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Subway Invasion
Game
Game2024
Karate Survivor
Developer Alawar
Become a martial arts master in this survivor-like roguelite inspired by action movies of the ‘80s. Use your fists, feet, and the environment to fight off relentless thugs. Master powerful combos, enhance your skills, and remember: everything around you is a weapon! From the Steam store page
236 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 4, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
84
LovedLoved
165 positive · 32 negative
95% range 78–88%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 165 | 32 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 14 | 0 | 19 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
992 of 1,104 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
84% recommend · 167 yes, 31 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 198 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (2,912 of 3,424 positive).
Some reviewers note balance issues and a steep difficulty curve early on. [1][2][3] Many find it a great value for the price, especially on sale. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [2]
I really want to like this game, concept is good, but design is severely lacking. The environmental weapon gimmick is really clever but in practice they became the worst part of the game. After reaching rooftop stage, 100% of my runs are ended by picking up an environmental weapon, which is so much weaker than regular moves that they become literal run ending mines that magnetize toward you with generous range. A …
- [4]
Picked this up during the Summer Sale for €1.69 and honestly didn't expect much. A few runs later I was completely hooked. The combat feels great, putting builds together is a lot of fun, and every good run made me want to start another one. Now I finally understand why so many people recommended it.
- [1]
Pros -Unique combat for a survivor like -Challenging at the start (this may be a con for some players) -Plenty of unlocks to work towards -Superb animations -Appealing visuals -Satisfying kills -Great music and sound design -Jackie Chan style nostalgia -On sale for $2.49 Cons Balance issues (details below) The only issue with the game is its balancing. I was able to cruise through every difficulty without dying once …
- [10]
Not really understanding the negative reviews, but I for one think this is an awesome little wave survivor doing its best Jacky Chan impression while offering a surprising amount of depth in content in an otherwise pretty simple genre. What really stood out to me though is how much thought and attention to detail went in to all the moves and how you can ultimately string them together to create devastating combo's. …
- [5]
For 1,49€ on sale, this is a steal. Hours of entertainment for a price of a chocolate bar. Love the theme!
Summarised from 34 of the 239 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
84% of the 198 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Karate Survivor. The complaint that keeps coming up: balance issues and unfair difficulty spikes. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Reactions
60 of 236 · most liked firstPicked this up during the Summer Sale for €1.69 and honestly didn't expect much. A few runs later I was completely hooked. The combat feels great, putting builds together is a lot of fun, and every good run made me want to start another one. Now I finally understand why so many people recommended it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't know why but I expected an average fighting game where you mash buttons. To my surprise, this one is a bullet heaven. It's defintely an intersting and unique spin on the genre and totally worth buying.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yo guess what I got from the Nintendo EShop Yesterday. The 2024 Survival Roguelike Action Game Karate Survivor. #KarateSurvivor #Alawar #ActionGames #RoguelikeGames #SurvivalGames
neutral · AI labelView post →Decided to finally check out what this "Megabonk" game was that people were talking about. Oh. It's 3D Vampire Survivors/Karate Survivor... Well... I got something mindless to play when I'm having a day I'm too depressed to think. Good to have those types of games in stock... sadly. It's fun.
positive · AI labelView post →There's also a new game heavily inspired by Vampire Survivors called Karate Survivor. It uses the basic mechanics of VS (pushing through mobs of mooks and continuously upgrading abilities to become UNSTOPPABLE), but uses it to recreate the kinds of fight scenes in Jackie Chan movies.
neutral · AI labelView post →I really want to like this game, concept is good, but design is severely lacking. The environmental weapon gimmick is really clever but in practice they became the worst part of the game. After reaching rooftop stage, 100% of my runs are ended by picking up an environmental weapon, which is so much weaker than regular moves that they become literal run ending mines that magnetize toward you with generous range. A lot of the movement gimmicks are kinda range from pointless to straight…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Starts out pretty slow... quite literally don't forget up the gamespeed to 1.5x you get used to it right away... but gets pretty darn good quick once you start to unlock movement abilities and extra moves. Genuinely fun enough that I would have liked to have more levels and enemies to do martial moves on. A friend told me this is the premiere Jackie Chan simulator on steam and he's spot on. That reminds me there was supposed to be a game like that for the PS1... not sure if it ever got…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →100% completion Good vampire survival clone Metro Legend difficulty is bloody insane.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The idea and feel of the game is nice. The focus on picking up weapons and having a more environmental focus on combat is fun, throwing plates and beer bottles at your enemies and picking up everything from fake garden flamingoes to stairs to beat others up with. The martial arts 80's martial arts theme is also enjoyable, and shows itself through the game in both its art and items - eg. the currency for upgrades are knocked out teeth. The game also slowly unlocks more and more environmental…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →KAMGUSTA'S MINI REVIEW A "Vampire Survivors" game where you use your martial arts and all the scene items you can find to defeat the usual horde of increasingly powerful enemies. The homage to the Jackie Chan's filmography is obvious. It's a nice idea that somehow works (it really seems to be in a Jackie Chan movie), but it does have some gameplay limitations (you attack only in the direction you are facing, your attacks have cooldowns, all weapons are disposable, hitboxes are fuzzy, little…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Points for an original idea I guess, but the game itself is incredibly unpleasant to play. The player character hits the enemies with melee moves and then you have to wait out the cooldown until he hits again. This of course means that you have to constantly move in for the hit and then move out and just do it over and over. It just doesn't work too well for this type of a game IMO.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Starts interesting, looks cool, but becomes too unfair and mechanically lacking. Dificulty ramps up too fast and most mechanics are useless from the start or become useless minutes into the game. You can unlock a dodge move that lets you wall climb, but its is useless and always moves you into an enemy. It requires you to stop attacking for a while, then you do a backflip and land a bit further away from the wall. By not attacking, enemies pile up even more and the distance isn't enough to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Surprisingly, such a fun game for the price. It really needs to add 21:9 though as that would make the game just that much more enjoyable.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Basically a vampire survivors game based on Jackie Chan. Real fun to play but not a whole lot of replay value
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's absolutely casual and routine rogue-like, but, despite that fact, that's funny enough and evokes nostalgia about the 80s and movies with Jackie Chan.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is fun for the first couple of hours, then it becomes a chore When I finish every level mission on the hardest difficulties and I still haven't unlocked shuriken/burrito and still have many upgrades to buy, it's called bad game design and bad achievement design The game is too much RNG based and requires 0 skill. If you play on higher difficulties and last levels, just pray you get good RNG for combos and camp in the corner, that's it. Some enemies are just too tanky even with…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[Humble] 2D Rewind Collection ($6, $9, $12). $6 for 4 games - Samorost 3 - Not Tonight - Freedom Planet - CHUCHEL $9 for 3 games + above - NORCO - Luck Be a Landlord - Karate Survivor $12 for 6 games + above - River City Girls - River City Girls 2 - Rainbow Legends - Nova Drift - Freedom Planet 2 - Folklands
neutral · AI labelView post →As an avid Vampire Survivors enjoyer, i'll endorse this game only with a warning. Get used to get physical and learn how to buff your defense without missing any chance to get up your dps and pure damage. This game is more about positioning than sinergy. Cool game. I'll give it a Van Damme out of a Bruce Lee. That's like a 8 out 10 ─in the survivors milieu.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pros -Unique combat for a survivor like -Challenging at the start (this may be a con for some players) -Plenty of unlocks to work towards -Superb animations -Appealing visuals -Satisfying kills -Great music and sound design -Jackie Chan style nostalgia -On sale for $2.49 Cons Balance issues (details below) The only issue with the game is its balancing. I was able to cruise through every difficulty without dying once after unlocking a powerful mechanic called 'Sequence.' I'd suggest the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →INDIE GAME CHECKPOINT. An all-time fave indie game? Man, I’ve got goldfish brain right now…so I’ll tell ya what I’m playing this week. Karate Survivor Fruitbus Sulphur Nimrods Windblown Card-en-Ciel Rouge Flight …and that’s just the past 7 days!!
neutral · AI labelView post →For 1,49€ on sale, this is a steal. Hours of entertainment for a price of a chocolate bar. Love the theme!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Starting with a low-range forward facing attack and then RNGIng extra attacks in a game where you take damage being touched is..... A choice.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Repost: 2025 My Roguelite Year. Reprinting here an end-of-year post I made on Reddit’s r/roguelites last year in case it’s of interest to anyone in this community: _ 2025 was the year I played my first roguelite game ([Returnal](https://housemarque.com/games/returnal)) and fell deeply in love with the genre. I went crazy trying out all the roguelikes and roguelites I could get my hands on, spelunking back through genre classics while keeping up with new releases as well. This sub has…
neutral · AI labelView post →After the huge success of Vampire Survivors the "bullet heaven" genre sprung up overnight, with hundreds of clones that mostly repeat what poncle's game did. It's rare that an imitator tries to do something different, and this is the case with Karate Survivor, that forgoes the bullets (mostly) and tries to become a playable version of Jackie Chan's comedic martial arts movies, with a lone man using the common items and furniture around him as weapons, against hordes of nameless bad guys. For…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolutely awesome. This is a toybox with so much to do. So many cool skills and combos on top of all the environmental interactions. This is a 10/10 gameplay wise for me. The first few rounds while you unlock stuff might have you scoffing but the unlocks ramp up fast and the game gets better and better.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Horribly balanced. The game isn't hard per se, but it depends almost entirely on RNG especially in the beginning when you don't have your stats upped yet. It's rng what skills you get, what color skills that you have to match for them to flow more optimally, etc. In the first let's say minute of a run the weapons you can pick up and use temporarily are useful, but after that, even with virtually no permanent upgrades yet, your skills own damage will outclass that of picked up weapons and they…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I did not have high expectations for Karate Survivor. My gut reaction was to write it off as a generic roguelike bulletheaven (in the vein of Vampire Survivors) with a Kungfu theme. However, after playing it, I realized I was pretty on point actually. That said, I underestimated how much a well integrated thematic thread could bind the various elements into an experience that was fundamentally enjoyable. The aesthetic trappings, from the VHS-inspired UI components to the environmental…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🆕Karate Survivor: The Roguelite Brawler Taking PC Gaming by Storm?⁉️ youtu.be/LOsFboxjCRE #karatesurvivor #indiegame #fightinggames #gamingchannel #videogames #gamingcommunity
neutral · AI labelView post →Not really understanding the negative reviews, but I for one think this is an awesome little wave survivor doing its best Jacky Chan impression while offering a surprising amount of depth in content in an otherwise pretty simple genre. What really stood out to me though is how much thought and attention to detail went in to all the moves and how you can ultimately string them together to create devastating combo's. And not only do they look cool to pull off, it also feels very satisfying when…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →OMG what a slow grind fest this will be. Getting attacked from all angles yet your attacks are one directional.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you could actually aim the direction of your strikes in all directions this would have been a banger, but the way fighting is done isnt fun.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game started my love for the survivor-like genre. You play as Jackie Chan. Betrayed by China (because you mentioned that Taiwan is a country) you decide to flee the jaws of communism and step into the warm embrace of America's capitalism. But guess what? They exploit you too! Who could have guessed? Maybe Gary Guesser. But Gary didn't know Jackie Chan. Nor did Jackie know Gary. I don't even know Gary. What are we talking about? Oh yes, Karate Survivor. Jackie takes revenge on his enemies…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bear with it a few runs... The things you WILL hate right off the bat (one stick for both movement and the direction you're facing...) quickly stop being a problem. This game is fricken great!! A whole new twist on a survivors-like. Interesting and deep combat system! 100% recommend. Great price even without discount.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cool idea on paper - martial arts survivor with environmental hazards and random weapons, but I really don't like the execution. The attacks feel very weak, unsatisfying and I don't enjoy this forced "directional" combat
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →didn't care for the combo/combat system
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is well designed and a lot of fun until you run into the inevitable invisible walls and objects that stop you and get you killed. Wish they'd fix that.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →as cool of a game as this should be, it fails at being a bullet heaven AND a roguelite. The builds you can make are piss poor and it just feels like some mechanics that you can "unlock" should be part of the game from the beginning. Hitboxes force you to plan out when and where you should be when you attack, which is totally fine, but with a massively long cooldown, enemies building into the dozens only 2 minutes on the map, and a large array of random objects that block your path and make out…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's pretty good and has a lot going for it, but ultimately I cannot recommend it over similar games. It's fun for a while but then you realise you have to unlock almost all of the powerful moves that would let you complete a level, and actually also just to have fun. You feel pretty weak in the beginning and there is no random way you will just get powerful in a run and get a great buzz. It just takes a lot of pretty unfun grinding to unlock everything. As I said, it does have things going…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I read the manhwa 'Surviving the Game as a Barbarian' recently and it plays with this in some fun ways. I also like Karate Survivor a lot. In neither case do they specifically suck but the underdog approach still works for me, whereas I can't really stomach straight up power fantasy anymore.
positive · AI labelView post →This is basically a Jackie Chan simulator. Its an old-school version of Jackie Chan Stuntmaster, but this version really captures the spirits of, in my humble opinion, the great martial artist of all time. The gameplay is very easy and there is just tons and tons of upgrades and content to unlock. The graphics are fantastic and the character models are spectacular with a huge variety of enemies to battle. The levels are large and there are just lots and lot of ways to interact with the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Checked out Karate Survivor, a survival roguelite inspired by 80s action films on PS5. Enjoy some gameplay footage! *Game Key was provided by Vicarious PR on behalf of the publisher Alawar* #indiegames #indiegame youtu.be/p2IvDsVUhLQ?...
neutral · AI labelView post →I have picked up the same habit. I'll download and test a couple of dozen demos every next fest, and then wishlist/buy the ones that are good. I played 108 demos this year, and some of my favorite games this year were demos like this: Kill Knight, Last Plague Blight, Karate Survivor, Empty Shell...
neutral · AI labelView post →Getting sick of seeing garlic already? Explored enough dungeons and slayed through all kinds of fantasy monsters? Don't worry, this game will give you the chance to feel like a badass once in a lifetime. You stand in a supermarket, you did nothing wrong and all of a sudden, people want to beat the living kung fu out of you. The benefits of this game are clear as day: you feel like a badass, you don't lose your real teeth and in real life, you don't get your bones broken or nobody is throwing…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not worth the $1.50 i paid for. Terrible design to many of the features. Too grindy and repetitive to be fun
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In a world of Survivor-likes, this is certainly one of them.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'll give it a begrudging recommend. I love a good indie, but it's so hard to see a game with so much potential fall short of greatness. It's decent fun, but I've never seen a game have more "upgrades" that are liabilities. And the endgame content misses the mark entirely. Boss fights are insanely underwhelming, especially at higher difficulties. And the "endless" mode is god-AWFUL. How did you not just make it so that you can play a level endlessly??? Yikes. But still, yes, it's worth $5. But…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a great little game, especially if you have nostalgia for the Jackie Chan movies of the 90s. Accept it for the short indie game that it is; there are only 5 levels plus a wave mode, but great value for money and doesn't outstay its welcome. It's tough at the beginning, but unlocking a few moves and upgrades and knowing which level ups to pick brings the difficulty curve back in line. It's the only game I've bothered to finish on all difficulties and complete all the achievements for…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've dabbled with Vampire Survivors (picked up as freebie over at Epic) and tried some of the variants over time, but Karate Survivor is the most enjoyable of the lot. It's the same premise, but executed with an 80s martial arts palette. Whilst you will perish often early on, when perks are upgraded and skills collected you turn into a Jackie Chan inspired ballet of carnage. And the best part is the illusion you are wreaking havoc in real-time, but in reality it's the build and the buffs…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very Fun.... best 2 pound i spent in a long time... It gets addictive, give it a try... Jesus loves you all, make time for Him as well.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →6.5/10 endlessly yeet ♥♥♥♥ at a hoard of people + 5$
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not for me. The core concept of directional attacks with long cooldowns between where you have to constantly run and engage just wasn't fun. I do like the animation style of this game and how progression gives you increasingly fancy moves and parkour but ultimately its not fun enough for a game in this genre. This is not even remotely exclusive to Karate Survivor but I'm sick of meta progression having more currency and more pick up radius. These feel like 'skill taxes' you must pay…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Feels like being a kid watching Jackie Chan movies… but now I’m the one kicking, punching, and throwing stuff 😭✨ simple, chaotic, and COOL 😈💥
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →May as well call it Jackie Chan simulator. Very fun game if you like the survivors format.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it's a nice vs-like, has it's own unique setting which is pretty neat.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really fun game. Between the 5 levels and the 3 difficulty modes, it has just enough difficulty, grind, and feeling of progression to keep me idly occupied. I like that executing the actual attacks is periodic, automated, and that I just take care of the movement. Less load for me, and more focus on my positioning. The difficulty modes also change how you get damaged. At the easiest, you only get damaged when you touch enemies. At middle difficulty, you get damaged by the actual attacks, and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great on Steamdeck and well worth the price without a doubt.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty neat twist on a Vampire Survivors like game, quite interesting in terms of map interaction - It's more of an all-in Brawl Survivor than Karate Survivor - and comboing possibilities, with really good variety. I like that the quests/goals are clearly shown on the screen, unlike in that game. I also like the UI, learning curve and sounds. Definitely a polished, high quality game - no surprise as all the Alawar roguli(t/k)e games I've tried so far were fun and unique in some way.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Solid game if you're picking it up in a bundle, I got it for $3 and definitely got my value out of it. Borrows heavily from Vampire Survivor, but the aesthetics actually work really well in the Bulletheaven format, setting it apart from being just another clone. This would've been such a hit on my Sega Genesis growing up, reminds me of Double Dragon.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun and interesting riff on the Survivor formula and a love letter to 70s-90s martial arts movies. Only wish there were more characters to play as than the Jackie Chan/Chow Yun Fat expy, maybe a Sammo Hung expy that's slower or stronger, or a Bruce Lee expy who is faster, or a Cynthia Rothrock expy that has more damage with weapons. Other than that, well worth the $5.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A bit tougher than most 'survivor' games at the beginning, but definitely a good time if you're a fan of the genre. Animations for the moves are fantastic. Having a lot of fun with it so far.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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