Next Fest June 25 Roundup #4

The great games just keep on coming.

Jun 12, 2025

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Welcome to part 4 of our Steam Next Fest roundups. Normally, there would only be four of these articles, but expect one more edition tomorrow!

Games can only appear once in a Next Fest, so it’s a big deal that they are participating. Very often, it means the game’s release is just around the corner, making the June edition of this festival a good time to find some potential end-of-year games to play and gift.

NOTE: if you don’t want to receive the Steam Next Fest newsletters, you can disable them at indiegames.substack.com/account.

Happy gaming!*

*AIIG's impressions are based on gameplay footage and descriptions, not playing the demos, and actual experiences may vary.

Ayna: Shattered Truth (Steam link)

Many titles claim to be cinematic side-scrollers, but that's a distinction they need to earn. For example, they need to approach the heights of Ayna: Shattered Truth, an impressive-looking "next generation" sidescroller with high-quality art, slick animations, weighty combat, and satisfying platforming.

DAVY x JONES (Steam link)

Jump into Davy Jones’ boots as a decapitated ghoul out for revenge in this action-packed shooter. Team up with his floating skull and blast away at the creatures of the underworld, explore stunning and fantastical underwater levels, and become the legend that sends pirates running.

Craftlings (Steam link)

Veteran gamers might remember Lemmings, the puzzle game where you assign roles to tiny folk and help them escape the level rather than plummet to their deaths. Craftlings is pretty much the same idea, only this time you are building a colony! Yes, it sounds weird, but it also looks really fun.

Bitcraft Online (Steam link)

Craft your destiny alongside other players in the massive online, single-world of Bitcraft Online. Players can join forces, fighting monsters, building towns, and running economies. This type of game is very ambitious and will need a lot of people, but with over 150,000 wishlists, it’s already well on its way.

Voices of Freedom (Steam link)

Games sometimes allow us to access the experiences of other people. Voices of Freedom is a point-and-click adventure following Neda, a young woman trying to find her place in a hostile country that oppresses her. Join her and her fellow women as they fight for their human rights.

Operation Octo (Steam link)

The world does not have enough octopus scientists, especially not ones starring in a tower defence game. Operation Octo sets out to fix this oversight. Play as Octo and battle hordes of skeletons with a wide arsenal of turrets and special attacks. Just be sure to also dodge those incoming cannonballs!

NODE: The Last Favor of the Antarii (Steam link)

Explore the ruins of a decaying nuclear Cold War bunker with a robot and try to avoid catastrophe. But you don't always control the robot directly. Instead, you set up timeline sequences to get past obstacles and complete your quests in NODE, a different take on puzzle platformers.

Star Birds (Steam link)

Why conquer the skies when you can take over space? Guide the Star Birds to populate asteroids, connecting their bases, mines, and more into an interstellar resource network. Suited for both beginners and genre veterans, automate and scale your production while enjoying the unique visuals.

Mina the Hollower (Steam Link)

Mina the Hollower blends 8-bit graphics with modern design for an epic action adventure. Mina’s world is in peril, so she will whip, borrows, and pummel her way across a huge dark world. Find trinkets to add exotic attacks and hone Mina’s abilities with the stats system. This is a real gem for fans of classic top-down action RPGs.

Mars Attracts (Steam link)

The mad martians from Mars Attacks are still at it, this time kidnapping humans to create a zoo in Mars Attracts. Abduct specimens, build enclosures to entertain (or torture) them, and run your alien theme park for profit. There might be some accidents, but nothing that a few laser blasts couldn’t fix. Ack! Ack! Ack!