Next Fest October 24 Roundup #1
Steampunk deserts, haunted mansions, and brewing heavenly ale—Steam Next Fest is off to a big start!
Steam Next Fest's October edition starts in a few hours. The tri-annual event features upcoming titles that include a demo you can try. Since developers must submit a demo beforehand, many start to surface in the weeks before the official event. That's how you can already read the first of AIIG's Next Fest coverage this week.
Monday to Thursday, a daily newsletter will highlight ten demos you can play during Next Fest. On Friday, email subscribers will get an exclusive list of all the games considered for these articles. If you are not an AIIG email subscriber, sign up for free!
AIIG's impressions are based on gameplay footage and descriptions, not playing the demos, and actual experiences may vary. There may be bugs or undercooked ingredients. But in a festival with thousands of games, these selections help you find a few gems to wishlist before Next Fest ends next Monday.
Happy gaming!
Sand (Steam link)
Explore the desert world of Sophie and fight for dominance with your giant walking steampunk platform, completing contracts and firing at anyone giving you a sideways look. Play solo or preferably with a crew of friends, because you're fighting the world's NPCs and other players. Design your trampler or take a prebuilt-one, then drop on Sophie to fight other walkers while completing short and long missions. (Note: the demo is part of an online beta test for the game).
Scarlet Deer Inn (Steam link)
Follow Elise on her adventures in a rustic world based on Slavic folklore. Meet other characters, follow story threads, and uncover secrets. There isn't any combat, but Elise will encounter dangers, avoiding them with her cunning and items she finds while exploring the game's rich world, brought to life with hand-painted scenery, beautiful animations, and embroidered characters. Yes, every character frame is from embroidered artwork, keyed together to create animations that give them a peculiar but pleasing illustrative look. Scarlet Deer Inn is literally an adventure cut from a different cloth!
Karate Survivor (Steam link)
Ever since gamers fought against hordes of undead and vampires, the bullet heaven genre's basic formula has spawned a legion of imitators, and Next Fest is again flush with similar games. Most involve guns or magic to auto-battle the hordes of enemies coming at you. But there is still plenty of room for creative ideas. Karate Survivor adds the goodness of martial arts movies, putting one master against a neverending influx of opponents. The fighting is still automatic, but players can use cards to create deadly combos, throw bottles at nearby fighters, and wipe out tons of thugs with brooms and bats.
Nova: Space Armada (Steam link)
The Renny sector is in turmoil, just the opportunity for an ambitious space general backed by a massive space station. Conquer the galaxy in Nova: Space Armada, a grand strategy game that blends space battles, peaceful alliances, manufacturing, and exploration into one epic package. This game blends several genres around a space adventure theme. Your travelling space station is central to your power and control. Expand and upgrade it, design your armies, and move through a massive game world full of factions, politics, and opponents.
Ari Buktu and the Anytime Elevator (Steam link)
High school student Ari gets flung across history when he gets entangled with Professor Raventhorpe and his time elevator. The professor wants to track down ancient Queen Nefertari's Tiarra to impress the history teacher. But as you can imagine, his plan doesn't work out accordingly. Cue Ari Buktu and the Anytime Elevator, an outlandish and colourful 2.5 platformer adventure made by a former Disney ride designer, helping Ari help the professor while surviving lush levels and elaborate setpieces through acrobatic platforming and cunning puzzles.
Ale Abbey (Steam link)
Alcohol was a big deal in the Middle Ages, especially beer and ale. Tycoon games have been a big deal since the Nineties, so it's about time these two worlds come together! Ale Abbey is a fun-looking tycoon management game where you brew and sell different beers. The graphics are whimsical and even-cosy, but the gameplay experience is pretty detailed. Brew multiple types of beer, hand-picking your equipment and ingredients. Sell your beer to the locals, using the proceeds to expand the monastery with crew quarters, libraries, and other ways to create better beer. There are a few beer-brewing games out there. But making the Lord's tipple? That's a fresh spin.
Holy Shoot (Steam link)
Your job is to take on the hordes of hell, fighting through them with first-person gunplay to reach powerful demons that represent the seven deadly sins. But don't expect things to be easy. Holy Shoot is an action roguelike, so there will be plenty of dying as you try to recover artefacts that will stop the underworld from invading our realm. Try one of several characters for different play styles and upgrade their core skills with your battle successes. Despite the gloomy (doom-ey?) premise, the visuals are very colourful with cartoon character designs, amping the over-the-top arcade combat.
Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders (Steam link)
The Lonely Mountains action sports series expands to a second game with Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders. As you can guess, it switches to the slopes where you can ski across mountain vistas. Travel solo, with friends, or in multiplayer races. Find paths, do tricks, chase leaderboards, and explore the world in co-op, which is rendered in the series' iconic low-poly yet detailed art style, supported by nice weather and lighting effects. The gameplay offers different gameplay styles: competitive skiers, daredevils, and those who just fancy a skiing vacation.
Mandragora (Steam link)
The precision combat of Soulslike games has received a warm welcome from side-scroller games and players, probably because the latter genre has long been a home for demanding hardcore gameplay. The union between the two has inspired a crop of well-designed and slick animated titles, which is a tough field to try and compete in. But Mandragora is warmed up and ready to crush, offering intense skilled combat and epic boss encounters. Master different classes and build new skills to create special play styles, exploring Metrdoivania-style maps with side quests and secrets.
The Mare of Jonah (Steam link)
Horror games are on fire, fueled by the latest generation of game engines' immersive atmosphere and the creative inventiveness stoked by a growing horde of titles. It was only a matter of time before we'd step into the shoes of a young child locked in a nightmare mansion. Use stealth to explore the vast building, avoiding several powerful and evil ghosts and spirits that prowl the estate. Playing as a young kid amps up the vulnerability, and The Mare of Jonah looks nerve-wracking—which is exactly what genre fans want!
I'm not much a fan of stealth, but I like what Mare of Jonah is cooking. I should really try Ale Abbey, as I play so many tycoon games in Roblox. And Karate Survivors had me at "Survivors." Dope list. Can't wait till I can give these games and their demos a look.
Another Next Fest already? I still need to snag my highlights from the last one like The Crush House, granted a few of them haven't even released. A platformer from a former Disney ride designer is interesting, certainly feels like a skill set that could translate well. Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders and Scarlet Deer Inn also look good.