Geometry Rift: Apocalypse takes the neon mayhem of Geometry Wars and bolts it onto the build-crafting of Vampire Survivors. It’s being made by a father and his 16-year-old son, Víctor and Alex Vergara, who work under the name Dad & Son Games. We’ve played it, and we came away genuinely won over. The free demo is live on Steam for Steam Next Fest, which runs until 26 October. The full game is due in the first quarter of 2027.
At a glance
Geometry Rift: Apocalypse blends the neon shooting of Geometry Wars with the progression of Vampire Survivors, solo or in two-player local co-op.
Víctor Vergara is making the game with his 16-year-old son Alex under the Dad & Son Games label.
The demo is free on Steam, and the full game is planned for the first quarter of 2027 on PC, Mac and Linux.
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Geometry Rift Apocalypse: the Dad and son shooter that hooked us
Geometry Rift puts Geometry Wars and Vampire Survivors in one cockpit
The idea is easy to grasp: thousands of geometric enemies flood the screen, and your only job is to stay alive. You fly a small ship, hoover up experience, and every level-up offers a new weapon or power. Lasers, huge bombs, chain lightning, shields, time freeze and black holes all feature on the Geometry Rift: Apocalypse Steam page, which promises combinations that can break the game. It’s the formula that made Vampire Survivors a hit, and one you’ll also find in Warhammer Survivors, which lands on 10 November.
Firing is automatic by default, so you can focus on weaving through the swarm. If you’d rather aim yourself, a twin-stick mode lets you steer with one stick and shoot with the other. Geometry Rift has 18 unlockable ships, each with its own abilities, plus four worlds that come with their own enemies, a final boss and three special challenges that rewrite the rules. Neon Grid, Inferno, Toxic Zone and The Rift each have their own look, and an endless mode with a global leaderboard waits for anyone who wants more.
Visually, Geometry Rift wears its heritage proudly: vector shapes, saturated neon and bursts of light from one edge of the screen to the other. The developers have slipped in nods to Space Invaders, Galaxian and Centipede, giant Tetris-shaped pieces and bosses inspired by Phoenix. They also warn that the game isn’t suitable for people with photosensitive epilepsy. Liam Squires-Hand at GamingOnLinux came away “massively impressed” and reckons, in his write-up of the demo, that it might end up as the best blend of the two yet.
A Still Breathing minigame that became a family project
Geometry Rift: Apocalypse started almost by accident. Víctor Vergara, who goes by Awezoom, was working on Still Breathing, a narrative game in which the player can use an old green-screen computer. Looking for minigames to put on it, he thought of Geometry Wars, which he was hooked on back in the Xbox 360 days. He enjoyed the prototype so much that he split it off from Still Breathing and turned it into a full game, as he explains in his development post on Steam.
He’s making it with his son Alex, who is 16. The father brings decades of experience with arcade classics, and the son brings the eye of today’s players, according to the same post. Awezoom comes from the demoscene, and the Steam page says the whole soundtrack is by Awesome, a composer from that scene, with a built-in music player so you can listen outside of a run.
In July, the pair added ten weapon evolutions, each one fusing two weapons that have been levelled to the max. Alex tested them the way teenagers do, by hunting for the one that breaks everything. He found it in five minutes: Hive Mind melted a boss in 6 seconds, while Solar Flare needed 6 to 8 minutes. All ten were rebalanced, and the idea of shots that ricochet off the walls in Prism Array was his, according to the studio’s Steam posts.
A free demo for Steam Next Fest, and a full launch in 2027
The Geometry Rift demo came out on 22 September, after more than ten months of development. It’s part of the October Steam Next Fest showcase of indie demos, which runs until 26 October. Víctor and Alex are streaming on the game’s Steam page on Saturday and Sunday from 5pm to 7pm UK time.
The full game will take a little longer. The demo announcement mentioned 28 January, the studio then said simply “2027” on 15 October, and the Steam page lists the first quarter: 28 January is therefore still to be confirmed. Other winter releases are on the Hitbox release calendar. The game also has a page on the PlayStation Store with no date yet, and the Steam page lists eleven supported languages for Geometry Rift.
Having played it, our verdict is short: Geometry Rift: Apocalypse is seriously cool, and it deserves a spot on your wishlist. The demo is free, so the easiest thing to do is fire it up during Next Fest and see for yourself.