Steam's NEXT FEST - Playing any demos?
Jun 22, 2023 12:44:29 GMT -5
RebeccaMonkey, Thor, and 1 more like this
Post by Ratqueen on Jun 22, 2023 12:44:29 GMT -5
Has anybody been indulding in trying some of the many game demos available during Steam's NEXT FEST? (June 19 - June 26) Do you have any to recommend that I should absolutely try?
I have been trying quite a few so far, and having a lot of fun! Those in purple are my favorites!
Viewfinder
I have been most impressed with this puzzle game! Not only is it very beautiful and atmospheric, but it's quite unique and relaxing, and not too hard or frustrating. Absolutely loved it!! I highly recommend this demo (about 45 minutes to play if you take your time). DO NOT look at the screenshots on the game page as they give away some of the cool puzzle solutions I was rather proud to solve by myself!!
House Flipper 2
I see a lot of people see to hate the graphics -- I personally like them. They're a bit more colorful/gamey? I don't mind that. I thought the island and house available in the demo were quite beautiful. Also, some people complained about the game running badly, but it ran okay on my 8-year old system with a GTX 970 on medium graphic settings...
I enjoy some of the new features, particularly how we can mix and match plants and pots together, or the way we can select any texture and color for all the furniture (but I'd like to see a color/texture picker to be able to easily match things -- maybe I missed it or it'll be added). I was kind of unsure what to think about the lack of required installation for bathroom items like tub, toilet, sink, or radiators, etc... mmh, I liked installing those, but I can get used to it I guess. The new wall and flooring features are... different -- they do give more freedom to do exactly what we want, but they require more work.
Station to Station
Despite its looks, it's essentially a voxel puzzle game. I just played the 3 levels available in the demo and quite liked it. Rather relaxing and not too hard so far.
Hidden Through Time 2: Myths & Magic
store.steampowered.com/app/2304640/Hidden_Through_Time_2_Myths__Magic/
Same as the first one (which I never got to play) and similar to the monochrome Hidden Folks but in colors. Cute and relaxing.
store.steampowered.com/app/2304640/Hidden_Through_Time_2_Myths__Magic/
Same as the first one (which I never got to play) and similar to the monochrome Hidden Folks but in colors. Cute and relaxing.
Havendock
Nice little city building/colony/farming/survival sim. Kind of a lot of things to do all at once, but tasks can be assigned to other colonists.
Quilts and Cats of Calico
This is nice a board game I've played on Tabletop Simulator, but now as a standalone game. I enjoyed it -- the cats are animated and walk around the board, and they're super cute and pettable! I read we can even create and customize our own cat in the full game! There's a campaign mode, play against AI, multiplayer online, and I think alsom local multiplayer. I did find sometimes the tiles were a little hard to place because the board is not flat, but that was my only issue.
Above Snakes: Prologue
I had fun playing this one. It's a little Dorfromantik-like in the way the world is built using tiles you unlock by doing tasks and have to place by matching sides on the existing map.
SteamWorld Build
store.steampowered.com/app/2134770/SteamWorld_Build/
store.steampowered.com/app/2134770/SteamWorld_Build/
A tycoon city-building sim in a Steampunk setting. I loved the underground mining thing, which adds a whole new dimension to this type of games.
Espresso Tycoon Prologue: Underwater
This one's available as both a Prologue and a Demo. Didn't know which I should pick so I went with the Prologue. Nice little tycoon-style game. I liked how you can make any type of coffees you want. I'll probably pick it up on sale or as part of a bundle along the way.
Train Station Renovation - First Job
This one, too, is available as a Prologue (the "First Job" one) and as a Demo. It was okay, kind of reminiscent of House Flipper and cleaning sims, but in a cheaper way, nowhere near as good, pretty, or plentiful (it only has a total of 15 jobs/maps, including the "First Job", without the one available DLC). Still enjoyed it for what it was.
Saloon Simulator
store.steampowered.com/app/1876930/Saloon_Simulator/
store.steampowered.com/app/1876930/Saloon_Simulator/
Pretty good demo with a nice variety of things to do and options. Maybe a bit too many mini-games for my taste (the one to prepare drinks was okay, but I kept failing the one to cook food, unless you like it goopy or burned to a crisp). The game also involves dismantling things, cleaning, customizing, getting rid of dead bodies and such.
Medieval Machines Builder
store.steampowered.com/app/1584680/Medieval_Machines_Builder/
store.steampowered.com/app/1584680/Medieval_Machines_Builder/
This one was a bit meh. There are some mini-games to do such things as debarking and sawing wood, and the rest is placing materials onto the machines templates, etc. I was confused about the tutorial's directions more than once. Not really worth it except as a filler in a bundle if you like this type of games.
Demolish & Build 3
store.steampowered.com/app/1203670/Demolish__Build_3/
store.steampowered.com/app/1203670/Demolish__Build_3/
I played the 2 older versions of this game and this demo was fun: it was just one garage to demolish with a sledgehammer and jackhammer. Now we also have to deal with electricity AND we can get injured (from things falling on us, electrocuted, etc).
Starship Simulator
store.steampowered.com/app/1332100/Starship_Simulator/
A fully simulated starship in a realistically-modelled Milky Way galaxy. Pretty impressive so far and quite promissing if the devs keep going in that direction.
store.steampowered.com/app/1332100/Starship_Simulator/
A fully simulated starship in a realistically-modelled Milky Way galaxy. Pretty impressive so far and quite promissing if the devs keep going in that direction.
Huge download for a demo: a whopping 30 GB! (two different hospitals available to play in the demo/tutorial, so it's quite long). Even though not by the same devs, this is literally Two Point Hospital in space -- if you liked the former, you will like this one. It's actually better than I expected, with some nice features like moving existing items, copying rooms' layouts, saving them as templates, and even editing and moving existing rooms. Because it's in space, with aliens and humans, it has some really fun items and machines featuring alien technologies and such. I'll probably pick this one up on sale.
Lueur and the Dim Settlers
store.steampowered.com/app/2308630/Lueur_and_the_Dim_Settlers/
Essentially a minimalist turn-based city-building game where you encover tiles to grow your empire. They say each gaming session can be quite short. Not really my cup of tea.
Crime O'Clock
store.steampowered.com/app/1736290/Crime_OClock/
store.steampowered.com/app/2308630/Lueur_and_the_Dim_Settlers/
Essentially a minimalist turn-based city-building game where you encover tiles to grow your empire. They say each gaming session can be quite short. Not really my cup of tea.
Crime O'Clock
store.steampowered.com/app/1736290/Crime_OClock/
I thought I would like this game based on the premise (it looked like Hidden Folks, which I like), but it was a bit convoluted. I was losing interest with the very talkative tutorial. They offer 3 tutorial maps in the demo, and I didn't quite finish the 3rd one. You're asked to hunt for events/characters changes through a 10 "ticks" timeline, basically time-traveling to restore the story.
What was offered in this demo was a bit too basic, both graphically and gamewise. Trying to move our character through tiles (which uses our energy), encovering more energy to keep going... Again, not really my cup of tea.
Laysara: Summit Kingdom
store.steampowered.com/app/1823950/Laysara_Summit_Kingdom/
This is a very unique city-building/puzzle game where you have to place buildings based on certain requirements, making the best use possible of the limited space, building bridges and other connections between all the villages. Some buildings offer bonuses depending on which mountain level they're on. The workforce is shared thrhoughout the entire mountain population. I enjoyed the demo/tutorial a lot! Definitely wishlisting this one!
store.steampowered.com/app/1823950/Laysara_Summit_Kingdom/
This is a very unique city-building/puzzle game where you have to place buildings based on certain requirements, making the best use possible of the limited space, building bridges and other connections between all the villages. Some buildings offer bonuses depending on which mountain level they're on. The workforce is shared thrhoughout the entire mountain population. I enjoyed the demo/tutorial a lot! Definitely wishlisting this one!
Below are a few other demos I've installed but haven't had the time to try yet (let me know if you have tried them and think they're not worth my time! I have many more I want to try before some are no longer available!):
El Dorado: The Golden City Builder
store.steampowered.com/app/1451470/El_Dorado_The_Golden_City_Builder/
Aztecs The Last Sun
store.steampowered.com/app/1409840/Aztecs_The_Last_Sun/
store.steampowered.com/app/1451470/El_Dorado_The_Golden_City_Builder/
Aztecs The Last Sun
store.steampowered.com/app/1409840/Aztecs_The_Last_Sun/
I'm really interested to know what you've tried so far and what you think about them, and if you have any to recommend!
I'll probably edit this to add more as I go...