Here are the 10 Steam Next Fest demos you need to play before they disappear
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Steam Next Festis back again, which means it’s time to dive head-first into hundreds of demos ofupcoming PC games. As always, there area lotof demos so we’ve made a list of the 10 best Steam Next Fest demos that are worth checking out.
The festival kicked off Monday, October 14th, and is running until Monday, October 21st. That’s not a lot of time to rummage throughValve’s seemingly endless demo pile, let alone play them. We’ve whittled that number down for your reading pleasure, but there’s still plenty to keep you busy in the festival’s last weekend. Each is fantastic in its own right, and we’ve tried to keep our list as varied as possible too.
So scroll down our list and see if anything takes your fancy. We’ve included links with each entry that will take you directly to that game’s page. And lastly, don’t forget to go to town on that Wishlist button, as it really helps out the developers and is the best way to keep track of game releases.
10. Loco Motive
If you’re a LucasArts nut or just like a witty murder mystery,Loco Motiveis a must play. This point-and-click adventure sees you trying to solve the murder of Lady Unterwald, a wealthy heiress who mysteriously dies onboard a luxurious express train. Playing as Lady Unterwald’s lawyer, you need to scour each carriage looking for clues and chat with the train’s quirky passengers (a personal favorite being Herman Merman – a floundering, pompous detective). The set-up, characters, pixel art, slapstick humor, voice acting, animation – everything is fantastic, but I especially love that you can use the on-train telephone for hints. It’s a thoughtful feature for those who are a little stuck and have otherwise been put off by the reputation of how challenging point-and-click puzzle games can be.
Inside Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, the indie RPG sequel with Mass Effect in its sights
The first Citizen Sleeper game was an incredible sci-fi adventure that focused on a discarded cast of interstellar nobodies.This follow-uplooks to be everything the first game was – with more fantastic writing, evocative character art, and tension so thick it’ll feel like you’re gasping for air in a space vacuum. You’ll once again be spending your dice to scrounge together money and supplies in the game’s ruthless gig economy but a new feature in this sequel is the introduction of contract work. These contracts are high-risk jobs that present new challenges, and you can hire crew mates (with their own dice and skills) to help out. The contract your Sleeper tackles in the demo is a perfect example of how this will play out in the game’s full release: it’s the perfect combination of nerve-shredding and electrifying.
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Keeping up with thebest rhythm gamesis no small feat, but Brace Yourself Games and Tic Toc Games have done exactly that with their upcoming rhythm gameRift of the NecroDancer. Protagonist Cadence is back, and she’s still fighting a parade of rift monsters with the power of pulse-pounding music. Using the arrow keys, you need to hit each monster on the beat but each slime, bat, ghost, and ghoul has a unique move set –- bats move lanes, for example, while different colored slimes need multiple hits. With a barrage of monsters marching towards you, remembering each one’s behavior and then using the right combination of moves to keep them at bay is exhilarating. And this is all accompanied by some excellent thrashing, electropop music that sounds like it’s downed 10 Red Bulls. Together with boss battles and Rhythm Heaven-style mini-games, Rift of the NecroDancer is looking to be an absolute riot.
Developer:Atty GamesRelease date:TBA
I wanted to check out the demo forScarlet Deer Innbecause I saw on the game’s socials that all the character animation and models have been meticulously created with embroidery – which is wild – but beyond that, I fell in love with its steadfast protagonist and creepy mid-demo story twist. Taking place in medieval Europe, you play as Elise, a hardworking mother of two children and owner of her village’s local inn. She’s strong and willful, a woman who echoes many of the maternal figures from the Studio Ghibli film roster. What at first plays out as Elise doing errands around the town turns into a nightmare as she discovers a bloody sight in an underground dungeon. The demo feels a little rough around the edges (the platforming could be tightened up), but from what I’ve seen in the demo, Scarlet Deer Inn is definitely one to watch.
Great God Grovehas the coolest game mechanic on this list. Using a megaphone, you can suck up a character’s speech bubble and then fire it at someone else to solve puzzles. It’s the most bizarre game of telephone I’ve ever seen, and the setup is just as whacky. You’re playing as a mail carrier (complete with cowboy hat and boots) helping deliver messages around a strange island filled with weird characters and even weirder gods. Turns out there’s an apocalypse brewing – one that the gods could stop, but they’re all currently in a giant spat. You need to suck up and deliver messages in the form of speech bubbles around the island, helping reunite the Gods and try and stop the upcoming calamity. Great God Grove is bursting with personality and thankfully we won’t have to wait long to play the entire game as it’s out in a couple of weeks.
This Steam Next Fest RPG about lonely road trips gets my recommendation after I chugged 2 liters of soda to survive an all nighter with an N64 game in my trunk
Developer:YCJY GamesRelease date:TBA
A management RPG roguelike road trip is a wild combination of genres, butKeep Drivingpulls it all together in a car adventure like no other. Bag packed and fuel tank full, you set off in your old station wagon to a festival on the other side of the country, but this adventure is all about the journey, not the destination. You need to plan your route across a map, work odd jobs to buy supplies, fix up your battered station wagon, and pick up hitchhikers, all in the name of overcoming challenges on the road. There’s turn-based ‘combat’ where you can use your skills to solve whatever roadblock you come up against – whether it be a herd of sheep blocking the road, or being stuck behind a tractor – and together with an indie rock soundtrack (compiled of local Swedish bands), this is one nostalgic road trip.
No other demo on this list got me hooked faster thanWormhole, which takes the classic Nokia game Snake and launches it into space. You play as a giant space worm who likes to snack on bite-sized planets, race around the cosmos, and shoot projectiles from its mouth. The presentation is incredible in this demo, there’s so much happening on screen – planets exploding, objects hurtling through space, wormholes that transport you to the other side of the screen – it almost feels like a pinball machine, but on hyperspeed. There’s a level-up system after each run and during your playthrough, you can gobble up spaceships for extra resources and perks. It’s a fun, frenetic arcade game with mesmerizing 1-bit visuals and catchy chiptune music.
Ending our list is a laid-back puzzler from the creators of Wilmot’s Warehouse.Wilmot Works It Outsees our little square friend take a well-deserved break from the stresses of warehouse logistics to relax at home with jigsaw puzzles. Playing as Wilmot, you’ll get postal deliveries to your house that include jigsaw puzzles, and you’re tasked with putting the pieces together to create pretty artwork and then hanging it on the wall when you’re done. Puzzle box deliveries will come with multiple pieces from different pictures though, so you’ll need to sort through and organize the pieces as you go. This is a cozy puzzle game with zero time pressures and zero challenge. Just laid-back jigsaws with a lovely, soothing soundtrack.
When Steam Next Fest ends, here are theupcoming indie gamesyou should be keeping an eye out for.
Rachel Watts is the former reviews editor for Rock Paper Shotgun, and in another life was a staff writer for Future publications like PC Gamer and Play magazine. She is now working as a freelance journalist, contributing features and reviews to GamesRadar+.
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