Tthese days, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that every new indie game is either a co-op extraction shooter or a roguelike deck-builder – fortunately that’s not quite the case. Each February, the week-long Steam Next Fest is a vast and varied showcase of upcoming titles, all with downloadable demos, and only a minority of them adhere to those dominant genres. It’s a lovely chance to dig into the sometimes bewildering Steam store and pick out interesting treats – and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. Here are five of my favourites.
Titanium Court
This one is already nominated for four awards at this year’s Independent Games festival and is picking up a lot of interest for its surreal humor and stylized pixel art visuals. It’s kind of a strategy match-three puzzler, in which you need to move tiles around to protect your castle from rival armies. Water tiles cannot be crossed by enemy soldiers, while hills slow them down. As you match tiles you also gather resources such as stone and food, and acquire military units. Once the landscape is complete, a battle sequence begins in which your troops invade any nearby strongholds. It’s a ridiculous but incredibly clever mashup that could well become this year’s Balatro.
Shutter Story
As a horror fan, I’ve been spoiled for choice this year, but Shutter Story by Frostwood Interactive has been a highlight. You play as a keen amateur photographer whose best friend, Eli, is convinced that his family is being haunted and the evidence is on their photos and home videos. Via a piece of software named SpectralAware you must study the images, tweaking the exposure and contrast and examining negatives to find any apparitions lurking in the background. It’s genuinely tense and unsettling, reminding me of cult Australian horror flick Lake Mungo, which makes similar use of family photos tainted with chilling images.
Don’t Panic! It’s Just Turbulence
If you recall the brilliant multiplayer bomb disposal game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, you’re going to enjoy Don’t Panic! It’s Just Turbulence, a co-op flight sim puzzler in which a pilot and an air traffic controller have to work together to safely land a plane. The problem is, all the controls and cockpit displays need to be decrypted before anything works, neither player has a complete set of answers and there are an awful lot of alarms going off. Featuring a variety of aircraft, each with different features and challenges, it’s both hysterically funny and panic-inducing as you argue your way either to safety or into the side of a mountain.
Outbound
For slightly more chilled vehicular fun, I enjoyed the demo for Outbound, a camper van survival adventure set in a breezy post-human utopia. Drive through the rolling rural landscape gathering resources, crafting tools and making nice meals, all while enjoying the wildlife and completing side quests. Unlike most survival games, there’s no peril, just a gentle sense of exploration and discovery, as you maintain and improve your electric vehicle and stumble across pretty views. I’m not surprised this has turned out to be one of the most downloaded demos during Next Fest – we could all do with some quiet escapism.
Wanderburg
Finally, I decided to capitulate to fashion and select one roguelike game to recommend. My choice is Wanderburg – which is sort of a cross between Nuclear Throne and Howl’s Moving Castle. Drive a wheeled castle around a procedurally generated battleground, blasting enemies with cannon and mortars, and gradually upgrading your modular citadel with new weapons. I love that you just drive straight over trees and sheep to gather resources, bringing a jolly Monty Python humor to it all. Unsurprisingly, this was another Next Fest favourite.
