Summary
Steamhas always been good about promoting indie games on the platform. One could argue that the platform is too big, as there are seemingly hundreds of games being uploaded every second. It can be a bit hard to sift through, but that’s why events likeSteam Next Festare cool.
It allows both big and small developers to share their upcoming games. It also enables fans to test out games for free, just like game journalists and streamers get to do daily. Of the hundreds uploaded to Steam Next Fest this year, these are thedemosand games to look forward to in 2024. They are all, obviously, coming to Steam, but whether they will launch on consoles too has yet to be determined.
10Aeruta
Baking Foxes With Whips
Aerutais a roguelike starring a kitsune, a fox girl, named Chaya. Players will venture into biomes that unlock through the story, gathering materials to upgrade Chaya and the town permanently.
Besides the whipping of enemies in dungeons, there is a shopkeeper aspect to the game as well. In the demo, players can bake goods and sell them for profit in a mini-game. The dynamic is veryreminiscent ofMoonlighter, another roguelike with a shopkeeper angle.
9#Blud
School-Based Zelda
#Bludis a Zelda-style top-down action game. This one stars Becky and a bunch of school kids who get roped into a plot involving vampires and other monsters attacking their school, although everyone seems pretty cool with all of these shenanigans.
The animation style looks a lot like a cartoon that would have airedon Cartoon Networkin the mid-2000s, and it’s a big reason why this game is now on the radar besides the solid gameplay loop.
8Crow Country
Resident Evil Meets Final Fantasy 7
Crow Countryis a throwback to PS1-basedResident Evilgames as this is also a retro horror game. The early polygonal style is reminiscent ofFinal Fantasy 7as well, with Cloud’sPopeye-looking arms being the only thing missing.
Players turn up in an old amusement park that looks wildly creepy and unkempt. The heroine, Mara, soon discovers it is filled with zombies, monsters, puzzles, and everything one would want in a retro throwback horror game with this art style.
7Crypt Custodian
A Cat-Based Zelda
Crypt Custodianfinds acat in the afterlife, now in an anthropomorphic form. Upon finding a broom, Pluto (the cat) goes to town knocking over vases, defeating dusty enemies, and exploring a top-down world.
These enemies drop dirt that can be converted into upgrades or items. The demo is quite extensive, allowing players to test out several key features and explore to their heart’s content in a relatively bug-free build.
6Death Of A Wish
Minimalistic Anime Action
Death of a Wishhas one of the most unique art styles of the bunch. It looks like everything was quickly scribbled onto the page. It’s kind of like when anime characters explode and the artists draw a lot of scribbles to emphasize chaos.Dragon Ball Zis one anime that comes to mind.
Besides hectic action, this demo showcases that there will be an emphasis on inner drama. From the writing to the art, it looks like a wild ride.
5Diceomancer
Fighting Geese With Cards
Diceomanceris aroguelike, but one fought with cards. Players will set up their elements before venturing out on a branching map filled with fights, gathering spots, merchants, and so much more. The game’s unique dice roll mechanic makes it really stand out, where players can take a dice roll and apply it to any number in the game. The enemy’s health, their own damage, anything.
Battles are turn-based with players manually having to flick their deck at enemies, featuring creatures from wild-looking wolves to plain old birds. It’s hard to play with a controller or even on the Steam Deck because it is all mouse-based, but maybe the final build of the game will be more flexible.
4Mullet Madjack
Doom Plus 80s OVAs
Mullet Madjackis a first-person shooter at its core, along with a roguelike. Players only have a set amount of time before they will die, which counts down on an accompanying phone clock.
Players will have to kill to stay alive or rack up bonuses in the environment. It’s kind of like the movieCrankwith Jason Statham if it were an anime OVA made in the 80s, which is incredibly high praise.
3Never Grave
The Sorting Hat’s Adventure
Never Gravebegins with a witch’s hat falling down a deep well. This hat is the hero, able to possess a young girl seemingly dead in this dungeon. Players can detach themselves from this girl whenever they want to venture into crevices and then magically spawn that girl wherever they end up.
It looks like a Metroidvania initially, but it is actually a roguelike. It will be interesting to see if the final game will include other characters that this, hat can possess, like an evil Cappy fromSuper Mario Odyssey.
2Pepper Grinder
Drill Dozer Reborn As Sonic
Pepper Grinderhas had a lot of players excited ever since the game was showcased during a Nintendo Direct. It feels like an homage toDrill Dozer, which was a Game Boy Advance platformer starring a girl in a mech that could drill.
There’s no mech inPepper Grinder,but there is plenty of drilling via a hand crank. It can be quite fast, almost as if the developers were inspired by the Sonic series as well.
1Terra Memoria
An Homage To Classic Turn-Based RPGs
Terra Memorialooks like a missing RPG from the PS1 era. It uses sprites very well, and the backgrounds are well-defined too. It’s a turn-based game revolving mostly around magic, in the demo at least, with turn order playing a big role.
Players can see where a certain spell will place them in the timeline, and can plan their turns accordingly. Elements also play a big role, as players can break through defenses with certain attacks.Terra Memorialooks like it could be the nextChained EchoesorSea of Stars.
