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Steam Next Fest is/was here and my PC has been packed up… So, I didn’t quite get to play a lot of games… but a bunch of the ones I’ve played have been quite a lot of fun… and thus, I wanted to highlight a few little upcoming Indie games that you definitely should try out and/or wishlist if you haven’t yet!
At the end, I’ll also talk about a few demos that I had my eye on but didn’t go in-depth about here or other stuff. Enjoy!
Below The Stone
Dwarf-themed extraction roguelike by developer Strollart
Delve deep underground and leave no stone unturned while mining for raw materials and rare metals. Pickaxe a path through procedurally generated stony hollows, volcanic depths, and crystalline caverns in search of adventure, treasure, and hidden secrets.
Craft rock-splitting axes and Blunderbusses to take on scuttling skeletons, creepy crawlies, and cave-dwelling beasts. Balance level progression, resource management and pure greed during each journey below, and return to the surface in one piece to deposit the day’s loot for future runs.
I really enjoyed my time in this one and greed nearly got the better of me multiple times. There are procedurally generated caves to dig through, cave-ins that occur here and there, and there are a bunch of enemies that may attack you from afar or up close… Truly exciting stuff!
Something really cool about Below The Stone is how it sort of reminded me of Terraria with its soundtrack and overall vibe… while also encompassing elements from Deep Rock Galactic which I found really interesting! It’s pretty cool how you get to pick up to three missions for varying rewards before you dive in – and to get out, you need to finish at least one of the three. Really interesting concepts!
You can check out Below The Stone over here on Steam where it’s set to release on November 17th, so make sure to wishlist it and give the demo a try! It’s pretty deep (heh).
Vexlands
Open World Cozy Crafting Adventure by developer Apogee Entertainment
Choose a path of adventure and exploration, or rest and relaxation while journeying across the four corners of the Vexlands. Uncover clues detailing humanity’s disappearance, or bask in the peace and quiet of nature while building a thriving homestead full of crops and livestock.
Gather and exchange raw materials for coins, and purchase nearby parcels full of surprising permanent effects on the ecosystem. Wish for positive additions like new crafting blueprints and resources, but plan for unlucky annoyances like enemy spawn points. Or skip all the danger and just go fishin’.
I spent a lot of time in this demo… too much time… I hate it when I spend too much time in one demo because I end up not having enough time to check out other demos. That said, Vexlands is truly addicting.
If I were to describe it in simple terms, I’d call it a “Forager-like”. It’s got some level of procedural generation and automation in there and plays very similarly to Forager and Nova Lands with resources spawning over time and experience being acquired by building up towers, killing enemies, harvesting resources, and crafting. It’s pretty fun and even features more dungeons compared to the other aforementioned titles.
Vexlands doesn’t have a release date yet but if you wanna check out its demo, go visit its Steam page and maybe consider wishlisting it to get notified when news arrive on this cozy and addicting little game!
100 Steps
Bite-sized Roguelike Dungeon-Crawler by developer Endorth Studio
Embark on an epic journey in a roguelike tower crawler where your ascent to godhood awaits! Climb the Tower in ‘100 Steps,’ but beware, for breaking the gods’ rules awakens an undying fury.
Kit out your character, grow in power, and explore the Tower’s secrets as you ascend. Lose yourself in a captivating medieval fantasy world that moves at your own pace. Will you rise to the realm of gods, or fall to their wrath?
This one’s quite the short one, I’ve noticed. In 100 Steps, you’ve got 100 actions before you inevitably lose… but by equipping relics, upgrading trinkets and carefully planning out the steps ahead, you slowly but inevitably can make more and more out of those 100 steps.
What I found a bit difficult was the tutorial. Rather than explaining how to actually move, there was just a glossary of sorts explaining literally everything… just throwing you into the water with all the more in-depth information rather than actually showing you how to move around. That could need some work. Aside from that, though, this one’s interesting. Sort of like a Roguelike-Puzzle game. Will be lovely to see how to overcome the limits!
There is no release date for 100 Steps yet but you can wishlist the game over here on Steam and try out the demo for yourself. It doesn’t take too long to get through a run and it’s rather unique in its approach.
Wizordum
Fantasy First-Person Spellcaster by developer Emberheart Games
The town of Grimbrook is under siege by merciless mercenaries, mind-controlled by the dark forces of Chaos. As one of the last Mages of Wizordum, cleanse decrepit dungeons and crumbling cobblestone streets of unwelcome inhabitants, and track down the source of the destructive hypnosis infecting the land.
Fling magical fireballs and pepper enemies from afar with ice-shards, or bash beasts to a pulp with a skull-crushing mace. Navigate maze-like castles and decaying dungeons full of puzzles, secrets, and traps. Want more? Design full-blown episodes with the in-game level editor.
This one is a really fun boomer-shooter-esque title with a lot of charm and lots of cool weapons to add to your arsenal. It’s inspired by 90s shooters. It’s sorta gore-y without being too hard on the eyes. If you like shooting things, you’ll have fun here.
Wizordum is set to release on November 15th, and I’d love it if more people could check it out and maybe fireball that wishlist button. Also the demo is a lot of fun!
W.A.N.D. Project
Bullet Heaven game with spell-crafting systems developed by The Knights of Unity
Waves of malevolent demons descend upon Tokyo, threatening to engulf the city in darkness and chaos. In this dire hour, you emerge as Tokyo’s last hope, armed with a mysterious staff pulsating with untold magical power. Every precious second counts as you embark on a mission to save the city from certain destruction.
But you are not alone in this perilous journey. You are part of the enigmatic W.A.N.D. Project, a group dedicated to resisting the demonic onslaught and unraveling the secret behind the magical staff’s powers. As you battle relentlessly to protect the city, you’ll forge bonds with fellow sorceresses, each driven by their unique motivations and stories.
W.A.N.D. Project is yet another “Bullet Heaven” game but with a twist! You’ve got anime-esque sequences before every run and you fight using a talking wand! That’s pretty cool, in my opinion!
Aside from being very stylish, this game features a spell-crafting system kind of akin to Noita where you create these programming-esque lines of spells with different triggers (cooldown, moves, idling, etc.), different spell-spawners (fire breath, lightning, sound waves, etc.), and bonus effects (extra damage, a heal on-hit, debuffs, etc.). It’s quite fun although I do wish it got a bit more balanced.
W.A.N.D. Project is set to release in 2024 but you can already check out the very pretty Steam page to maybe install the demo or even wishlist the game right now!
Never Mourn
Action Roguelike with Necromancy by developer Primal Seed
Become a powerful battler necromancer and challenge death with your double-edged weapon. Kill and resurrect your enemies to grow your army and do the impossible to revive your child.
Use both sides of your weapon to face hordes of enemies.
Slay them off with using the scythe and use the other side to resurrect and protect them.
Think ahead when composing your squad: each enemy you revive keeps all its specificities and skills. Manage your reanimated minions wisely, as reactivity and sense of analysis can save your life on the battlefield.
There aren’t many games that really fuck with necromancy so I’m always looking out for that necromancer powerfantasy and I feel like Never Mourn does it really well. You fight with a scythe which feels pretty darn awesome but there’s a fair bit of strategy involved as well, so it isn’t just hacking and slashing. You gotta keep your newly resurrected allies alive and at times replace them with new friends. Pretty darn sweet!
Necromancy in Fantasy is the magic of life and death, casting powerful spells to kill enemies and bringing them back to life as your loyal undead servants… Never Mourn has you heal and buff these allies while you rip and reap through enemies, trying to gracefully dodge them while managing your cooldowns. I have really high hopes for this and can’t wait to check out the full release!
While it doesn’t have a release date yet, Never Mourn does feature an amazing soundtrack and a Steam Page to click that wishlist button on. Do it!
Other Games!
Aside from these games, I also found a few other demos but haven’t gotten to play a lot of them.
For starters, The Great Below is an avant-garde environmental adventure that tries to redefine horror (and also one of my favourite NIN songs!). Here, you dive into an enigmatic mansion driven by a quest for forbidden knowledge – all to confront the boundaries of reason!
The Great Below features a unique blend of 2D and 3D visuals, challenging your perception while paying homage to the PS1 era. Survival demands cunning as you navigate its intricate web of tension. Immerse yourself in rituals and mysticism, uncovering the mansion’s dark lore. Dare to ascend beyond mortal comprehension. Will you escape the mansion’s grasp, or forever embrace its eternal enigma?
Sadly, my laptop can’t handle this one quite well enough but I will try it out once I’m back at my PC, possibly writing another post on it!
Aside from that, I also got to play Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor (developed by Funday Games and published by Ghost Ship Games), as well as Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot (developed by Konfa Games who also made Despot’s Game and published by tinyBuild). Both are fun little Bullet Heaven games but I don’t think they’re unique enough to justify highlighting, especially as they have two big publishers behind them.
I’m super excited about more Deep Rock Galactic related stuff but Survivor just doesn’t quite do it for me. A lot of weapons felt like noob traps, barely dealing any damage, whereas others could single-handedly carry runs. On top of that, it just didn’t feel like there were any synergies… but the overall gameplay loop still is pretty good and it’s got DRG’s charme.
Meanwhile Slime 3K is another game by Konfa Games and I love their studio and their Despotism3K IP. Seeing another game with that IP is nice but this one also didn’t quite feel all that unique. It takes existing ideas and doesn’t quite reinvent them. Most runs felt very, very similar. Also, I don’t wanna talk too much about games akin to Vampire Survivor whenever a Steam Next Fest is around the corner.
As always, I’m happy that the Steam Next Fest exists… but I also just wish they would curate it a bit more or give us more time to play the demos. It’s just too overwhelming and while I did enjoy playing 40+ demos in the past, I just can’t do that nowadays.
While it was intended to increase discoverability for Indie games, it appears to just flood the market and make it appear oversaturated. The demos make it hard to spot cool titles which is why I kinda try to shoot my shot, find interesting ones in the sheer volume of new game demos, and then I write my post here. Hope that you found some gems this way!
But like,… there are a ton of demos out there and just not enough time to download, play and write about all of them.
This post was first published on Indiecator by Dan Indiecator aka MagiWasTaken. If you like what you see here and want to see more, you can check me out on Twitch and YouTube as well.
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