Someone get this dog a gun.
Pet Survivors, developed by Vergiu Games and published by Eastasiasoft, joins an incredibly over-saturated market in the survivors genre. However, its simplicity and reliance on pets does give it an edge when leaning into the younger player. I just wish it had a bit more going on when it came to its combat.
First off, Pet Survivors is easy, very easy. It only takes a few rounds and some upgrades to get to the point where dying is really hard to accomplish, providing you are at least trying to win. Progression is rapidly quick and the options of new pets, guns, and upgrades are easy to obtain, given how many of the game's systems work.
Like any survivors game, you tour a static background as you destroy enemies with an arrangement of weapon upgrades and abilities. You'll then collect coins during these runs and use those to purchase new characters, guns, and upgrades, and repeat. Well, at least for a bit.
However, once you've unlocked certain pets, such as the chicken, who can spawn gun-wielding baby chicks, or the spell book, which can fire off spread-like shots, then it's almost game over. Especially as hard mode, which isn't much more difficult than normal, boosts your coin multiplier by 50%. Which, I'll admit, is far too much. And here's why.
I would exit most rounds at 6000+ coins. And with most upgrades being around 300 coins, as well as guns and new pets, I maxed out and unlocked everything buyable in just a few quick rounds. Some characters require you to complete a round with another character to unlock them, so there is some nudging the game does to have you experiment with new pets, all of which have distinct abilities, like tossing distracting yarn balls or throwing a bone. Of course, none hold a candle to having three baby chicks with machine guns following you around. Go Chicken.
However, Pet Survivors has a major flaw, and it's one that had me lose interest pretty quick, despite having unlocked everything the game had for me in less than two hours. Survivors games are built around creating builds to support unique runs, forcing you to choose between a few weapon upgrades each time you level up. These would range from AOE attacks, spinning or throwable weapons, to magical attacks like lightning storms, tornados, or a host of enemy destroying antics. That said, Pet Survivors has none of that.
Sure, there is a single AOE attack I found like an hour in that blasts my attack in eight different directions, but the bulk of the upgrade system is simply the same dozen or so options. Ricocheting attacks, penetrative bullets, critical shot and damage increases, or other passive upgrades like a higher coin drop rate or earning back health every few minutes. Either way, any attacks are based off your gun, not newly acquired abilities.
All that does is refine what you have instead of creating new builds or kits to experiment with and have a unique run. As it stands, every run will be the same since you will rely on what works and have few options to shake it up. I also never noticed a cap on what upgrades I could choose. Most in the genre allow you to have five or six, but here, I never noticed such limits.
I would end a run at around level 50 and have maxed out damage, bullet spread and bounce, critical damage, shields and health, and the magnetic ability to gather experience crystals and coins by just being even remotely near them. I'd have bullets that fired behind me, boosted the coin drop rate, and several other boosts before the boss would appear.
I also only found that Pet Survivors had two levels, with the same boss in each. Now, if I am missing something, do let me know, but after about four hours with the game, that's all I've seen. You can also take to the untimed mode where you'll fight both bosses at once, after a while, but otherwise, I found the ten minute rounds to be where the bulk of my time was spent, especially due to the lack of proper abilities defining a build.
Despite the cheap cost, two levels is a bit limited, with only a forest and frozen variant being available, and the same boss present in each. You can set rounds to ten minutes or unlimited, and shooting from manual to automatic. While manual does make the game feel more videogamey, I opted for automatic as that is generally how the genre works.
Guns vary from pistols, shotguns, and snipers, to magical books, and even a fireball-spewing fish. All in all, the less conventional weapons were more fun to use. Guns all have their own stats, but once you start upgrading your kit in the shop, and collecting extra damage upgrades in a run, then anything can be lethal, so the individual stats largely don't mean anything. The same goes with the pets, it's a layer of depth that means nothing at the end of the day.
There is a decent game here, but more stages and abilities outside of your gun are needed to bring a bit more life to the game. It's certainly a better experience than Monster Rush Survivors, given there is actual progression here, but Pet Survivors is wildly tame, leaning only into supercharging your gun, rather than being a flashy and ability-fest experience. Pets may often walk on all fours, but this experience lacks the legs to remain interesting.
Developer - Vergiu Games. Publisher - Eastasiasoft. Released - August 12th, 2026. Available On - PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S, PC, Switch 1/2. Rated - (E) Mild Fantasy Violence. Platform Reviewed - Nintendo Switch 2. Review Access - A review code for Pet Survivors was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.