Steam Next Fest - February 2022
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I am very well known for spamming links at all my friends; This blog post started off as pretty much that, when the Steam Next Fest started on the 21st I thought why not take the time to go through the ones that I had wishlisted and some more and then share them with group of game designers at work. I checked out more and more demos, shared them with my colleagues and went even further curating links that I then shared with friends who I thought might like those specific random gems I found. I was about to copy paste all the things I had shared and wrote into our discord and realised, hey! this is why we have a blog!
Chances are by the time you read this, the next fest will be over and you’d probably have to wait for another festival to play these demos again (or maybe not 🤔). But hey! if you fancy a game on the list below, do check them out, watch a video, play the demo if its still available, wishlist and follow!
1. Lunark
Lunark is a really cool pulp & colorful 2D cinematic platformer that is a throwback to games from the 90s like Flashback or Prince of Persia. If you liked Flashback, you'd really like this game. The dev's twitter (@johanvinet) also has a bunch of cool BTS about how they do rotoscoping for most of their smooth animation etc.
Link - Steam
2. Warhammer 40K: Shootas, Blood & Teef
There is a really good looking Warhammer 40k platformer if that makes sense. I played the demo through and it felt slightly odd. The art gave off very Klei - Shank/Mark of the Ninja vibe and it was a fun twin stick. Maybe this is one for those ardent 40k fans
Link - Steam
3. Forward: Escape the Fold
I’ve been thinking (forever now) to make a simple CCG, and while rooting around in many a discord, bumped into a unique roguelike dungeon crawler called Forward: Escape the Fold, which just so happened to have a demo on as part of the next fest! It is a really unique dungeon crawler and was really fun to play!
Link - Steam
4. Meteora
Big Boot Games is a Mumbai based studio who has a game called Meteora as part of the next fest. I’ve had a chance to play a build quite a while ago and thought I’d see what’s new! Its a quaint take on an arcade style action game with really gorgeous graphics! Do check it out!
Link - Steam
5. Souldiers
I get bogged down by metroidvanias because of their backtracking, boss fights and sometimes their overall grind; But if you are into them, do look Souldiers - from what little I played, there is a very interesting start of a story, easy to get into mechanics, good platforming, interesting enemies, skill trees, lots of items and more 😅 and I didn’t play for that long!
Link - Steam
6. Lost in Play
I spotted this insanely good looking point and click adventure when it popped up on my twitter early last year. It had super smooth animation and an art style reminiscent of Hilda.
Link - Steam
7. Pharaoh
This is a remaster of the classic city builder Pharaoh, in glorious 60fps and with a graphical boost. The game looks amazing and if city builders are your thing, be sure to check out the demo right now!
Link - Steam
8. Mini Maker: Make a Thing
Mini Maker is just bizarre fun! Pick up client projects and make stuff up with no undo 😅 just like real life. I’m hoping that they release it eventually on iOS so I can play this with my kid.
Link - Steam
9. A Little To The Left
A little to the left is a very interesting tiny puzzle game that exudes the same kind of vibe that I got from games like Assemble with Care. It is really well made and the puzzles are not really difficult, but charming and satisfying. Also, cats! 😼
Link - Steam
10. Madshot
Madshot is a Lovecraftian platforming twin stick shooter roguelite which has a slay the spire-esque tree with random encounters that you traverse to reach the top to fight the big bad. The game looked nice, but the gameplay felt a bit weird, maybe not as refined nor as satisfying as the trailers made it out to be. But hey! this is a demo after all and let’s hope the devs get enough feedback to iron out all the kinks!
Link - Steam
11. Hazel Sky
Is Hazel Sky a crash course in aeronautical engineering, probably not; but it is a super interesting adventure game which is really well made. Still to play the demo to the end, but I’m thoroughly enjoying the experience so far. The puzzles, the art, a well made third person controller and mechanics all fit nicely together.
Link - Steam
12. Crimson Tactics: The Rise of The White Banner
Crimson Tactics is a turn based tactical RPG by Black March Studios from Dehradun. The game has really polished art and the little bit I’ve played sees you juggling melee, magic and special abilities in tactical combat. If you are into turn based tactics games, do give it a go!
Link - Steam
13. Doors: Paradox
This reminded me of the Room and its sequel and a lot of other small puzzle games that let you play in a vignette like situation. Really really cool stuff! With the success of games like Escape Simulator, this seems to be a hit in the making!
Link - Steam
14. BLASTRONAUT
I think I got sold on the idea of mining proc-gen worlds! Feels a bit rough around the edges, but still fun to play!
Link - Steam
15. Super Catboy
Super Catboy looks and plays like a retro game from the 16 bit era. But, it does play better than the games from the past as it adapts a bunch of the newer platforming mechanics to make the gameplay much better. The demo is short and will get you a good taste of what the game plays like. It also has some really nice pixel art!
Link - Steam
That’s a wrap!
So there you have it folks. I guess you can call this my top 15 from this Next Fest. I hope you all get a chance to play, wishlist and follow them. Until next time! Cheers 🍻