As if a throwback of its own, many of this past weekâs reveals have been accompanied by limited game demos, to give players a taste of things to come.
Whether itâs to make up for the fact thereâs no real in-person event to celebrate the medium this year or not, weâre glad for it because weâve discovered a number of excellent games that might have snuck beneath the radar otherwise.
A number of these, such as Anger Foot and Cult of the Lamb, have accompanied reveals and new trailers, but the others come courtesy of this yearâs Steam Next Fest, which kicks off this week on June 14. Itâs a multi-day celebration of the games of tomorrow, and there are literally hundreds of demos on offer.
Hereâs a handful that stood out to us.
Anger Foot is a legitimate acid trip of a game that combines the frenetic breach and clear behaviours of Hotline Miami with the boot-happy combat of Bulletstorm. The demo offers up two levels, both of which can be stormed through in well under a minute, and between them, it introduces all of the key mechanics youâre going to bring to bear.Â
Obviously, thereâs that titular angry foot of yours. Itâs going to be the main catalyst of the carnage you cause, reducing doors to kindling and upending all kinds of furnishings. Youâre introduced to a handgun in the second level, though we know it escalates even further based on the reveal trailer.
I love how the game seems to mimic the mask concept from Hotline Miami and applies it to sneakers, giving the player unlockables to strive for that actually impact how you play. Iâm particularly eager to try out the pair of shoes that turns any kicked-in door into a ticking time bomb.Â
Click here for the Anger Foot demo.Â
When I got to speak with Julian of Massive Monster last year after Cult of the Lambâs initial reveal at Gamescom Opening Night Live, the way he spoke about the game and its influencesâmost of which it wears on its sleeveâI knew we were in for something absolutely special.Â
If the promise of the ritual sacrifice of woodland critters didnât already have you hooked, itâs worth noting that under all of the disarmingly adorable aesthetic is a grisly game about the occult that feels like a mash-up of several genres. Based on the demo, there isnât one is handles poorly.Â
Moment-to-moment is handled a lot like Deathâs Door did, with the branching level flow feeling a bit like last yearâs Inscryption. But itâs the moments in between that set the game apart, with team-building exercises like forced labour and sacrifice itâs going to be a tall order to keep morale afloat.Â
But trying to do so is one hell of a time.
Click here for the Cult of the Lamb demo.Â
After two levels with The Last Worker, itâs clear that the game is going to be best experienced with virtual reality. Itâs a slow, plodding, and largely narrative âwalking simulatorâ. I say walking, though your character Kurt commutes about in one of the floating chairs from Wall-E.Â
The demo doesnât the narrative a bit of a disservice, the levels feel like theyâre at opposite ends of the game almost. And even if Kurt, the player-character, is a bit of a curmudgeon, itâs hard not to love Skew, a deluded little helper bot whoâs oblivious to the fact the world has ended.Â
Kurtâs once role as a factory picker-packer of sorts makes up a bulk of the core loop. With just a small anti-gravity device, meant for the movement of benign stock, youâre able to defend yourself from guard projectiles or seek refuge in nooks or behind conspicuous crates of livestock.Â
Itâs a promising enough game with a rich setting, although the next time I play it I might need to aim to wear the goggles for full immersion.
Click here for the The Last Worker demo.
Sanya is perhaps the shortest of the demos I sampled, but itâs certainly one of the most endearing. Itâs a nice and simple slice of life narrative adventure about the wholesome childhood of a boy named Sanya.Â
Itâs based in the 90s in a post-soviet Russian town, and it feels reminiscent and full of wonder.Â
Itâs a return to the classic point-and-click adventure game, framing ordinary life events through that familiar childhood lens weâre all familiar with. I feel like this game is going to be a nostalgic trip back in time, plus itâs impossible not to fall in love with the absolutely gorgeous art style.Â
Click here for the Sanya demo.Â
What I wouldnât have done to have this game around when I was a young kid with a penchant for professional wrestling. A few bruises and scrapes could have been avoided, as Iâd have easily opted for this over throwing myself from my garage roof onto the punishing cardboard boxes below.Â
As a role-playing game, thereâs some surprising depth to WrestleQuest, the fact itâs steeped in classic wrestling lore just makes it all the cooler. It takes all of the big moves, the trash talk, and gimmicks and turns them into focal points of this expansive adventure that draws inspiration from legends like âMacho Manâ Randy Savage, and Andre the Giant.Â
Whatcha gonna do, brother?
Click here for the WrestleQuest demo.Â
What if DOOM Eternal was a rhythm game? Thatâs pretty much the elevator pitch for Metal: Hellsinger, but simply calling it that would be doing the game a disservice. Sure itâs got the same hellish aesthetic, forward-pushing combat and ball-blasting metal soundtrack, but this is a beast all its own.
Iâve quite literally played through the level on offer in the Metal: Hellsinger demo 30+ times by now and every single time is a new effort to eek out just that little bit higher of a score over my previous runs. Whether itâs keeping my shots perfectly timed to the beat, deftly avoiding damage, ratcheting up a huge hit streak or ensuring my Fury multiplier stays at 16x for as much of the run as possible thereâs no shortage of ways to get better each time. When youâre in the moment, the levelâs glorious metal track is playing in full and everything is syncing up perfectly itâs bloody exhilarating. Play this demo, I implore you.
Click here for the Metal: Hellsinger demo.
Coming from Melbourneâs own Studio Drydock, Iâve been keen to get my hands on Wylde Flowers since I first laid eyes on it. I mean, who doesnât love a good narrative-driven farming/life sim with a witchy twist? After playing through whatâs on offer in the Next Fest demo Iâm happy to report that itâs exactly as charming and fun as Iâd expected.
In the demo, youâll get to sample a lot of what the game has to offer from foraging, farming, crafting, and cooking to meeting its varied and friendly cast of characters, exploring Fairhaven, and maybe discovering a little mystery and magic. I think my favourite thing about Wylde Flowers so far â aside from the gorgeous visuals and sound design â is just how welcoming and diverse it is, which explains how it won the award for Inclusivity at this yearâs Apple Design Awards.
Also, the way that your character, Tara, nimbly hops over fences instead of forcing you to trudge around them is top-tier game design.
Click here for the Wylde Flowers demo when it goes live on June 14th.
Described as âThe Jungle Book meets the armageddonâ, The Cub is something of a follow-up to the excellent Golf Club: Wasteland from the team at Demagog Studio. Rather than presented through the medium of golf though, this time itâs a side-scrolling puzzle platformer reminiscent of old-school 16/32-bit era games.
Without spoiling too much of its predecessor, Iâm instantly enamoured by the parallel story being told here. The demo gives you a taste of the beginning of the game as well as hand-picked slices of a couple of later levels, and itâs evident that The Cub has every bit as much character as Golf Club: Wasteland. Right down to the sounds of Radio Nostalgia playing all through your time spent exploring the post-apocalyptic landscapes, complete with quirky, otherworldly original music interspersed with fictional retellings of personal stories inside the gameâs world.
I can tell you though, I wasnât prepared for seeing this child being brutally impaled, eaten, and electrocuted. Oof.
Click here for the The Cub demo.
Hereâs the pitch â a metal-themed deck builder/card-battling RPG with brutal battles and rogue-lite elements. Hereâs my response â hell yeah, gimme that.
Power Chord is probably one of the most pleasant surprises out of the Next Fest demos Iâve sampled thus far. Itâs slick, good-looking, and brimming with metal âtude. Itâs also a very well-put-together card battler thatâs instantly accessible and fast-paced but with a ton of scope for strategy and a great difficulty curve.
The gameâs party-based card combat hinges on reacting appropriately to your enemiesâ telegraphed moves, with hands that change just about every turn and cards that are only usable as long as you keep their respective party members alive. Buffs and debuffs are hugely vital but easy to read and understand, which is great because your health doesnât restore in-between bouts on your road to take down the next big bad.
If youâre a fan of games like Slay the Spire or Darkest Dungeon, this is definitely worth checking out.
Click here for the Power Chord demo.
Signalis pretty much immediately grabbed my attention with its slick, pixelated visuals and reverence for the PS1 survival adventures of old like Parasite Eve, Silent Hill, and Resident Evil. It mirrors those games quite closely with an isometric camera, ammo and inventory management, and light puzzle-solving informing its sci-fi horror setting.
What I was initially concerned about was that it would stick too closely to its inspirations and feel overly punishing or unwieldy, but thankfully after playing the demo thatâs not the case. Youâve got the choice between modern or traditional âtankâ controls, for starters, as well as some welcome combat difficulty options. Visually, the settings for pixel scale and CRT-style filtering are also very cool to see â the latter in particular giving it a super authentic look that I highly recommend trying out.
Iâm tentatively hopeful that the concept holds throughout the entire runtime of the game, but from this small taste, Iâm definitely keen for more of Signalis.
Click here for the Signalis demo.
If the art and animation of Adventure Time met the rhythm mini-game action of Rhythm Heaven, youâd get something like Melatonin. In other words, itâs awesome.
Presented as a series of dream sequences, Melatonin tasks you with performing a wide variety of actions in self-contained levels based entirely on rhythmic button presses. You never know what youâll be doing next, but itâs always something visually engaging thanks to its gorgeous, razor-sharp art and dreamlike colour palette. Itâs also incredibly chill and significantly less daunting than most rhythm games, so donât let the genre scare you away.
The demo is just a small taste and I hope things do ramp up a little in the full game, but the idea of extra challenge modes, level mashups, and even an editor has me super keen for its release in September.
Click here for the Melatonin demo.
As a reminder, Steam Next Fest kicks off on June 14, which is when the demos will become available to download.