I’m sure there have always been jokes/stories floating around about Vegan Vampires; I know I’ve heard of more than one growing up. I don’t remember the punchline, so they likely weren’t very funny. Here we are in 2026, and Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire has finally been released on Xbox after launching on PC three years ago.
Developed by Digitality Games and published by indie.io, Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire is a gothic comedy indie mashup combining a farming simulator and wave-based action roguelite.
The story is somewhat relatable: the rebellious youngest son of Dracula has sworn off blood in favour of a plant-based diet to prove vampires don’t need blood to survive. As Voltaire hides away with his Uncles Frank and Stein, he must farm by day and protect those same crops from the minions sent by his father at night. I loved that Voltaire’s appearance was different from day to night.
The daytime is your cozy farming sim: prep plots, plant seeds, water, harvest…repeat. Each action requires stamina that you can replenish through eating any crops you harvest or find in the surrounding environment. Managing the hunger meter was the most difficult part of this cycle for me, as there wasn’t much food to be found in the beginning, and sadly it doesn’t replenish as you ‘rest’ since you don’t technically have a rest/sleep cycle.
When night falls, you must defend your crops and homestead in waves of enemies. This is a simple tower defence concept at this point. The day/night cycles are quick, and the enemies are fairly easy to beat in the beginning. After each level up, you get to choose a skill to keep helping you in your progression as well. These range from adding projectiles to your attack, to additional defence mechanics, to amplifying the number of hunger points you gain from eating, etc. There is a nice variety to choose from. I loved the little familiars you could unlock to float around you, helping you attack the baddies.
You can also compost seeds, craft upgrades, and even feed the local Cthulhu to gain additional items. A witch will occasionally visit with opportunities for you too. Each time you check off a task from your list, a little crow arrives with a letter to add more items for you. I loved watching for him to show up, with his delightful little squawk.
After each 7-day cycle, you will encounter a boss battle with greater rewards. I failed quite a few of the bosses in the beginning before realizing that I couldn’t just focus on the boss; I had to fight off the minions as well.
I loved that you could use a portal to jump to a new section of the map after the boss battle or wait it out another cycle. Each new map had different plants to grow and environmental differences, but the gameplay stayed the same. While the learning curve was easy, the difficulty changes were odd to me. I found the game tough in the beginning, but once I unlocked many of the upgrades, I found it almost too simple in the later game sections.
Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire has a charming 2D style and delightful horror comedy tone. The art style reminded me a lot of the game Don’t Starve, if you are familiar with it. I love the cosmetics I could unlock, and the female skin looked very much like Wednesday Addams to me. I played primarily as her. The controls were easy to learn as well.
Always a good thing. I also enjoyed the soundtrack with the cozier music during the daytime and a more combat-feeling battle soundtrack in the evenings. Still cozy but shifting to a more dynamic music style.
Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire is charming and has a lot of that ‘just one more day’ feeling to it. Its adorable style and simple gameplay make it attractive to a wide variety of skill levels as well. It’s a little repetitive but has enough charm to keep me engaged.
Until next time…be good to yourself and be good to each other.
**Special thanks to JanduSoft for the review code**
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