Steam’s Next Fest is back and blooming with all sorts of demos, I’ve got a handful here that are gonna blow your socks off! They are in the order that I played them, and if you’re super cool, you’ll at least add 6 to your wishlist (that’s all of them >.<)
Anyways happy reading, and at the bottom is a link to the video version of this article! - August Poe
Future Knight (developed by Studio Koba and Aeternum Game Studios) - The first demo I played and it put me in such a good mood. Future Knight is a 2D shooter with a striking LCD art style, a bursting and very interesting soundtrack, and an unself-serious tone that makes every encounter a fun balance of trying to acknowledge the absurdity of the enemies while avoiding their attacks. Being able to swap between Future Knight or this little being named Two-more allows for a fun back and forth in or out of combat. The combat encounters have an intimate feeling where there are never an absurd amount of enemies on screen, and enemies have shortly telegraphed moves that keep you on your toes. If you enjoy games with a silly tone and or portable/handheld design, I think you’ll like this.
My favorite thing from the demo was the level select screen, so peaceful with the ambient sounds of the city, a nice breather in between levels.
Spy Drops Gaiden (developed by Dadako) - Simple stealthy goodness. A limited color palette, patrolling guards you can tranquilize from afar or drag into the shadows. Your mission takes place on an island with a military base meaning plenty of bushes, tall grass, rain, transport trucks and the like for you to crawl, hide in or under, and slip just out of sight. A short and sweet demo that has me curious on how the rest of the island operates. If you enjoy stealth in it’s purity, this is for you.
My favorite thing in this demo was the dream catching, I enjoyed watching the animation for it every single time.
Bad Pixels (developed by Dadako) - Absolutely hooked and I need more please. A mechanically straightforward demo, a few missions where you find and shoot some bad guys while avoiding shooting regular old townsfolk. I could not stop grinning while playing this demo, the art style is so beautiful in both screenshots and in motion. I love the voices for the characters and the silly tone of the game. The enemies have wonderful little quips like “dog darn it” or “easy now” when you shoot them. You can even read their gravestones with their wacky names at the place where you defeated them. The combat is basic but very satisfying, a limited ammo supply will keep you in check from getting too comfortable in missing your shots. The enemies do quite a bit of damage as well so use some strafing and crouching to your advantage.
My favorite thing from this demo was having interactable cacti, where if you press use on them, you take 1 damage.
Airframe Ultra (developed by VIDEOCULT) - Gritty, crunchy, uncontained 3RD person multiplayer racing combat that allows for bombastic player expression. This game cultivates such a sense of place in all of it’s environments, with track layouts that feel like they arose from a community of racers who see opportunities in places that are not designed for their presence. High speed races are broken up by timed, sectioned off arena fights that take place along your route with all sorts of weapons you can buy. I adore this games’ messy possibility space and all of my memorable interactions within it.
My favorite thing in this open beta was luring the racer shooting at me from behind into a thought to be dead end only to cut through a small crevice they were unaware of, resulting in hearing their crash as i got away.
Phonopolis (developed by Amanita Design) - What is the reverse of crying for your eyes? I know that might sound strange but as soon as I started playing this game it’s like I could feel my eyes jittering with happiness. Phonopolis is a point and click adventure game and this has instantly become one of my most anticipated games to release this year. I love the premise of you finding headphones to block out all of the barking from loudspeakers in this authoritarian city. All of the expressive little details had me pouring over everything this demo had to offer because I didn’t want to miss anything. The light puzzle solving was all so creative, making me giggle, grin, and just marvel at the clever interactions I saw take place. This game made me decide to start up development on a game I had paused working on and that is the highest praise I could give a game.
My favorite thing from this demo was not hearing other characters voices, but your character mimicking them instead.
Blast Cats (developed by Blast Cats Dev) - Has so many fresh ideas and I love them all, absolutely spilling over with kinetic energy, wearing it’s too cool for school 90’s rendered inspirations as a glossy jacket as it shows that so many specific design intentions can make something feel so new in a genre as explored as 3D platformers. This game dances on the line of telling you what to do but not how to do it in fascinating ways while also rewarding those who observe the world closely. There is so much going on in the slice that we got for this demo that I am beyond excited for all the punchy and glorious fun I’m going to have with the full release.
If you enjoy 3D platformers or games with a freshly unique design, you owe it to yourself to try this demo.
Hope you had fun reading <3 now go play some games!
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