I’ve been scouring the internet playing game after game, indie after indie, all so that I can rank the best indie games of the year. Shine a spotlight on games that people need to check out. In that journey, I stumbled upon this game called the Blood Bar Tycoon. Blood Bar Tycoon is a vampire-themed management sim that lets you run your very own blood-slinging nightclub. Think Two Point Hospital meets What We Do in the Shadows. It’s got personality, charm, and a unique premise that sets it apart from other games in the genre. You’re not just running a business—you’re managing a blood empire, luring in humans, serving eccentric vampires, and building your way up to vampire royalty. Sounds wild, right? It is. But does the game deliver on that intriguing concept?
Let’s sink our teeth into it.
Gameplay and Loop
You start off as a minion managing one of many vampire bars for a powerful elder. Your goal? Build your bar, harvest human blood, research wacky machinery, and grow your influence across Crimson City. You’ll complete objectives like draining humans, crafting specific drinks, and hitting monetary milestones before unlocking new levels.
The gameplay feels very reminiscent of Two Point Campus or Zoo Tycoon. You expand your facility, optimize staff, research upgrades, and decorate to raise your prestige and attract more… customers. Except here, your customers are the undead, and your “resources” are human blood bags with a pulse.
Once things click, it becomes an addictive loop. You start planning optimal layouts, managing zones, and telling yourself “just one more night”—only to realize an hour has passed. There’s a freeplay mode unlocked after a few campaign missions, which gives you full creative control to build your own vampire empire without restrictions.
Negatives
While the core gameplay loop is fun, there’s no ignoring the rough edges. The UI is clunky, and you’ll often fight the controls more than your in-game challenges. Buttons are poorly placed (accidentally closing the bar is easier than it should be), and key mechanics like staff traits or customer needs lack clear explanations.
The campaign lacks narrative depth. There’s a faint storyline involving your rise through the vampire ranks, but it never really grabs your attention. Instead, it’s just level after level of managing bars with slightly different layouts and themes.
And then there are the bugs. Performance hitches, freezes, and responsiveness issues pop up frequently—especially during object placement or when navigating the menu. It’s playable, but not always pleasant. NPC pathfinding can also be janky. Sometimes your workers just… don’t listen, and vampire guests cause chaos because they’re allowed to roam anywhere—even into human-only zones where they wreak havoc if their drinks are delayed.
The difficulty is oddly tied to dialogue choices rather than a proper setting. Choose the “wrong” response to a sleazy character, and you might unintentionally crank the challenge up. It feels like the game forces you to comply rather than letting you play your way.
Presentation and Performance
The game’s aesthetic leans into gothic camp in the best way. You’ll unlock themed bar styles like country-western, retro ‘70s, techno, and more as you progress. It’s not the most graphically intense game, but it has a distinct style and a sense of humor that fits the premise well.
On Steam Deck, the game is technically playable, but the UI and text are tiny. You’ll want to dock it or play on a larger screen to keep track of everything.
Overall, Should You Play Blood Bar Tycoon?
Blood Bar Tycoon is a quirky, compelling twist on the management sim formula. The concept is killer, and the moment-to-moment gameplay can be seriously fun once you push past the jank. It’s not the next genre-defining title, but for fans of The Sims, Two Point Hospital, or Zoo Tycoon, there’s definitely fun to be had here.
If the developers commit to patching its technical issues and refining the UI, Blood Bar Tycoon could become a beloved cult classic. As it stands, it’s a solid, if flawed, bite-sized management sim with a lot of heart—and a lot of blood.
