11 bit Studios
The first Steam Next Fest of 2024 is here , allowing game developer to share limited - metre demo of their approaching games to get feedback and hype up player for previously nameless game . This Next Fest actually sport the demos of some high profile games , like the first public demos for Appeal Studios’Outcast — A New kickoff , Surgent Studios’Tales of Kenzera : ZAU , and Mintrocket’sWakerunners . The dead on target beauties of Steam Next Fest are the more observational deed of conveyance that tend to fly under the radar , though .
With century of demos available to play , it ’s tough to spot the game that are worth your fourth dimension . I played a lot of Steam Next Fest demos ahead of the case ’s kickoff this year , and the following six game stand out as the cream of the harvest . From experimental narrative game to tickle pink claim focusing on a few core engaging gameplay hooks , these are theSteam Next Fest : February 2024 Editiondemos you should check out .
11 bit Studios
INDIKA
As you could likely tell from its gameplay teaser , INDIKAis form up to be one of the weird game of 2024 . Developed by Odd Meter and published by 11 bit Studios , this is a third - someone tale escapade game that keep abreast a Russian nun always being taunted by a demon . While it might seem like your canonic narrative adventure game on the surface , underneath those stratum is a very unsettling experience . INDIKAis keen to highlight the inconsistency and contradictions of religion by gamifying it .
Doing thing like lighting an altar or picking up a Biblical detail earns the titular character points , which then cause her to level up and prefer between skill like “ Guilt 5 ” and “ Repentance 7 . ” So far , those come along to serve well no aim but to earn her more percentage point to keep level up . The devil will constantly taunt her and make the world around her to change , so player have to pray for shift world and progression . It ’s insufferable to get a full sense of howINDIKAwill work out from this demonstration , but it ’s certainly one of the most memorable games uncommitted this Steam Next Fest .
INDIKAlaunches on personal computer in Q1 2024 and is also in development for consoles .
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami
On a much light note , we haveDuck Detective : The Secret Salami . Inspired by game likeThe Case of the Golden Idol , this title from Happy Broccoli Games follows a hardboiled police detective duck named Eugene MacQuacklin as he pieces together clues and puzzle out mysteries with a acquisition this plot calls “ deduction . ” In practice session , Duck Detective : The Secret Salamitasks players with surveying surroundings to find keywords they can then piece together into a sentence that solves the case .
This game is a glossa - in - cheek experience that plays up the ridiculousness of make a divorced and overwrought duck as its protagonist . It also looks pretty and features some solid part acting . It ’s precious and seems like it will offer up a cozy comedic experience when it launches on microcomputer sometime this year . Duck Detective : The Secret Salami’sdemo is quite short , only time in at around 10 minutes , so it should be an well-situated demo to constrict into your playtime even if you ’re quite busy .
Balatro
My most replayed demonstration of this Steam Next Fest isBalatrofrom LocalThunk and Playstack . A self - depict “ Poker roguelike , ” this demonstration alone is a must - trifle for buff of traditional card game . Each encounter , players have a certain stop total that they ’ll need to meet within a limited number of hands if they want to progress . Every kind of salamander hand offer up alone point values and multiplier factor . The depth ofBalatrocomes from calculate out how to best play your wag to pass on that high score as promptly as possible .
Balatrois a roguelike , so there are things that spice up the secret plan up from run to run . Cards can be upgrade mid - run to gain unique property to boost the points they garner or multipliers they employ . Players can also buy Joker , Tarot , Planet , and Spectral cards between rhythm to further qualify the deck of cards build for maximum peak efficiency . It ’s the kind of roguelike that will make you think , “ Just one more run ! ” when it ’s 3 a.m. and you need to go to bed .
You wo n’t have to hold back long to play the full thing , asBalatrolaunches for personal computer , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X / S , and Nintendo Switch on February 20 .
Vellum
While I thought I ’d be burnt out on concerted action biz after playing so muchSuicide Squad : Kill the Justice League , Alvios Games’Vellumis quite fun . It ’s yet another roguelike where deception is the main bod of attempt . Players utilize quip attacks to build up energy that can then be used on more powerful jot abilities . Each clock time players clear an field of enemies , they can select from a multifariousness of power upgrade and modifiers to ameliorate their abilities and make each running finger fresh .
The biz ’s cel - shaded artwork style give it a memorable look , and as a author , I chuckled at all the literary puns the developer sunk in with various power and car-mechanic name . Although it ’s not that complex , Vellumis an engaging natural action game that boost players to keep moving and cleverly clock their ability . I can only imagine it ’ll be a mess more play when you ’re playing with three other people playing at the top of their game , too .
Vellumlaunches into former access on Steam on March 28 .
Until Then
Until Thenis the form of slice - of - life secret plan I did n’t love I needed . It watch a gamy school boy in the Philippines as he goes to schooling , does appointment last minute , and navigate complex friendships in a fictionalized 2014 . As someone who was in high school during the other 2010s era in which the secret plan is localise , I foundUntil Then‘s demo to be a very relatable experience . Well … that is until things get supernatural at the terminal .
Much likeINDIKA , some left forces might be at playing period underneath this apparently grounded slice - of - life sentence risky venture . The official description for this game teases “ a fateful meeting sets off a chain chemical reaction , upending Mark ’s biography , ” but the demonstration does not seem to include this consequence , only hinting at it . As such , I ca n’t wait to plunk into the full thing whenUntil Theneventually releases for PC and PS5 .
Umbraclaw
Inti Creates made a name for itself with plenty of excellent 2D platform likeAzure Striker Gunvolt , Blaster Master Zero , Bloodstained : Curse of the Moon , andDragon : Marked for Death . Its next platformer isUmbraclaw , which follows a cat named Kuon as it tries to fly the coop the afterlife and get back to its proprietor . Umbraclaw ’s painterly graphics is immediately optic - take in , as was its assumption as someone who lost a pet last year . And although its level - base platforming is n’t as silklike smooth as some of Inti Creates ’ other titles , Umbraclawmakes up for it with a unique gameplay twist .
As a cat , player ca n’t do much at first other than jump , dash , and squeeze into mingy spaces . Every time Kuon occupy scathe , he gain a new power . Get hit enough , and you ’ll become a more mechanical man - looking cat with even more abilities . That makes playing throughUmbraclaweasier , but its tutorial suggests that completing the secret plan this way could have negative ramifications on the game ’s narrative . This frame-up makesUmbraclawa great psychometric test of science for skilled platforming role player , as they ’ll have to determine just how much wrong they want to take in a given layer .
I ’m interested in seeing what the event of this system really are whenUmbraclawlaunches for PC , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X / S , and Nintendo Switch on May 30 .
