Some Steam demos I have played over the last few months
Over the last few months I have accumulated a large number of demos in my Steam library. I don't trawl the Next Fest page or use any algorithmic recommendation service but I have a few different discovery sources: people who play a lot of demos and write about them and will often add any that catch my eye. I had a bit of free time over the last week so decided to try to get through as many as I could. Here are the ones that stood out:
Games that I bought almost immediately
Offbeat
Fantastic music making game where you gradually expand your arsenal of noise-makers (a cat keyboard, a gnome and a toy monkey are your first three), hooking them up to a basic sequencer to make tracks. I really enjoyed the demo and picked up the game not long afterwards. I like to just dip into it, spend 40 minutes or so making a track and then put it down again for a week or two. Great UI too.
Dome Keeper
This is a couple of years old now, but I hadn't come across it before. It's a neat mining tower defence game where you dig out resources in between waves of enemies. I primarily bought this to play on my Retroid Pocket 6 and it's a great podcast game with the runs lasting around half an hour. There seems to be a lot of replayability too, although I have barely scratched the surface so far.
The Message From Deep Space
I was immediately hooked by this - I studied Maths and Philosophy at university so it's pretty much perfectly in my wheelhouse. I really like how it builds up from basic concepts, and the spaces it's left leave me somewhat in awe of where it will end up (I have completed about one and a half acts out of twelve according to the Steam achievements, so I have a long way to go).
Corollary: Message from Aliens
This one isn't out for a week or so but the demo was intriguing even if it's more in the Epigraph/Alchemia/Ginger mould, i.e. giving you a lot of an alien language all at once and asking you to translate it. I found the more gradual approach taken by The Message From Deep Space (as well as the more maths-y focus) to be more my style.
Penguin Colony
Cute penguins and Lovecraftian horror: a match made in heaven. I really liked Umurangi Generation and I wanted to support the devs so I picked this up on release and finished it over the past weekend - I think I missed quite a lot since I found it a bit frustrating to control but it was a fascinating interpretation of the original Lovecraft story.
Rogue Voltage
Really clever roguelike where you're wiring up different modules to trigger different effects. I only just bought this one today, and only played one run of the demo, so I'm looking forward to exploring all the different strategies.
Sobosuba
Only three quid so it was pretty much an insta-buy after my one playthrough of the demo - it's a very satisfying merge game with jelly-like blobs that squish and slide around each other. Great to just pick up for ten minutes.
Games that I didn't buy immediately because they're not out yet but probably will buy when they're out
GrimKeep
Slice & Dice is one of my alltime favourite roguelikes, I must have hundreds of hours in it (I don't know because I only play it on my phone). GrimKeep is also a dice-based roguelike, but plays a bit like Balatro in that you're creating poker hands (pairs/x of a kind, straights, full house etc) from a set of dice from a bag that you draw and roll each round. The clever thing is that the poker hand you select does damage, while the one left over is your defence, so you can choose how much to commit each round. You can equip items to boost the value of certain poker hands, also some dice have additional effects. It also has the obligatory Slay The Spire style encounter branching tree. I found this really satisfying to play but the demo was incredibly difficult, with the enemy strength ramping up really quickly. The devs seem to have taken the feedback onboard though, and have already made some updates which I haven't had a chance to try yet. I'm definitely planning to pick this up on release.
Dungeon Automata
Visual node-based programming JRPG where you set up rules for your party to explore a dungeon / fight monsters. Very clever mechanics and stylish art, I'm excited to try more.
Guns of Eschaton
Incredibly stylish apocalyptic Western (as in Wild West) FPS Soulslike made by the studio cofounded by the sadly recently deceased Viktor Antonov. It took me a while to get used to the flow of it but it was packed with interesting ideas like all the enemies having a sequence of weak points which will do way more damage (e.g. left leg, right arm, then head) which rewards learning enemy types and precision. It's also streamlined in ways that I appreciate in non-FromSoft Soulslikes - for example boiling down the character stats to just three and allowing you to swap between them at any campfire. My main criteria for evaluating Soulslikes is the level design and this did not disappoint. It did feel like it needed a little more polish but it's not due out until December so I'm keen to try it.
Mouseward
Another Soulslike, this time much more traditional in style, but also with streamlined stats like Guns of Eschaton and very satisfying level design with lots of secrets to find (and, crucially, very clear lists of how much stuff you have left to find in a given area). The combat was simple but satisfying, and although the N64-era graphics don't do a lot for me it's quite charming.
Curse of Resthaven
You're the new governor of a cursed island in this interesting blend of detective/adventure game where you're talking to people to find out where your niece has gone and simultaneously playing a resource management Eurogame of buying and selling resources, trying to build up the dilapidated town and going on expeditions. The story was intriguing and the mechanics fit together well in the demo at least, although I do worry that perhaps over a longer playthrough they might get tedious.
Truth Scrapper
Visual novel with mystery elements where your character's memory resets each day and you have to choose what to record. The world seemed cool too.
Games that are cool but probably not for me, I might pick them up one day
Echo Weaver
Silksong crossed with The Outer Wilds - very cool premise, I just found the opening a bit frustrating because I'm not great at platforming and I got a bit stuck. I will probably get this on sale but I never finished Ultros which was doing something similar with much more striking art. Also to a lesser extent I'm still getting over spending a couple of months playing nothing but Silksong last year so I'm not really looking to play another one of these.
Feather's Edge
Metroidvania where you choose which direction to throw yourself in, taking out enemies along the way, but are vulnerable when not in flight. Very clever mechanically and nice art, it was just a bit too hard for me. As with Echo Weaver it suffers from the Silksong hangover too.
At Fate’s End
Beautifully drawn and animated action adventure game that feels kind of like a Supergiant game but is actually made by the devs who made Spiritfarer which I played a few hours of and then lost my save so I never finished. Lots of ideas based around the tarot deck which was interesting, my main issue was that I didn't find the combat much fun.
Patience is a Virtue
Mystery game based around a small town where the main mechanic is creating responses out of other character's statements to you. I found this part a bit frustrating but the story was intriguing and the art was cool.
Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle
Japanese take on Fighting Fantasy & Sorcery! style adventure game books, clearly made with a great deal of love for the genre. The art isn't really my favourite style but it's well done.
The 9th Dragon
I love the style and level design of this beat ’em up set in Kowloon Walled City (always a place that's fascinated me) but it's not really a genre I'm that into.
4th & Goal
American Football-themed roguelike deckbuilder. It's not a sport that I follow so it was a bit difficult to get into but it's a nice idea.
Stip
Puzzle game that I think must have taken some inspiration from Device 6. Unfortunately despite the meta stuff being interesting I found the actual puzzles a bit dull.
Choo Choo Defenders
Tower defence where you're building a circular track and delivering passengers and goods as well as shooting waves of enemies. The demo was quite compelling but I don't really feel the need to play more.