Immediately after Summer Games Fest, Steam Next Fest hit Steam. This is the first year I tried out the new game demos listed on the Fest, what a ride it was. So these next two editions of Scrambled Demos are going to be dedicated to a few demos I played over the weekend. I wanted to play more, but time was limited and I downloaded 450 demos while not having time to play them all!
Let’s get right into it! This is the first batch of demos I played on the Steam Next Fest!
Is This Seat Taken - by Poti Poti Studio
I had my eyes on this game for quite a while now and finally had the opportunity to play its demo.
Is This Seat Taken is a light puzzle game about sorting everyone in their seats according to their personal experiences. I played various scenarios in this demo - a car, a limo, a bus, a music concert, and a theatre room - as they gradually got harder. There’s always challenges like people who don’t like to sit alone, so you have to get a pair for them, or someone that didn’t take a shower while you have three other people that don’t want to be seated anywhere near them. It’s really fun, the combination of the music and the color palette is also very appealing to the comfort genre. This game is going to take cozy to new heights according to my body.
Big Hops - by Luckshot Games
I’m a huge fan of platformers, so Big Hops caught my attention immediately when I saw the trailer.
It’s a cozy platformer centered around a frog that wants to adventure and see the world outside. The story seems interesting. According to what I saw in the demo, the frog ventures into the woods with his sister till they get separated and he eventually finds some kind of evil guy that wants the frog to help him fulfill his evil plans. On the other hand, the gameplay was really boring. It has the cozy aspect, not only on the aesthetic but on the gameplay too, and for my taste in platformers that’s not a good thing. The puzzles were very straight forward without having to think much and the platforming aspects like climbing a gate or a tall wall using the elements the game gives us gave me no friction. There was also a segment during this purple level where you meet the villain that gave me an insane amount of motion sickness from the 360º camera rolls. Having the cozy aesthetic doesn’t mean you can’t put a bit of difficulty to make your game a bit more interesting. Humans love a good challenge!
This game is still in its Kickstarter phase, so my opinion about it can change as it develops. In the meantime go check their page and support the developers if you enjoy it @ Kickstarter - Big Hops
Everdeep Aurora - By Nautilus Games
This game gave a very different idea from watching the trailer to actually playing it. There’s a lot of exploration to do in the demo, but ultimately it is a 16bit story-rich game with metroidvania progression it seems. You only need your keyboard to play the game as you use the usual “WASD” to control the character and the directional keys to control inventory at the same time. It was a very short demo showcasing only the abilities and some dialogue, so I need to see more of it to recommend it or not, but it was a nice first impression especially visually.
Bits and Bops - By Tempo Lab Games
I never played Rhythm Heaven, but I imagine this is as close as it gets to the real deal (or so a friend told me).
Super fun levels with various difficulty points and their own themes. I don’t even want to talk too much about it, as this was definitely one of the best demos I’ve tried during the fest so I’ll let you be the judge of the game, but between nailing down nails with a hammer to the beat or literally dancing with a robot with flawless rhythm, you should really get your eyes on Bits and Bops if you like rhythm games.
This was the first few demos I had time to try over the weekend on Steam Next Fest, part two will come later in the week with some other bangers. I hope you enjoyed this edition of Scrambled Demos and found something you might enjoy.
Rufox Signing off…