Vampire Survivors patch 0.9.0 adds new boss rush mode

Vampire Survivors has received another patch, which adds 2 new Arcanas, a new challenge stage called Boss Rash, and a surprise new unlockable character. The new character is called Gyorunton, and is a blue, three-headed and armless dragon, who has a Bracelet as a new starting weapon. Where does it wear the bracelet? I don't want to know.

Here's a brief trailer showing some of patch 0.9.0's additions:

As the patch notes explain, 0.9.0 aka "The Flashy One" also changes Vampire Survivors' save game location, adds a new music track, and fixes a handful of bugs.

Gyorunton is a surprise because it wasn't featured on the development roadmap. You can unlock the character by surviving for 15 minutes with only one weapon on the new Boss Rash challenge stage. Boss Rash is, as the name implies, a boss rush mode, where the enemy waves consist of bosses from all of Vampire Survivors' stages with increased health. (The Boss Rash stage needs to be unlocked first, too.)

Vampire Survivors hooked me early on, when it only had two stages and a handful of characters. It's such a ridiculous spectacle: a hack-and-slasher with all the compulsive rewards of Diablo without the need to even click. In fact, it's such a ridiculous spectacle that, although seemingly approaching the point of being content complete, its developers have plans to move it to a new engine to put an end to late-game framerate deaths.

Despite being substantially expanded since those early days when I first loved it, Vampire Survivors is still only £2.09/€2.39/$3 on Steam. Not bad for what's absolutely one of 2022's best games.