This past month I started looking for new indie games to try out on my Twitch Stream, and so far it has been super fun! Sometimes you find some cool demos to wishlist, sometimes not so much. So I decided to create a new set of posts where I talk about all the demos I was able to scramble on stream.
Gloomy Juncture
A game made by a single Portuguese solo-dev that really had a mysterious aura around it. A neo noir psychological thriller with a really funny type of humor and interesting art style. Being a fan of thrillers in general, I thought I’d give this one a try and between the blunt humor and the soundtrack I was hooked right away.
This demo featured some light interesting puzzles, but unfortunately not a lot of the initial plot, so the only thing you know is that the character wants to drown himself in alcohol on some random bar he finds. Looking forward to seeing all the twists in future demos till launch day!
Scaravan 66
Scaravan 66 has a really great idea for the game style. A high-octane car combat roguelike where chaos really rules the gameplay. Although it’s a great idea in the paper, it’s one that really demands a lot of perfecting so the player can play it, and between the chaos of pressing way too many buttons, to how obnoxious it was do drive the car, I really just had to exit this demo as soon as motion sickness hit me (it hit me way too fast).
Not a lot of good things about Scaravan 66 unfortunately, and this was one of the demos I was mostly looking forward to after the Six One Indie Showcase, but since it’s supposed to release in about 3 weeks (16 july, 2025), I think this game needs a bit of work before hitting the digital shelves.
Away From Home
Although I’m not from that era in gaming, Away from Home really felt like a throwback to a Japanese RPG with amazing 16bit artwork. This demo was way more chaotic than what I expected. Abby, the main character - at least I assume she is - is a bit of an asshole, but a badass one! This is an RPG with a rhythm twist to it, and I must say I never played a game like this EVER, so I was super entertained with it. I’ve been searching for some rhythm games to play as of recent, so this felt very fresh and hooked me right from the tutorial fight! There’s going to be some intriguing characters, like Joh, who honestly…keep an eye on him…that guy is a creep.
I had some issues with the HUD during the fighting scenarios, mainly due to the positioning of the HP bar. The rhythm bar is on the superior part of the screen, and being that the main shtick of the whole fighting, you really need to be laser focused on that part of the game. With that, the HP bars felt like they were way too low in the screen positioning for me to be able to look at them from time to time (unless you can slow down time, if so, then you’re fine. For me it was an issue). Besides this HUD issue, it felt very refreshing and a game that definitely went onto my wishlist basket right away!
One Way Home
I had seen this game multiple times before, in the past, being advertised across multiple social platforms, but never gave it a try. It was a time where I didn’t even bother trying out demos, as I was focused on playing different genres of games. I’m so glad I finally gave it a shot.
A horror game that feels heavily inspired by games like Little Nightmares, with a combo between 2.5D perspectives and complete 3D chase view on some sections. This game’s atmosphere is eerie and the world seems really well built. Movement was super smooth from the beginning which surprised me (I don’t know why, but it did). There’s some mysterious shadows in this world which are chasing after us in a post-apocalyptic scenario. The thing that stands out for me in this game was the path alternatives at times. You have three different paths (The Sage, The Innocent and The Explorer) which carry different outcomes in the ending of the game and in Jimmy’s abilities - the main character. Sound design was fantastic and something that really shines, especially when you’re out of chase, with little details like the wind blowing or just some light flickering.
Another mandatory title for my wishlist, but not before I jumped off of a lot of buildings in the process.
These were the demos I played this week, overall a great week of demos and with so many showcases happening at the beginning of the Summer, I hope I’m able to write more about the demos I play on-stream or off-stream the next few weeks. Hopefully you’ll gather some ideas to try on these Scrambled Demos posts and I leave you an invitation to join me on my livestreams on Twitch where I mainly play them.
Also I’m going to react to a lot of stuff from the Summer Games Fest on the 6th of June, hope to see you there!