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After spending the first half of June feverishly trying to keep track of all of the big games coming in the next twelve months, whether at Summer Game Fest, PlayStation’s State of Play, Xbox, or the Nintendo Direct, it’s nice to be able to wind down and do what I love most.
And that’s checking out indie games, whether that means hitting the wishlist button or downloading demos, through the Steam Next Fest, which is back again.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE STEAM NEXT FEST PAGE.
So often a hotbed for tremendous, relatively unknown indies in the past, it’s always fun to thumb through and find the next indie darling, or dark horse fancy for Game of the Year.
Here are 20 of the coolest games from this Steam Next Fest, running through to next week, that you should hit the like button on.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword
An Oni Gauntlet-wielding samurai makes a stand in Kyoto against the encroaching Genma menace. Through gritty, blood-soaked brawls, he searches for his reason to fight. What fate awaits at the end of his path?
Click here to check out the store page.
Valor Mortis
Valor Mortis is a first-person action soulslike from the creators of Ghostrunner. Rise from death as a former soldier of Napoleon’s army. Wield supernatural powers, battle horrifying monsters, and unravel a conspiracy that threatens all of humanity.
CHECK OUT OUR HANDS-ON PREVIEW FOR VALOR MORTIS HERE
Click here to check out the store page.
Escape the Baby Alarm
Escape the Baby Alarm is a cozy puzzle adventure about the chaos and love of early parenthood. Solve hand-drawn, escape room-inspired puzzles inside the baby alarm. Find your way out through mashed peas, pacifiers, and sleepless nights.
Click here to check out the store page.
Tidal Rush
Jump on your Hydrospeeder and hit the waves in Tidal Rush – a high-speed arcade racer where fun always comes first! Master water physics and engage in friendly competition in both single-player and multiplayer races! Face the odds to become the ultimate racer!
Click here to check out the store page.
Silver Pines
Silver Pines is a survival horror metroidvania set in small-town America. Fight nightmarish terrors and solve puzzles, while carefully managing your scarce resources as you uncover the mysteries that could hold the key to redemption.
Click here to check out the store page.
My Last Friday
My Last Friday is a first-person horror-adventure game with a disturbing atmosphere, clever puzzles, body horror, and tense combat. Explore a twisted world, confront terrifying enemies, and endure the nightmarish challenges ahead.
Click here to check out the store page.
Heavydelic
Heavydelic is a 2D Slavic synthpunk platformer broadcasting on dead frequencies. Synthetic psychedelia, comic art, VHS tapes, analog ruins & robots resurrected from Slavic mythology. Every asset is manually drawn by Eniac. Signal lost. Game found.
Click here to check out the store page.
Lily’s World XD
Lily was an ordinary teenager in 2004, and you just found her laptop. Read her diary, message her friends, and piece together what happened to her before it’s too late. But you’re not the only one with access to her computer.
Click here to check out the store page.
Virtue and a Sledgehammer
Go back to your hometown and tear it down with a sledgehammer in this narrative exploration game. Confront your past in a devastating story about feeling like you no longer belong in the place you grew up.
Click here to check out the store page.
Moss: The Forgotten Relic
Moss: The Forgotten Relic is an emotional and atmospheric adventure set in the pages of a living storybook, brimming with myth and ancient magic. Guide a tiny but determined hero on a heartfelt journey of challenge, courage, and connection.
Click here to check out the store page.
Green Mist Over Portland
A detective noir puzzle deduction game. Explore a non-linear timeline during the Cold War on a globe-trotting adventure following a trail of spies from a quiet English harbour town to a frozen Finnish fishing village and the corridors of an intelligence service rotten at its core.
Click here to check out the store page.
Order of the Sinking Star
From director Jonathan Blow (Braid, The Witness), Order of the Sinking Star is a narrative adventure set in a realm of magic and enigma. Solve over 1000 interconnected, hand-crafted puzzles, discover unique playable heroes, master evolving gameplay mechanics, and decipher a grand mystery.
Click here to check out the store page.
Well Dweller
Well Dweller is a dark fairy-tale metroidvania, full of charming characters living in a wretched kingdom. Play as Glimmer, a tiny bird armed with a matchstick, who must burn the wicked queen to save his family.
Click here to check out the store page.
Wind Runners
Wind Runners is a high-speed bullet-hell dogfighting roguelite where you start as a lone pilot, turning each flight into a fight for freedom. Face the ruthless technotheist Realm, take on relentless fleets and colossal bosses, and let your victories ignite a growing resistance across the star system.
Click here to check out the store page.
Don’t Fret
A sentient guitar trapped inside a nightmare music school. Hide, distract, and survive horrifying creatures as you tune your way through musical puzzles and fractured memories to uncover the truth.
Click here to check out the store page.
Beyond the Plastic Wall
Set off on an adventure set in a sprawling world that blends satisfying, mechanical puzzles with a rich narrative. Explore a stunning pixel-art world, repair intricate machines & meet unforgettable characters in a story about connection, resilience, and life that clings on in a world left to ruin.
Click here to check out the store page.
Func Key
Deck out your keyboard with powerful upgrades in this roguelike word-builder. Snap on keycaps to buff entire rows or columns, install “broken” function keys, and pick your projects as you rise from a nobody to a keyboard legend!
Click here to check out the store page.
Ultrasound
A sci-fi horror 3D point-and-click game. Use an ultrasound machine to diagnose and do surgery on a grotesque infection spreading aboard a space freighter. Craft meds, upgrade your machine, find new surgical tools, and restore ship systems before you collide with a star. Soon, something will be born.
Click here to check out the store page.
Sojourn Past
Sojourn Past is a bullet-hell inspired action-adventure about exploration, mystery, and loss. Step into a handcrafted world filled with secrets, danger, and discovery.
Click here to check out the store page.
Gridpaper
If you’re shooting more than once, you’re doing it wrong. At the junction of the physical and informatic realms, Gridpaper is a high-precision FPS headshot speedrunning game where missed shots are punished. Destroy brains, harvest their Informatica for speed, and climb the global leaderboard.
