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Every time there is a Steam Next Fest, there are loads and loads of demos for games that are available to play for a full week, with occasionally some staying up after the Next Fest. This time, there were so many games that I needed to devote a full day to experience some of the titles on offer. Over the course of over 12 hours, I played more than 20 demos ranging from short 15-minute experiences to hour long ones. I narrowed down my favorite ten in the list below and most of these were games I didn’t have on my wishlist but I do now. So many indie games to play, not enough time to play them all, but these 10 are ones I am going to play for sure!
10. Big Boy Boxing – Soupmasters
It is actually pretty easy to tell the inspiration that was behind this game, and since Nintendo doesn’t really seem interested in bringing back the Punch-Out! franchise, indies will have to do the genre justice. The game demo is fun but short if you are just beating the bosses; however, there are also additional challenges the game offers you. Let me tell you, a lot of them are pretty hard. I may have beaten all of the bosses in the demo, but I definitely didn’t complete all of the challenges. All of the bosses have their own introduction scene, and they are all very unique with their own playstyle, visual, and tactics. Trigger Happy was probably the hardest boss for me to beat as she is very quick, but if you are patient and can learn patterns, nothing is impossible! Hopefully there are a lot more in the full game as it is a cool start from the few available in the demo. Coming to PC soon!
9. Selfloss – Goodwin Games & Merge Games
I actually have seen this a few times, but I didn’t think it was a game that I would like. I was definitely floored by the game and what I experienced in playing it. The game has a mixture of a lot of different games that I have played in the past, but I think it played beautifully. It reminds me of things like Endling: Extinction is Forever and After Us, with Old Man’s Journey but has it’s own style and sense of place! The theme in the game that I saw was that miasma (I think a reference to toxic and pollution) taking over the world is nice, but nothing unique. The artistic style in the game was absolutely wonderful and I enjoyed the views it offered. The gameplay played fine but was slightly rough around the edges at the beginning with parts of it being trickier to get a hold of the control scheme. I hope this game is not one that is washed out from the sea of indies, as it isn’t one that should be missed. It releases soon on PC and consoles, and is developed by a single developer which I think is terrific!
8. Just Crow Things – Unbound Creations
Playing as an animal in video games have been done so many times. Cat games have come out a lot recently, dogs have been done in the past, and birds have appeared before. But, have you been able to play as a crow and do human things, poop on unsuspecting objects and creatures, fly and swoop on anyone or anything, among many other things? I am not sure about that but in this game you can do all of this and more. It was just an absolute blast to play even if it didn’t last a super long time. I am excited to play this game when it releases on PC and consoles in the future!
7. Victory Heat Rally – Skydevilpalm & Playtonic Friends
A game that has been in development for quite a long time, but is one I have been wanting to check out for a while. Arcade racers are terrific, and I personally feel that they don’t always offer enough of a unique spin for their game to stand out, but this one definitely has left a mark on me. The demo offers a tutorial for how to play with your own unique control scheme that you can set when you first enter the game, which I think is really cool. There are 6 tracks in the demo and while this might not seem like a lot, there is a lot to learn about these tracks to get first place ranking, which isn’t always the easiest thing to do. This game launches in Winter 2024 for Nintendo Switch and PC.
6. Sky Oceans Wings for Hire – Octeto Studios & PQube
Honestly, this was a game that I am very glad got a demo. I am glad to say this turn based RPG where you are battling opponents in the sky with different characters and abilities is almost very terrific! There are moments while you are on the ground talking with other residents in the town, and getting things for people, but then other times you are in the air flying through space. You also control your ship, specifically Glenn, but can use other characters temporarily for the duration of the first chapter which is available in the demo. The story picks up quickly with an event that changes the feel and sets a very interesting story, but then the demo cuts out so it kind of cliff hangs you. My biggest issue with the game is there is a lot of dialogue but there is no voice acting so it kind of hurt a bit. I still am excited for the game when it releases in 2024 for PC and consoles, and maybe they will add voice acting to the main game?
5. Thank Goodness You’re Here! – Coal Supper & Panic
Probably the shortest demo out of the bunch from my top 10, but honestly everything about this game is hilarious from the witty dialogue, to the fun and upbeat slapstick comedy. You need to travel to the strange town of Barnsworth to meet with the mayor but before you can do that, you need to wait a while and kill some time. You can help and interact with other residents in many ways. Some things that you do include shaking beer jugs, helping someone get unstuck, hitting people for fun, and more. There are things to find that are extra funny moments like a trio of rats in trash that are singing in harmony, terrific animations for all the characters, and a lot more. It is coming to Switch, PlayStation and PC on August 1, 2024 and I cannot wait to check it out!
4. Lethal Honor: Order of the Apocalypse – Viral Studios & HandyGames
Hades is a game that I absolutely fell head over heals for when it launched on consoles a while ago. I even managed to get the platinum trophy on PlayStation, and it is what started my love of rouge-lites. When I saw another rouge-lite game on the Steam page for Next Fest, I knew I had to check it out, and that is Lethal Honor. I have seen this game in the past, but I didn’t know if it was a game that I would actually like; but I was dead wrong with that statement as I absolutely had a blast with this title. The story is very intriguing, gameplay is terrific, the visuals are beautiful, and the sound design from voice acting to music is great! I played the demo and got through the first section, and it is now something that I have to play when it launches later in 2024.
3. SCHiM – Ewoud van der Werf & Extra Nice
Puzzle games are some of my favorite titles to play and unwind. SCHiM is more than just a simple puzzle game, there is also a story that is shown to you. You can control the item that you are the shadow of, with each having a slightly different ability including movement, sound, light, and more. You are a shadow and must leap and merge into objects with other shadows and get from point A to B. This is not always the easiest task as the jump distances vary from object to object. Sometimes you have to obtain other items in order to get shadows to appear on items to reach the locations you need to. The game launches July 18th on Switch, PlayStation, and PC. I want to import the physical version from Japan, but it doesn’t support English so I am wondering if there will be a physical in the west or if I should just do it regardless of no English.
2. Bō Path of the Teal Lotus – Squid Shock Studios & Humble Games
A beautiful 2.5D metroidvania with inspirations ranging from the metroidvania greats of Hollow Knight and Ori, the beautiful Okami, and anime like Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan among more. Originally, this was a Kickstarter game that got $174,999 back in early 2022 and while I never got to back it, I absolutely would have based on it’s artistic style and small gameplay snippets that was shown. The game looks and plays beautifully with the focus on aerial combat where each hit you land on an enemy allows you to jump again, making traversal a big part of the gameplay; at least from the demo that I played. It took me an hour to finish the demo and I didn’t even obtain all of the collectables or find all of the secrets it offers. I cannot wait to play this game on July 17th, 2024! Now, only question is do I play it on Switch, PlayStation, Xbox or PC since it is launching on everything! I am even considering importing the game physically for either the Switch or PlayStation to have it permanently in my collection.
1. Akimbot – Evil Raptor & PLAION
My favorite title was a game that was only announced a month or so ago, and it immediately was a game I knew I either needed to try out or watch more gameplay of soon. After playing the demo, I am going to be getting this game as soon as I can! This game is definitely is inspired by Ratchet and Clank, but it has its own uniqueness to it as well. You play as Exe, a mercenary robot on the run from a group of bad guys. You also have a sidekick named Shipset who saves you at the beginning of the game and you must work together. You have a melee attack, a health bar, a bunch of gun options that you can acquire and use, a dash, and more to go through and battle enemies and complete platforming sections. I am excited for it when it launches on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on August 29th, 2024! I hope that a physical copy is launching for this game eventually, as it would be cool to see next to Ratchet on on my shelf for my PS5.
There are so many games that I cannot possibly get to all of them, and this year has been flowing with wonderfully, creative indie titles that are, in my honest opinion, the backbone of the gaming industry. These are just 10 of the fantastic library of indie games coming to PC and Consoles in 2024 and beyond, and I am excited to see what the future holds for these games. All of these deserve a look if they are your type of title, and be sure to wishlist the games if they are interesting to you. Is there any games you checked out on Steam Next Fest? Let us know!
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