Steam Next Fest is a week-long celebration featuring hundreds of FREE playable demos as well as developer livestreams and chats. Players try out upcoming games on Steam pre-release, developers gather feedback and build an audience ahead of their Steam launch, everyone wins!
Have had my eye on Lightyear Frontier since it’s announcement trailer, as well as Ultros and Pacific Drive. Star Trucker, Synergy, Welcome to Paradize look interesting from the default list. Probably gonna give Never Grave a try too. Will update when/if I get the time to play them!
Here’s some updated thoughts on the demos I’ve gotten to:
Lightyear Frontier was a fairly interesting take on the usual survival-crafter, turning a mech into a toolbox of sorts. It was a pretty limited demo, but had some intriguing mechanics. However, what was hinted at beyond the demo seemed fairly small, but it’s unclear how much was just a hint for the demo and how much exists outside of that.
Ultros was an interesting platformer, but it felt a bit jerky to me. Fantastic visuals, though.
Pacific Drive was probably my favorite demo of the group. Perhaps a tad more linear than I’d prefer, but the looting and crafting tied with the supernatural atmosphere was very appealing. The demo gave me just enough of a taste to leave me eager for the full game.
Welcome to Paradize was surprisingly fun. The snarky dialogue isn’t super my jam, but the gameplay was fun enough. Interested in what the full game would look like.
Star Trucker has promise as a somewhat more whimsical Elite: Dangerous style game (with inner-cockpit gameplay to boot!), but the demo is a bit strict, requiring a full restart instead of having saves or checkpoints, so I didn’t make it all the way through. Will be keeping my eye on it, though.
Balatro was a surprisingly appealing game to me as someone who generally finds the deck-builder genre unappealling. Might be keeping this one on my radar as well.
Pepper Grinder was a pretty entertaining platformer that plays very smoothly for how frantic it can feel at times. Killer title menu music, too, which I hope is indicative of the rest of the game’s soundtrack.
Duck Detective was a playful and cute little deduction game. The dialogue was great, reminding me a bit of the old Sam & Max games, and the aesthetic is pretty great too. Demo was scandalously short, but might pick it up in the future.
Have had my eye on Lightyear Frontier since it’s announcement trailer, as well as Ultros and Pacific Drive. Star Trucker, Synergy, Welcome to Paradize look interesting from the default list. Probably gonna give Never Grave a try too. Will update when/if I get the time to play them!
Here’s some updated thoughts on the demos I’ve gotten to:
Lightyear Frontier was a fairly interesting take on the usual survival-crafter, turning a mech into a toolbox of sorts. It was a pretty limited demo, but had some intriguing mechanics. However, what was hinted at beyond the demo seemed fairly small, but it’s unclear how much was just a hint for the demo and how much exists outside of that.
Ultros was an interesting platformer, but it felt a bit jerky to me. Fantastic visuals, though.
Pacific Drive was probably my favorite demo of the group. Perhaps a tad more linear than I’d prefer, but the looting and crafting tied with the supernatural atmosphere was very appealing. The demo gave me just enough of a taste to leave me eager for the full game.
Welcome to Paradize was surprisingly fun. The snarky dialogue isn’t super my jam, but the gameplay was fun enough. Interested in what the full game would look like.
Star Trucker has promise as a somewhat more whimsical Elite: Dangerous style game (with inner-cockpit gameplay to boot!), but the demo is a bit strict, requiring a full restart instead of having saves or checkpoints, so I didn’t make it all the way through. Will be keeping my eye on it, though.
Balatro was a surprisingly appealing game to me as someone who generally finds the deck-builder genre unappealling. Might be keeping this one on my radar as well.
Pepper Grinder was a pretty entertaining platformer that plays very smoothly for how frantic it can feel at times. Killer title menu music, too, which I hope is indicative of the rest of the game’s soundtrack.
Duck Detective was a playful and cute little deduction game. The dialogue was great, reminding me a bit of the old Sam & Max games, and the aesthetic is pretty great too. Demo was scandalously short, but might pick it up in the future.