

  • A unique approach to bullet heaven games

While most orb skies focus on shooting projectiles at incoming enemies to deal with them and try to survive, Boneraiser Minions, as its name aptly suggests, it uses the undead as a form of defense. Players take on the role of a necromancer who can raise the undead from their graves and use them to fend off waves of enemies. Raised undead can serve in both offensive and defensive strategies, as they can be ordered to attack or simply create a wall to allow the necromancer to upgrade or recover.

The game features a very pleasant pixel art style, which combined with aggressive incoming hordes of enemies leads to a very enjoyable experience. Players looking for a bullet heaven game that relies heavily on strategy and friendly unit control should check it out Boneraiser Minions at least once.

4

bro

Action, fun and very starchy

  • Simple controls that everyone can quickly understand

  • Funny designs and incredibly fun fights

As players might expect, it's actually nothing serious broand that's exactly what the game developers were aiming for. Like a top-down arena-based shooter with a comedic twist bro players will control an incredibly skilled potato who must fend off waves of alien invaders using a variety of weapons, items and power-ups. With many roguelike elements and a fine line between bullet heaven and bullet hell, this title has everything players need to enjoy hours of action-packed fun.

While others Bullet Heaven Games sometimes have complex controls that require a learning curve, bro it simplifies things and allows even newbies to feel comfortable and quickly get the hang of the game.

Find all 10 pairs



Find all 10 pairs

3

Soulstone Survivors

Bullet Heaven, which looks great and works well as an action RPG

  • Action RPG style progression

  • 3D visualizations that look great

Bullet Heaven games are generally synonymous with low-fi, 16-bit visuals that don't really try to impress, but not every release is geared towards that type of presentation. Soulstone Survivors is one of the prettiest games in the genre, delivering 3D visuals that are consistently gorgeous. Except for something like this Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, Soulstone Survivors it might be the prettiest game in the genre that isn't first-rate, definitive, but makes a difference in a space dominated by projects with near-identical gameplay loops.

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Fortunately, this 2025 release isn't just for looks, as it also brings an RPG edge that's missing from traditional Bullet Heaven games. Characters have skill trees, weapon crafting is part of the equation and you can even insert runes such as Diablo. These mechanics provide a stronger sense of progression because you're building a character rather than just picking a survivor and a weapon. Even the game loop deviates from the norm, with the goal being to kill enough minions to spawn a Lord of the Void holding the soul stones needed to progress.

To be honest, I left the Bullet Heaven games by 2025 because it felt like I was playing the same game with minor tweaks. Soulstone Survivors it was refreshing, and it's the main reason I'm still into the genre today.

2

Hall of torment

Diablo 2 Bullet Heaven

  • Fun loot system

  • Reverse graphics

If Soulstone Survivors drew inspiration Diabloi.e. mechanics Hall of torment it just wants Bullet Heaven to be a version of the classic entries in the Blizzard franchise, at least visually. The most striking thing about Chasing Carrots is just how well it replicates the look Diablo 2an aesthetic that is both of its time but also timeless (although that may be my nostalgia).

The combat loop is generally the same as other entries in the genre, but Hall of tormentUniqueness comes from its progression and class synergy. You cannot invoke Diablo without incorporating loot and Chasing Carrots does this by allowing you to pick up temporary items that can be sent back to camp if you drop them in a well while running, allowing you to buy them permanently. The base game has 12 heroes (or classes) that harken back to old-school RPG roots, including archetypes like Cleric, Shield Maiden, Sorceress, and Bard. That would be good enough, but you can also mix elements of different classes, although you will need to reach level 100 with that class first.

1

The surviving vampires

The definitive Bullet Heaven game and the best

  • Easy to play but hard to control

  • Basic but charming presentation

  • So much content

Although it is not the first to ever use this game format as it was probably in 2019 Magical survival or even spiritual predecessors like Crimsonland or Red Nation, The surviving vampires is the main reason why Steam created “Bullet sky” as a new label in May 2026. Poncle's 2021 has become such a cultural phenomenon that it is still very popular half a decade later, as demonstrated by the successful launch of a spin-off set in a completely different genre, ” Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard by Vampire Survivors. basically The surviving vampires is a typical Bullet Heaven game whose gameplay loop is almost exactly as you would imagine it to be.

While plenty of imitators have risen from the ashes to attempt to sit alongside this masterpiece, The surviving vampires it still manages to stand high above the competition, thanks to its CastlevaniaGothic style aesthetics and a constant stream of updates with new characters or even collaborations that are completely free (with a few exceptions). The 30-minute escalation curve is not only incredibly addictive, but also arguably flawless, resulting in runs that feel substantial without overstaying their welcome. The game may be relatively simple, but The surviving vampires it's absolutely packed with depth thanks to all the choices players have to make before and during a run.

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The best free co-op games to play on Steam

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FAQ

Q: What is Bullet Heaven?

Games that feature automatic attacks and don't require players to enter them directly.

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