It's here! The big Steam Next Fest event returns to suck up all your free time, as tons of game developers hope you'll try out their demos. An event that can easily be overwhelming in sheer numbers, but a whole lot of fun to get a glimpse of what's to come next.
Valve's official trailer is below:
Direct Link
As per usual I'll be going over and highlighting games individually over the next week on anything interesting I think that's worth a dedicated shout-out in an article. Something worth noting is that plenty of games that will have an official Native Linux version don't have a Linux demo, and there's a fair few that do have a Linux demo that for some reason don't show it. However, Valve's Proton is a thing and will no doubt run most of them. There's also a quite a number of games featured that don't have a demo at all - annoyingly, and some will only go live with the event.
Going over the press-preview here's a few that could be worth a look, just a bunch to get you started. Rather than pointing out the big obvious stuff you likely already know about, these could be gems to keep an eye on. Most of these are supposed to have Linux support at release too:
A Difficult Game About Driving (Proton)
Help Jeff navigate steep terrain in a bathtub car, where every slip risks resetting progress, reflecting his struggle to overcome his past and his father's disappointment.
Endless Tactics is a turn-based roguelite game. Play as the commander of a high-risk planetary mining operation, defend your base from alien creatures while trying not to get overrun. Use resources to upgrade your starship, unlock new technologies, powerups, and deadly new worlds to harvest.
From the makers of Death and Taxes comes a turn-based adventure-strategy game. In this demo play as Anaïs the Emissary, touring the four factions of the world of Eol, and learn what leads to the world-shattering conflict you have to reckon with in the full version of Broken Alliance.
Lost But Found is a combination of a job simulator & hidden object game. In a top-down table, you are an officer who oversees the lost items in an airport. Organize those items and distribute them to people who lost their belongings. Upgrade your office, manage requests, and more.
Immerse yourself in a turn-based exploration game set in the mystical Wild West. Strategically plan your moves to navigate cursed terrains, uncover magical artifacts, and explore uncharted lands. Don't be fooled by the calm plains of Coldridge, take a gamble and unveil its mysteries!
SteamDolls - Order Of Chaos (Proton), one for Hollow Knight fans
Enter the world of Steamdolls in this narrative-driven stealth-meets-action adventure. Step into the blood-drenched shoes of The Whisper, played by David Hayter, and entrench yourself in the shadows of a labyrinthine city gone mad. You will know 4 words: ACTION, EXPLORATION, STEALTH, AND BLOOD.
Welcome to Warside, the fast-paced turn-based tactics game. With a single-player story campaign, multiplayer support, and a built-in map editor, the fight for victory never ends. Choose your Commander, assemble your forces, and battle your way to victory.
Mini Royale, as covered recently
Prepare for an exhilarating new battle royale experience with Mini Royale. In this upcoming game, players are transported into a sprawling kids' bedroom, where green army toy soldiers engage in an epic combat until only one player or team stands victorious.
Streets of Rogue 2 (Proton) as covered just recently
Streets of Rogue 2 is a crazy, immersive RPG sandbox set in a vast randomly generated open world where freedom and fun are dialed up to 11. Fight, sneak, hack, farm, build, steal, or talk your way to power as you try to topple a corrupt president in countless possible ways – solo or with friends.
Block Factory (Proton) another I covered recently
Block Factory is a production and automation game focusing on creating 3D figurines from building blocks in a factory. Shape your models, design and optimize your assembly lines to bring your creations to life!
Be sure to also come back and give over your recommendations too!
Check out Steam Next Fest. The event runs through until October 21st.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
everything is extremely stupid to scroll through to look for demos you actually want to play.
Used to be small 1 line list before with lots of them on the screen
Or am i missing some option somewhere?
!https://i.imgur.com/HHudkxr.png
used to be something like this before:
!https://i.imgur.com/FcAIWED.png
Actually i think it was even smaller banners before... damn why keep changing things for more time wasting on scrolling...
I'm going to try the demos of Lost But Found and Block Factory.
Edit: As soon as I logged in, I was notified that there is now a demo of Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders
Last edited by Klaas on 14 October 2024 at 6:41 pm UTC
Fix This House (native): Great idea, where you've got a bunch of buildings broken up into big blocks, and you're putting them back together however you like. Controls are terrible (you have to use left mouse button to grab a block, and then the mouse scroll button at the same time to rotate it). No guidance to speak of either. Pass.
Avian Colony (Steam Play): Nifty idea, you've got a bunch of tiny islands floating in the sky, and you're building a little voxel-based colony by making stone bridges to them and harvesting, etc. Menus are TERRIBLE though. Very awkward to control anything. Needs a huge amount of polish, but there's a good game in there if they bring it out. Wait and see.
Cosmic Horror Tales (Steam Play): Isometric RPG about a farmer looking for his lost children in a forest full of unspeakable horrors. A bit slow and simple, but not without charm.
Arcanum Fortuna (native): Card game based on Tarot and using the same five column with enemy preview mechanic as Inscryption, and the branching nodes that appear in lots of games (including Inscryption as it happens). Other than an "awakening" mechanic and some interesting art, there's nothing too groundbreaking. But solid nonetheless. I am bad at card games.
Tiny Kingdom (native): Very nice little card-based village builder. Pixel art is good, mechanics are solid, goals are clear-cut. Controls are nice and responsive, and it's very intuitive what to do. This one's worth watching, maybe even wishlisting.
Last edited by Nezchan on 14 October 2024 at 7:59 pm UTC
What the hell did they do to the list of games?
everything is extremely stupid to scroll through to look for demos you actually want to play.
Used to be small 1 line list before with lots of them on the screen
Or am i missing some option somewhere?
!https://i.imgur.com/HHudkxr.png
used to be something like this before:
!https://i.imgur.com/FcAIWED.png
Actually i think it was even smaller banners before... damn why keep changing things for more time wasting on scrolling...
I think I found it. If you hit "Charts" on the top bar, it gives you something much easier to read, and as far as I can tell not randomized like the main view.
Axe Ghost: this one is not actually part of the fest, but just found it yesterday. It's puzzle game you need to join same types of monsters together in order to destroy as big group as possible. So kind of like match 3. The trick is though that you have you have random set of cards to play that contain vaguely Tetris like moves. Bit more complex than your average match 3 game and requires more thinking. But it still has same addictive quality.
Moon Watch: Vampire Survivors meets card game and Superhot. Time moves when you move and cards contain weapons and other useful things and need energy to use. And of course lot of enemies. Takes a moment to get used to, but once you figure it out, it gets way easier. Demo has already few unlocks, so you can try out different playstyles.
Article
Neverlooted Dungeon: it's basically dungeon crawler combined with immersive sim. Controls manage to mimic somewhat real movements, so you can for example peek inside chest to see if there's a trap inside. It has been a while since I have played it, though I don't remember seeing demo update.
Article
Pest Apocalypse: Driving meets Vampire Survivors and pizza delivery. Played the Itch demo and spent a moment with the Steam version. Still good fun, though there's some learning curve to get good at the game. As usual for the genre, permanent upgrades help, but it takes a while to get good enough to start earning enough money.
There's three articles already?
Spilled: cute little boat game by solo developer about cleaning ecological disasters. I have mentioned it before, but now it's actually part of the fest.
Article
Marron's Day (native): Cute little game boy styled RPG with an impulsive Hello Kitty looking character. Very short demo, so don't set aside too much time for this one. Be prepared for the game to be LOUD compared to the main menu, with no in-game volume control.
Hexaroma (native): Basically a hex-based version of ISLANDERS, a well-received building placement game from a couple years back. The difference is mainly that sometimes when you add buildings, it also expands the island itself, giving you new placement options. Nothing too groundbreaking, but could be a fun puzzle game for chill times.
The Precinct
GTA 1/2 style they say. But its 3D. Anyway, seems pretty decent, but performance is pretty awful given that it doesnt look visually like game from the last 5 years. But hey, its a Demo and hopefully things will improve.
Gameplay seems pretty solid though.
Gameplay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rer2322p1Gs
Downloaded
Permafrost
But haven't had time to play yet.
Will look some of the suggestions from here also.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1803070/Falconet/
There *IS* a Linux native version, but he hasn't uploaded it to Steam yet.
This is an expanded take on the game jam entry of the same name. I liked the game jam version, and I'll certainly get the expanded version, too.
What the hell did they do to the list of games?
everything is extremely stupid to scroll through to look for demos you actually want to play.
Used to be small 1 line list before with lots of them on the screen
Or am i missing some option somewhere?
!https://i.imgur.com/HHudkxr.png
used to be something like this before:
!https://i.imgur.com/FcAIWED.png
Actually i think it was even smaller banners before... damn why keep changing things for more time wasting on scrolling...
That's because some indie devs were complaining that they don't get enough visibility and most of the attention is taken by already popular games
Personally I think these big banners are better because you see screenshots and a trailers and don't have to open a store page for each game anymore
Last edited by satoridepon on 16 October 2024 at 7:32 am UTC
That's because some indie devs were complaining that they don't get enough visibility and most of the attention is taken by already popular games
Personally I think these big banners are better because you see screenshots and a trailers and don't have to open a store page for each game anymore
well that makes it even worse for visibility then. cause im not going to scroll through those... pressing show more only brings like 3 more.
Luckily clicking on Charts it still shows the better list and mouse over shows short clip of the game and i can middle click and open in new tab to then later decide if i will download or not.
That's because some indie devs were complaining that they don't get enough visibility and most of the attention is taken by already popular games
Personally I think these big banners are better because you see screenshots and a trailers and don't have to open a store page for each game anymore
well that makes it even worse for visibility then. cause im not going to scroll through those... pressing show more only brings like 3 more.
Luckily clicking on Charts it still shows the better list and mouse over shows short clip of the game and i can middle click and open in new tab to then later decide if i will download or not.
Now there's also discovery queue for demos. Compared to regular one, it behaves bit differently. Seems to be still under development as it looks different than it was yesterday. Still feels bit klunky though, so I have some doubts how well it's received by bigger audience.
But at least it has potential for bringing less popular demos to closer to the surface. Though still the problem is that there's so much to play that I mostly have time for some popular ones and might accidentally stumble on some less popular one.
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