About the Game
Buckle up, pilot! We're stationed above an alien planet surrounded with an abandoned mining system and filled with alien bugs. Your mission? Dive into the tamed sectors, use the mining system to collect upgrade parts and extract the Bioshards from alien minerals. Beware— the system is infested with alien bug cells spreading and waiting to hatch. Stay quick on your feet, and you might just make it out in one piece!
At the start of every expedition, the map is procedurally generated, and it's crawling with alien bugs. The cells constantly spread and evolve. When triggered, the bugs burst out from the cells to swarm you down!
Equip up to five skills each run: active ones that strike automatically or passive ones that boost your abilities. Upgrade each skill differently to maximize their potential. Discover unique synergies between skills and upgrades to optimize your build. The better your synergies, the easier you'll crush enemies!
BEWARE OF THE SWARM
At the start of every expedition, the map is procedurally generated, and it's crawling with alien bugs. The cells constantly spread and evolve. When triggered, the bugs burst out from the cells to swarm you down!
EXPLORE TO BUILD SYNERGIES
Equip up to five skills each run: active ones that strike automatically or passive ones that boost your abilities. Upgrade each skill differently to maximize their potential. Discover unique synergies between skills and upgrades to optimize your build. The better your synergies, the easier you'll crush enemies!
FEATURES
- Unique horde trigger mechanic
- 3 characters with rank missions
- 3 maps with 7 evolution difficulties
- 14 skills with 120+ unique upgrades
- 8 Gadgets
- 19 items with rarities
- 10 enemy varieties with 2 bosses
- Operator
- 25+ achievements
Screenshots
6 images
Version Information
Steam Patch Notes
Official update history
On the site: Build 24105290
Up to date
Swarm Grinder update.
Check it and give feedback please. <3
View on Steam
Check it and give feedback please. <3
Hello everyone,
In this update, I’ve added new features to the modding menu:
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43112903/13541a089f4a1ca7f3af451aa2571cac0a75593e.png
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43112903/722309c0bfb8cb14e2e4a7a8449afa874652c90d.gif
Yes, the "<---" was never really necessary. It was likely a quick fix from a developer (that was me) that slipped past the artist’s review in the past.
Since my last post, I’ve been focused on developing a new game mode and making steady progress toward its release. This is the most critical step for me, as it will allow me to fully understand and refine the game’s flow. My goal is to deliver a new game mode within this month or the next.
Separately, I’m working on expanding the roster with new characters and skills. This brings its own challenges, especially on the art side. (Spoiler: I’m not a pixel artist!) I’ve been sketching character concepts and exploring ways to ensure the art remains high-quality while overcoming this hurdle.
If you’re wondering how you can help, I’d love to hear your ideas for new characters and skills. Don’t hesitate to share—what kind of skills would you like to see next in Swarm Grinder?
Also, Swarm Grinder is featured in Bullet Heaven Fest 2.0, and Steam is exploring the addition of a new tag, "Bullet Heaven." We’ve been asked to support this effort by adding the custom tag to Swarm Grinder.
This is an exciting opportunity to be part of adding a new tag to Steam and helping define a genre for games like ours.
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43112903/ae06d13ee36999001d6dfe6399a67110c384aa95.png
If you’d like to help, simply head to Steam and add the “Bullet Heaven” tag to Swarm Grinder!
Don’t forget to share your skill ideas with me. I’m eager to hear what you have in mind!
Take care,
Kağan.
View on Steam
In this update, I’ve added new features to the modding menu:
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43112903/13541a089f4a1ca7f3af451aa2571cac0a75593e.png
- Trigger Range: Customize the activation range for cells.
- Cooldown: Adjust skill cooldown durations.
- Random Skill: Begin the game with 5 random abilities.
- Enemy Speed: Alter enemy movement speed.
- Back Button: Changed "<-----" to proper back button.
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43112903/722309c0bfb8cb14e2e4a7a8449afa874652c90d.gif
Yes, the "<---" was never really necessary. It was likely a quick fix from a developer (that was me) that slipped past the artist’s review in the past.
Since my last post, I’ve been focused on developing a new game mode and making steady progress toward its release. This is the most critical step for me, as it will allow me to fully understand and refine the game’s flow. My goal is to deliver a new game mode within this month or the next.
Separately, I’m working on expanding the roster with new characters and skills. This brings its own challenges, especially on the art side. (Spoiler: I’m not a pixel artist!) I’ve been sketching character concepts and exploring ways to ensure the art remains high-quality while overcoming this hurdle.
If you’re wondering how you can help, I’d love to hear your ideas for new characters and skills. Don’t hesitate to share—what kind of skills would you like to see next in Swarm Grinder?
Also, Swarm Grinder is featured in Bullet Heaven Fest 2.0, and Steam is exploring the addition of a new tag, "Bullet Heaven." We’ve been asked to support this effort by adding the custom tag to Swarm Grinder.
This is an exciting opportunity to be part of adding a new tag to Steam and helping define a genre for games like ours.
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43112903/ae06d13ee36999001d6dfe6399a67110c384aa95.png
If you’d like to help, simply head to Steam and add the “Bullet Heaven” tag to Swarm Grinder!
Don’t forget to share your skill ideas with me. I’m eager to hear what you have in mind!
Take care,
Kağan.
Fixed localization issues in the modding menu.
Fixed some UI text issues in the main menu.
Optimization Fixes.
View on Steam
Fixed some UI text issues in the main menu.
Optimization Fixes.
Hey there, thanks for playing v0.7.0 and giving feedbacks. This hotfix (more like warmfix now) should solve these problems:
We are aware of the issue preventing the game from opening only on the Mac version, and we are still working to resolve this issue. Thank you for your patient waiting, and we apologize for this unexpected problem.
View on Steam
- We hope, problems with last drill area are solved. Now you can find and open the cells on last drill area without any problems.
- Late game waves are harder. You won't make it out alive.
- Tentacle attack and Vortex Blade pull areas are now correctly represented.
- Cursed Chests can be see from a bit farther.
- Cursed Chests now open instantly. Some players stop expecting the game to stop instantly and enemies would catch up and damage the player.
- Some little quality of life and text improvements:
- Hp regen upgrade in Workshop now correctly displays health regen, from 0.4 to 0.2.
- Main Menu -> Back to Lobby in Run End Screen
- Confirm prompt for refunding Workshop purchases
- Hovering over Gadget and Evolution selections in Selection menu now selects them and updates info text.
- Sometimes WASD and gamepad navigation would stop working in specific menus. They should mostly be fixed now.
- Some more unmentioned text and bug fixes.
We are aware of the issue preventing the game from opening only on the Mac version, and we are still working to resolve this issue. Thank you for your patient waiting, and we apologize for this unexpected problem.
v0.5.1
We have been cleaning up our code, optimizing older systems and incorporating new systems to make the game run smoother and more consistent. This should increase FPS and minimize FPS drops noticably.
View on Steam
We have been cleaning up our code, optimizing older systems and incorporating new systems to make the game run smoother and more consistent. This should increase FPS and minimize FPS drops noticably.
Skills
- The Vortex Blade skill has been removed from the Bulletstorm character and replaced with a new skill, Feather Blades.
- The Torch skill has been removed from the Bulletstorm character and replaced with a new skill, Pacemaker.
- The Gatling Gun skill has been removed from the Butcher character and replaced with a new skill, Railgun.
- Two new upgrades have been added to the Mortar skill.
- The Heal on Kill upgrade from the Arsenal skill has been moved to the Pacemaker skill.
- Two new upgrades have been added to the Arsenal skill.
- A Cast Time has been added to the Mortar skill. Now, even if the Cooldown is equal to zero, a minimum amount of time will have to pass before it can be used again.
- The Global Damage given by Arsenal when first obtained has been reduced to 20%.
- The Global Damage multiplier provided by Final Touches, the special upgrade for Arsenal, has been reduced to 1.75.
- The base damage of Homing Missiles has been increased to 20.
- The base damage of the Gatling Gun has been decreased to 7.
- The cooldown period for Vortex Blade has been reduced to 2 seconds.
- Base explosion damage has been reduced to 5.
Visual Fixes and Improvements
- All special upgrades now have their own icon.
- The visuals of explosion effects no longer cover the health bars.
- The issue with the hit area showing up when the Boss first arrives has been fixed.
- The problem of the selection frame in the Available Skills section being under the icons has been resolved.
UI/UX Fixes and Improvements
- The option to hide the skill name written on the icon of skills dropped from the Drilling Station has been added. You can access it from the "Options/Interface" menu.
- The problem of the maximum health sometimes being shown incorrectly at the start of the game has been solved.
- The problem with incorrect input hints appearing on the Workshop screen has been solved.
- While in the main menu, if you switch to a different window, the issue of button sounds being heard while navigating with the mouse, even though the game is not in focus, has been solved.
- The reward title of achievements that don't give rewards has been removed.
Achievements
- 8 new achievements have been added. You can check the details in the Codex/Achievements section.
- The amount of rewards given by most achievements has been reduced.
View on Steam
- The Vortex Blade skill has been removed from the Bulletstorm character and replaced with a new skill, Feather Blades.
- The Torch skill has been removed from the Bulletstorm character and replaced with a new skill, Pacemaker.
- The Gatling Gun skill has been removed from the Butcher character and replaced with a new skill, Railgun.
- Two new upgrades have been added to the Mortar skill.
- The Heal on Kill upgrade from the Arsenal skill has been moved to the Pacemaker skill.
- Two new upgrades have been added to the Arsenal skill.
- A Cast Time has been added to the Mortar skill. Now, even if the Cooldown is equal to zero, a minimum amount of time will have to pass before it can be used again.
- The Global Damage given by Arsenal when first obtained has been reduced to 20%.
- The Global Damage multiplier provided by Final Touches, the special upgrade for Arsenal, has been reduced to 1.75.
- The base damage of Homing Missiles has been increased to 20.
- The base damage of the Gatling Gun has been decreased to 7.
- The cooldown period for Vortex Blade has been reduced to 2 seconds.
- Base explosion damage has been reduced to 5.
Visual Fixes and Improvements
- All special upgrades now have their own icon.
- The visuals of explosion effects no longer cover the health bars.
- The issue with the hit area showing up when the Boss first arrives has been fixed.
- The problem of the selection frame in the Available Skills section being under the icons has been resolved.
UI/UX Fixes and Improvements
- The option to hide the skill name written on the icon of skills dropped from the Drilling Station has been added. You can access it from the "Options/Interface" menu.
- The problem of the maximum health sometimes being shown incorrectly at the start of the game has been solved.
- The problem with incorrect input hints appearing on the Workshop screen has been solved.
- While in the main menu, if you switch to a different window, the issue of button sounds being heard while navigating with the mouse, even though the game is not in focus, has been solved.
- The reward title of achievements that don't give rewards has been removed.
Achievements
- 8 new achievements have been added. You can check the details in the Codex/Achievements section.
- The amount of rewards given by most achievements has been reduced.
UI/UX Improvements and Fixes
- The text and duration of the "Incoming Wave" message now appear as an animation for better visibility.
- Fixed an issue where the information box at the end of the game displayed "24" instead of "25" for the cleared area count.
- Skills in the indicators now fill up from bottom to top for a more natural appearance.
- Resolved an issue about the information box would blink when navigating with the mouse on the Build Display screen.
- The headings in the "Perks" section of the character selection screen now appear in different color and bold for better emphasis.
- Added the option to adjust the visibility of enemy health bars in the Options/Interface section. Options include always show, never show, or only show if damaged (default).
- The game can now be switched between Fullscreen and Windowed modes. Hopefully, with this patch, resolution-related issues should be fixed too???
- Fixed an issue where the progress bar image in the icon before the boss appears in the mining area would not change.
- Added the information "Enemies evolve over time" to the description of the Mining Expedition mode.
- The issue where achievements would disappear and reappear upon entering and exiting runs should be resolved.
- The "Show Enemy Damage Numbers" option has been moved to the Options/Interface section.
- Fixed the "Damage" information in the Mortar/Nuke upgrade to be corrected as "Area."
Audio Improvements / Fixes
- The sound volume of the Wave music has been slightly lowered to achieve a better balance with the theme music.
- The sound of the Vortex Blades has been slightly lowered.
- Cleaver now repeats its sound with each turn.
Visual Improvements / Fixes
- Fixed an issue where the upper body of the Butcher character would appear in front of the drilling station when he moved behind it.
- Fixed the issue where the shadows of falling Bio Shards would stick to them. Now the shadow operates independently from the Bio Shards visuals.
- The animation speed of the Vortex Blades now changes according to the strike frequency.
- Enemies that drop Bio Shards now trigger cells around them in a graded manner, similar to how the waves trigger the cells.
- Fixed an issue where the visual of enemies that drop Bio Shards would teleport when attacking at the final level.
- Fixed an issue where the boss's surfacing animation doesn't appear.
Gameplay Improvements / Fixes
- The numerical increase in damage taken from enemies according to the level has been rebalanced.
Other
- Fixed the issue where the "Survive for 10 Minutes" achievement would sometimes be delayed in unlocking.
View on Steam
- The text and duration of the "Incoming Wave" message now appear as an animation for better visibility.
- Fixed an issue where the information box at the end of the game displayed "24" instead of "25" for the cleared area count.
- Skills in the indicators now fill up from bottom to top for a more natural appearance.
- Resolved an issue about the information box would blink when navigating with the mouse on the Build Display screen.
- The headings in the "Perks" section of the character selection screen now appear in different color and bold for better emphasis.
- Added the option to adjust the visibility of enemy health bars in the Options/Interface section. Options include always show, never show, or only show if damaged (default).
- The game can now be switched between Fullscreen and Windowed modes. Hopefully, with this patch, resolution-related issues should be fixed too???
- Fixed an issue where the progress bar image in the icon before the boss appears in the mining area would not change.
- Added the information "Enemies evolve over time" to the description of the Mining Expedition mode.
- The issue where achievements would disappear and reappear upon entering and exiting runs should be resolved.
- The "Show Enemy Damage Numbers" option has been moved to the Options/Interface section.
- Fixed the "Damage" information in the Mortar/Nuke upgrade to be corrected as "Area."
Audio Improvements / Fixes
- The sound volume of the Wave music has been slightly lowered to achieve a better balance with the theme music.
- The sound of the Vortex Blades has been slightly lowered.
- Cleaver now repeats its sound with each turn.
Visual Improvements / Fixes
- Fixed an issue where the upper body of the Butcher character would appear in front of the drilling station when he moved behind it.
- Fixed the issue where the shadows of falling Bio Shards would stick to them. Now the shadow operates independently from the Bio Shards visuals.
- The animation speed of the Vortex Blades now changes according to the strike frequency.
- Enemies that drop Bio Shards now trigger cells around them in a graded manner, similar to how the waves trigger the cells.
- Fixed an issue where the visual of enemies that drop Bio Shards would teleport when attacking at the final level.
- Fixed an issue where the boss's surfacing animation doesn't appear.
Gameplay Improvements / Fixes
- The numerical increase in damage taken from enemies according to the level has been rebalanced.
Other
- Fixed the issue where the "Survive for 10 Minutes" achievement would sometimes be delayed in unlocking.
- Minor optimization improvements have been made.
- Mining zone icons now change to indicate incoming boss.
- Fixed some typos.
View on Steam
- Mining zone icons now change to indicate incoming boss.
- Fixed some typos.
- Not being able to change the display screen has been fixed.
View on Steam
- Fixed some typos.
- Resolved the issue with the screen shaking excessively during the final wave.
- Fixed the issue where the acid thrown by enemies could deal damage outside of the area it landed.
- Resolution-related problems have been resolved.
- Fixed the issue where skills dropped by the boss could get stuck outside the map or in the excavator.
- The timer now stops when the game-ending text appears.
- Fixed the issue with the total amount of money earned being displayed incorrectly.
- Made some user interface adjustments.
- The boss has been rebalanced.
- Added the ability to disable damage numbers.
- Added a resolution adjustment option.
View on Steam
- Resolved the issue with the screen shaking excessively during the final wave.
- Fixed the issue where the acid thrown by enemies could deal damage outside of the area it landed.
- Resolution-related problems have been resolved.
- Fixed the issue where skills dropped by the boss could get stuck outside the map or in the excavator.
- The timer now stops when the game-ending text appears.
- Fixed the issue with the total amount of money earned being displayed incorrectly.
- Made some user interface adjustments.
- The boss has been rebalanced.
- Added the ability to disable damage numbers.
- Added a resolution adjustment option.
Current Release
Build 24105290
Uploaded Jul 25, 2026
System Requirements
OS
N/A
CPU
Dual Core+
RAM
2 GB RAM
GPU
1 GB VRAM
How to Install
1
Download all files
2
Extract the .ZIP file to a folder (use WinRAR or 7-Zip)
3
Run Swarm Grinder.exe to play
Troubleshooting tips
• Run Redist/_CommonRedist installers if game won't start
• Add folder to Windows Defender exclusions
• Run as administrator
Download
Direct link available
Archive password
Needed when extracting (WinRAR / 7-Zip) — not a site login.
CRC32
AA58DD2A
SHA-256
8d2acdc3fd1e65f78a4a712ef42ff1a5a9157c082a1b23d95b3c99914d2a91b6
How: Right-click the downloaded file → 7-Zip / WinRAR → CRC SHA → compare with the values above.
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Download Swarm Grinder for PC with a direct link or via torrent. Get the full version of Swarm Grinder for free. Swarm Grinder is a Action released by Last Bite Games.