Next Fest Demo Recommendations

The Steam Next Fest deluge of demos descends soon, but some of them where made available in advance, and I had a few recs. Chuck your own into the ring!

✨Pepper Grinder

Having been delighted by clips of this game for a few years now, I am happy to report it feels as good to play as it looks. Other games dabble in dig/swim-mechanics, but this is a exemplar of the form. Should mention Drill Dozer to activate a few extra freaks. (i am also a freak to be clear) Excited to play the full game!

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✨Children of the Sun

Humming with a mesmerizing, dense mood and atmosphere. A sniping puzzler where you attempt to pop every melon in a level with a single bullet that you can redirect when you hit a target. A lean & mean game that only intermittently communicates story at you in (appropriately violent) bursts of wordless comic panels, before throwing you back into the action. Already seems pretty sick. One to watch!

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✨Arco

Tasty chunky pixel art & a fresh, fun tactical “simultaneous turn-based” combat system!

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Tales of Kenzera: ZAU

If you're not all explormed out after PoP: The Lost Crown, this one seems pretty neat! I appreciate that you start with a double jump and dash, and then you go from there with additional abilities. (At least, that's what it seems like from the demo. Don't think this is a abilitease-situation?) The combat does not seem as slick as Lost Crown, but that could of course change in the full game. Less of a fiery recommendation for this one, but still worth checking out if your hunger cannot be sated.

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Demos going live on the 5th:

ULTROS

"...a psychedelic metroidvania where you wake up stranded on The Sarcophagus — a cosmic uterus holding an ancient, demonic being."

Hollowbody

Horror game set in England (terrifying!), with classic survival horror gameplay. One of the few games I’ve helped to kickstart, interested to finally give it a try.

Outcast - A New Beginning

After almost 25 years, Outcast is finally getting a sequel *and* a demo. The original game is one of my favorite gaming experiences ever and while it’d be great to see a worthy sequel for it, I’m not sure if this is going to be it…but hey, at least there’s a demo (which is going live on the 5th)!

I haven't dipped into the new demos yet, but one demo worth checking out that's been around for a while but is now being promoted in Next Fest is Balatro. It's a very addictive and fun deckbuilder that may be of extra interest if you're a poker fiend like Jan.

I'm not sure I can recommend it but I tried out the demo/beta for Stormgate, the game made by former Starcraft/Warcraft people. It's... interesting. Maybe give it a try? In the current state it is not for me as a Starcraft 2 player. It's much more Warcraft 3 than Starcraft-y. I tried watching a few Twitch streams of it to figure out what's going on in it but I find it quite tough to follow.

One big downside of the demo is that there's not really a way of playing against the AI to learn the ropes. The only options are multiplayer, co-op multiplayer, or multiplayer custom games.

Here's a quick rundown of what I've tried out thus far.

Great

Ultros - Absolutely oozing with style and polish, and the soundtrack is pretty incredible too. It's also one of the increasingly rare Metroidvania games that's willing to let you get a little confused and lost, and that really fits with the way this game immerses you in its weird trippy aesthetic. I immediately pre-ordered after playing this demo.

Pepper Grinder - Smooth gameplay that manages to feel as good as it looks in the GIFs. Great sketchy pixel art style too.

Good

Berserk Boy - A solid indie Mega Man with some nice pixel art and a very satisfying dash attack.

Arco - A very cool "simultaneous turn-based" strategy game with a nice chunky pixel art style. The gameplay is very reminiscent of last year's Phantom Brigade, as well as similar predecessors like Frozen Cortex, where you have a planning phase where you can see what the enemies are going to do and can plan your actions and then an action phase where you see your plan play out.

Mid

Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse - In much the same way that Palworld is a knock-off survival game version of Pokemon, this is a knock-off survival game version of Hollow Knight from the same developer. That said, this is completely lacking the immediate allure of Palworld. It might end up being OK as there are some decent ideas in here, but right now, this feels like a bit too much of an unpolished mess to actually enjoy.

Lightyear Frontier - It's yet another stick and rock game, this time with chill vibes and a mech. It's already quite well polished at this point, a month ahead of its Early Access launch, so this does seem poised to break through and connect with a subset of the survival game fans looking for a relaxed experience.

Realm of Ink - The performance was so bad in the initial tutorial section that I almost immediately quit, but once you're past that, this is a nice looking and not half bad Chinese Hades clone. It still needs a lot of work and polish, but there is a nugget of a potentially satisfying roguelike experience in here.

INDIKA

It's real odd. Like, really really odd. You play as a nun in a Russian Convent traveling with a prisoner that takes you hostage while solving puzzles through praying, leveling up stats like "Guilt" and "Shame" and the devil is taunting you the whole time. And the UI has a weird, out of place pixel text look. I don't know if it's good as a game, but it's definitely worth seeing, even if you don't end up liking it.

@glots: Hollowbody: I've been intrigued by footage of this game - that key art grabs me everytime! England is indeed the most terrifying setting. Hopefully you fight Mangled Cyborg Thatcher at the end (if not there's always) Impressive work by a solo dev! If you haven't checked it out yet, you might enjoy Crow Country

Outcast - A New Beginning: Seems like it could be a cromulent open-world action adventure, but I can't really speak to whether or not it hits on what fans of the original love - I just remember playing the demo (of the OG) as a child and being amazed by the deep footprints left in the snow. Unfortunately they're not using voxel terrain anymore :'(

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@ben_h: Stormgate: This does seem enticing - well, in theory, at least: in practice I am magnificently useless at RTS games. Get anxious just thinking about playing online. But I like looking at all those lil' guys running around!

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@chaser324: Balatro: Had randomly played this even though I'm not much of a poker pervert or card crazy, but it seems quite neat! The inherent aspect of chance feels appropriate here. Could be catnip for everyone who enjoys creating colossal combos. And getting into Poker Trouble.

And heck yeah, Ultros! Oozing is a apt word to use here.

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@tartyron: INDIKA: Ooh, didn't know this had a demo! This had a strikingly wild trailer, and the game does seem to live up to it. The classically "video gamey" aspects might be taking the piss? A lot of style, but seemingly also some substance. The puzzlin' seems decent ... but yes I don't think I need any more chase sequences.

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🔥One Hot Recc:

Hauntii - Absolutely gorgeous ghost 'em up! Love the artstyle. Some light twin-stick combat, but the main focus seems to be on exploratory 'ghost around and find out' puzzle solving - in a fun and unobtuse way, I think.

•Pretty Cool:

Crypt Custodian - Another pretty action-adventure set in the afterlife?? Though this is a game you've very much seen before: Top-down exploration, light puzzle solving & simple combat — but it's all well done and with bunch of charm. Your mileage may vary, but I thought it was fun. Not 100% I'd play this for several hours, though. Might outstay its welcome. Still, a impressive effort from solo dev Kyle Thompson!

•Next Stop, Badvibes Station:

Miniatures - Appropriately unsettled, sketchy pencilwork in this unsettling point 'n click narrative experience. I appreciate the mostly straightforward symbolism/metaphors at play: means a basic b like me can interpret for once. Probably not for everyone. And if you have some familial strife-related trauma in your past this might be a bit too intense.