Steam Next Festis easily one of my favourite parts of the videogames calendar.
As much as I love it, I’ve never really found a way to cover it adequately.
Over time, though, a sort of process has emerged.
The end result is as close to random as I can willingly make it, I think.
It suits me pretty well.
You had to be there.
Thronefallis a game I’ve had my eye on for a while, so it was a conscious choice.
It’s a city-builder and tower defence game.
Reader: half an hour disappeared very quickly.
Keep an eye out for this one.
Wanderfulfeels like an intelligent place to leap next.
In truth, Wanderful takes bits of games like Dorfromantik and Islanders and makes something new.
Let’s see if I can describe it.
It’s a game about collecting mana as you wander around a landscape and spending the mana on buildings.
Life is movement here - I left eager to play more.
I cannot wait for the full game.
Two short experiences to leap into next.Venbafeels like I have been waiting for it forever.
Cooking in Venba is exactly as I’d hoped it would be.
Venba absolutely lived up to my hopes.
Within a Dead City, meanwhile, was a game I had never heard of.
Earn stuff to level stuff up and create new units.
You get the deal.
It’s clever and charismatic - an evocative 8-bit necropolis.
Moving on,Nouris a lovely food plaything.
I need more time with it, and this evening feels perfect.
Elsewhere, a couple of biggies.En Garde!is getting a lot of press due to its Arkham-style combat.
Then riposte, swipe, stab and all that.
I ended up withThe Invincible, a sci-fi game that I recognised from an Edge cover.
The Invincible is a heavy, ponderous narrative game that roots you deeply in its world.
The demo has a great sense of pace as you pick a route to follow and then get waylaid.
That’s me then.
Is this a representative sample of Steam Next Fest?
I hope you discover great things when you make you own jump into the unknown.
