Vampire Survivors and Picayune Dreams are the stars of the 9 Circles of Bullet Hell Bundle

8th May 2025

I’m a big fan of bullet hells, bullet heavens, and auto-shooters, so when the new Humble Bundle dropped last night and it included several games that I’ve not played yet, it was an easy pick-up for me.

And Kieran benefitted too, as there was a couple of dupes in there and now there’s no excuse for him not to have played a bunch of Picayune Dreams. I’m mentioning that game of the nine, because it’s a standout and, alongside Vampire Survivors, it’s a must-play for genre-fans.

However, the ol’ 9 Circles of Bullet Hell Bundle comes packing depth, not just the big names, and I was able to add a handful of new titles to my growing collection. I’m particularly looking forward to trying Genome Guardian, which has been on my radar for some time.

Delving deeper still, I’ve only previously played AK-xolotl with my son in co-op on his Xbox, but now I own it as well, and Genesis Survivors is another game that has been on my wishlist for yonks but is now in my Steam library.

What I’m trying to say is: there are several good games in this bundle and there’s nice variety too, as they all explore the genre in their own roguish way. What’s more, they do it for a bargain price of less than a tenner (£7.52 in ye olde British pounds, to be exact).

Anyway, here is the full line-up of games in the 9 Circles of Bullet Hell Bundle. They’re all on Steam, but I’ve included developer deets and PC platform info, because only a handful are available on Mac:

Vampire Survivors | poncle | PC (Mac, Win)
Picayune Dreams | Stepford, Andyland, milkypossum | PC (Win)
Genome Guardian | Alpherior | PC (Win)
Atomicrops | Bird Bath Games | PC (Win)
The Textorcist: The Story of Ray Bibbia | Morbidware | PC (Mac, Win)
Patch Quest | Lychee Game Labs | PC (Win)
AK-xolotl: Together | 2Awesome Studio | PC (Mac, Win)
Genesis Survivors | Aeternum Game Studios | PC (Win)
Survivors of the Dawn | IndieGiant | PC (Mac, Win)

I’m expecting to need to update my article about the best bullet heavens, auto-shooters, and games like Vampire Survivors once I’ve worked through this lot, but you should still hit the link if you’re after a couple of relevant recommendations!

Would you like to know more?

Still with us? Of course you are! If you want to keep reading about great hand-picked rogues, the following articles represent a huge collection of the best roguelike games ever made.

The Best Roguelike Games: great roguelites, deckbuilders, RPGs, bullet heavens, and more

Next, there are genre-specific lists that delve into the best roguelike games of all types. I’ve pulled out the best examples from each category, alongside the links to more in-depth articles!

The best turn-based roguelikes: Caves of Qud | There are some seriously incredible turn-based roguelikes out there. Of all the modern games, these are the closest to the original Rogue.

Great bullet heavens and auto-shooters: Vampire Survivors | There could be only one choice for this category, given how all other games are called survivors-likes for a reason!

Awesome first-person rogues: Gunfire Reborn | We almost went with Blue Prince for this spot, but most people checking out first-person rogues probably want to wield a gun, you know?!

Cool roguelike deckbuilders: Balatro | Sorry, Slay the Spire fans, but this poker-solitaire deckbuilder has stolen Mike’s heart and won’t give it back.

Brilliant roguelite top-down and third-person shooters: Returnal | Bit of a broad one, but with our other favourite action-roguelites featured elsewhere, we were obliged to mention Returnal here.

Exciting roguelike platformers: Spelunky | Now, don’t get us wrong, Dead Cells is an incredible game, especially with all the DLC switched on. But when it comes to impact, you just can’t beat Spelunky.

Strategy Roguelikes: FTL Faster Than Light | Another classic roguelike that we’re still playing years after launch.

Amazing action-roguelites: Hades 2 | And finally, let’s wrap things up with our favourite of them all. There’s no beating the original Hades, although Hades 2 comes pretty close!

Rogueliker