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Steam Next Fest February 2022 Round-Up

Jeitaro

Feb 28, 2022 — 8 min read

Source: Steam

I’ll never learn. Despite clearing a significant amount of storage in preparation for Steam Next Fest, I downloaded more than I could handle. Factor in a handful of reviews and real life, and it was inevitable that posting individual write-ups for 50+ games in a week is… stupid.

Instead, here’s a round-up of games played during the festival that are worth a look, adding to the wishlist, or if you’re just killing time while waiting for a bus.

I’ve covered numerous titles already, so omitted them to make way for some newbies. My top 7 picks:

…and in no particular order, the others…

1000 Hidden Snails

1000 Hidden Snails instantly appealed to me on an aesthetic level. Black and white artwork is like catnip for me, and can’t get enough of the style. But what gives? We can look at pictures as is – you can’t make a game out of it.

Wrong. 1000 Hidden Snails is a hidden object game where you have to locate 1000 snails, divided up into individual levels of 100. In the demo, there was the opportunity to discover 100, and despite my best intentions, could only manage 50. Erm… I ran out of time…

Skeleton Crew

Skeleton Crew kicks arse in more ways than one. You could argue that this action RPG is built around the core gameplay of kicking stuff. Set in the land of Karpathia, humans are the minority here, but you wouldn’t think it with the sheer power these heroes show.

In the demo, I played two characters: Elgar, an old school knight with a drill lance that could smash through stuff with force, and Yvaine, a frost witch(?) who can traverse frosty paths, double jump and glide.

It’s a nice-looking side-scroller type from Cinder Cone and Modern Wolf (Mechajammer) and one worth checking out – at the very least for kicking a skull into the face on an enemy.

Neodash

As a fan of driving games, Neodash briefly caught my eye, but an ‘exclusive’ banner on Steam prompted a double-take. At a glance, it looked like it could be something worth playing, but I’m not the biggest fan of zero gravity racers.

But it isn’t necessarily that. In some ways, Neodash is a mixture of a handful of driving types implementing speed, drifting and that middle finger to gravity when it matters most. It’s a fun indie, but seeing the leaderboard where someone has a time of 2 seconds where everyone else has 21 seconds makes me wonder…

Warhammer 40,000 Shootas, Blood & Teef

I can’t lie: Warhammer doesn’t do it for me. It never has, really. That said, when I think of orcs, it’s never The Lord of the Rings or even Warcraft, but Warhammer – and boy are these orcs AWESOME.

In the mould of Metal Slug, only with a focus of platforming more so than side-scrolling, this is a twin-stick shooter featuring melee and ranged attacks as you overthrow an orc leader. You’re also an orc.

A lot of fast, frantic fun, but when the boss kicked in, and a heavy metal track appeared (the orc band on-screen at the time), I was sold and quite frankly a bit peeved that the demo ended. Definitely one for the wishlist. It also had my little girl shouting like an orc for an hour.

Hamster Playground

All these write-ups are personal, so continuing from the last, I needed to calm the 4-year-old orc warlord with something cute: Hamster Playground. It didn’t appeal to me in the slightest until the customisation.

While I’m not going to be shouting kawaii, the little costumes for the hamsters in the game were sweet, and we probably spent more time tweaking than playing.

The actual gameplay involves QTE in a hamster maze and skateboarding. All controls are based on pressing a button at the right time, but unfortunately, it was too fast for the kid; hence customisation was the way to go. However, Hamster Playground is a fun game for youngsters but would be even better if the QTEs were slowed down for the ickle ones.

Super Catboy

Mixing up those classic 90s NTSC imports (if you’re from the UK) and a bit of the Amiga, Super Catboy feels like a proper nostalgia fest. It won’t blow you away, but neither did that tub of ice cream, and you still ate the lot.

In a sketchy way, I’m saying that Super Catboy feels like a high-end 16-bit/arcade platformer that would have been one of the go-to games my mates and I would have played back in the day. The visuals are great, the controls are pretty good, and the challenge is… authentic.

That arcade element reared its head after the first death when we had to go back to the start of the level – aarrgh! Still, once we got the hang of it, there was a nice bit of variety, including melee and ranged combat, a motorcycle chase and a train level – surely customary of a 90s platformer?

Gibbon: Beyond the Trees

A bit of a no-brainer as Gibbon: Beyond the Trees is a game by Broken Rules, who made the beautiful Old Man’s Journey. This time around, you play a gibbon swinging through the trees, with a strong message about mother nature and survival.

Without making a swinging joke, this game handles really well. While you’re continually moving in one direction, it flows and feels like parkour in the trees. The gibbon will swing, run, glide and get an ‘assist’ from their partner as they fly through the treetops with pure elegance.

Scathe

Scathe reinvents the function of F in an FPS: it wipes your face. So bloody is this game that there’s a wiper-like function to smear away the claret as you blast the demons away in this game from Damage State.

Blessed with the Hell Hammer and infinite ammo, you’ll go deep in a fiendish labyrinth of enemies that will relentlessly attack, along with a visceral soundtrack reminiscent of the days when NIN did Quake. Classy stuff. I can’t wait.

Gigabash

As a beat ’em up fan, I’ve never been too fond of multiplayer party games like Super Smash Bros. Yes, I know I’m in the minority here. My issue is they’re either too hectic or perhaps implement a physics element that makes it unplayable. Well, Gigabash is neither.

Based on the classic kaiju films (think classic Godzilla), you’ll battle it out with ten different characters – each one different to the last. In other words, this isn’t the Power Rangers but some cool movie monsters that never were.

Verne: The Shape of Fantasy

Synonymous with science and adventure, play as the Jule Verne in Verne: The Shape of Fantasy, from Gametopia. Ok, it’s not the real Jules Verne but an alternate version.

The story also takes place in an alternate version of Earth called Hemera. It’s 1887, and Verne is now a scientist and not a writer. Befriending Nemo, we explore the seabed looking for artefacts using a device called the IMAG, which shifts time.

Verne: The Shape of Fantasy reminds me a little of Zak McKraken, only without the comedy elements. If you’re a point and click fan and looking for something retro yet with a modern flavour (with a really lovely soundtrack), add it to your wishlist.

Honourable Mentions

There were a lot of other demos I played during the Steam Next Fest – some were only for a few minutes, others had me bailing after a scene or two. I won’t list them.

A couple worth mentioning that I’d like to have had a bit more time with include Babba Yagga: Woodboy, which is a bit like Sleepless Kev. Horror Drift is like mixing a Junji Ito story with Initial D as you drift along mountains while avoiding yokai, to the tune of New Romantic pop? Knights Vs Giants showed promise, but I wasn’t keen on the writing, and it was buggy.

A Twisted Tale was a self-aware point and click that was only one scene. There were a few things to interact with, and the humour was good, with plenty of Easter eggs to find. Soulflow looked like an interesting concept where you shift between people but have to do so before the day is out, or you’ll end up dead. Like a shadow puppetry version of Twelve Minutes?

Mini-Maker was on my to-do list, but I didn’t get time. This looks like it has the potential to suck up all my time so have to be careful with this one… Finally, Where The Heart Leads. There was more E’s than a 90s rave (you have to press E a lot). Still, it’s one to watch, and I’m looking forward to playing it at some point.

What have I missed? Loads. Got some recommendations? Are you a developer who wants to share some news on a project? None of those? How about saying hello? Do email me on the contact page – I’m pretty friendly. Ok, bye.