Finding your next indie game love is a lot like finding actual love. It takes real work, you’ve got to look through thousands of online pages, and you’ll have to battle a lot of disappointment. Okay it’s maybe not that similar, but it is pretty difficult. There are so many indie games battling for our attention nowadays, and to grant them the precious commodity of time you have to be confident in them. A great way to test out new games though is the Steam Next Fest, which is quickly becoming a bit of an obsession of mine thanks to all the lovely demos.
After finding all sorts of wonderful 3D platformers (which you can read more about here) in the Steam Next Fest, I found myself wondering what other delights were hiding among the hundreds of demos released. From card games to top down shooters, the selection I’ve played has me pumped for the future – and I’d recommend that everyone give them a try and hop on board the hype train with me. But be quick, as there’s not long left to try these ones out.
Lost in Random: The Eternal Die
I’m always searching for the next big Roguelike that will steal every moment of my free time, and after playing this demo I’m fairly certain it’ll be Lost in Random: The Eternal Die. As Queen Aleksandra and her six sided companion Fortune, your goal is to try and take back the kingdom of Random from evil. It’s an entirely standalone experience for those worried about missing the last title in this franchise, and the story certainly doesn’t interfere with the action.
The isometric combat of The Eternal Die is what impressed me the most, with so many ways to take on the foes standing in your way. Your basic sword combo feels just right, and alongside this you can throw Fortune to deal damage based on the number rolled, and use special card attacks you’ll find on your run. There are loads of cool upgrades you can line up on a grid for bonus effects, a dice rolling mini game that grants buffs, and even permanent upgrades you can spend currency on between runs. Lost in Random: The Eternal Die is going to be the total package when it releases this year, and if this demo is anything to go off it could be a genuine Game of the Year contender.
This one is coming to Steam and consoles in 2025.
Deliver At All Costs
I’m all for games that require a lot of thought or have emotional stories, but sometimes I just want to play something silly. Deliver At All Costs is absolutely this, with fully destructible environments and 1950s world full of daft characters and even dafter deliveries to be made. This is one silly open world driving game, and a throwback to the simpler times of this wonderful hobby.
As down on his luck engineer Winston, you’re tasked with completing all sorts of courier jobs to make ends meet. All of these are particularly stupid, with one mission requiring you to take rotten watermelons to be painted (without letting them roll out of the truck) and another featuring a giant flailing Marlin that needs feeding by crashing into fish barrels as you take it to its destination. There’s the ability to upgrade your van too with all sorts of inventions, like a crane that can grab boxes for you or hydraulic doors you can use to slap pedestrians for a laugh. If you want to have some old school dumb fun in a charming setting then few games will make you smile more than Deliver At All Costs, and hopefully a release date will be announced soon.
Deliver At All Costs is coming soon to Steam.
Steam Next Fest demo: DeadWire
When I think of hacking in games I think of puzzle mini games, but Deadwire’s hacking focus is so much more than this. At the surface this game looks like a Hotline Miami style top down shooter, with a bit of an extra cyberpunk flair. There are enemies to deal with littering each stage who you can just blast to proceed, but that’s definitely the most boring way to deal with them.
By simply right clicking you can Rewire enemies and objects in the world. At first you’ll just learn to link generators to doors to open them, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You can wire enemies together so that if one dies so does the other, or wire lasers to create death traps that’ll kill enemies for you. Every stage is essentially a big death puzzle for you to solve with multiple connections, but with the added benefit of always having the option of going in all guns blazing if you’re struggling. It feels absolutely badass to use your hacking powers in varied violent ways, and I’m looking forward to causing a lot of damage with them in Q2 of 2025.
Steam Next Fest demo: Your House
There are loads of action packed demos to jump into across all of the Steam Next Fest, but if you’re looking for something a little more narrative then it’s worth trying Your House. This sneak peek of the full game revolves around Debbie, a young girl who is having a particularly awful eighteenth birthday. As this rubbish day is coming to a close Debbie receives a letter, which contains a postcard with an address on and a key with a “Happy Birthday” keyring. All of this is revealed to you via screens of text you can scroll through, but with a twist.
To advance the text in Your House you need to solve puzzles within the words themselves. At first this just involves clicking on bold words to expand the story with more information, but as the demo progresses there are more in depth ways to interact with this tale. One page of the game has a ticking timer counting down the seconds you have to escape your bedroom, and before this reaches zero you need to click all the bolded “run” words to successfully get away. You’ll also need to gather items from the text that you can use to proceed through certain sections, almost like a point and click game. While only about fifteen minutes long, Your House left a hell of an impression on me. I can’t wait to experience this blend of book and game in full later this month.
Your House is coming to PC on March 27th.
The Horror at Highrook
Combining cards, crafting and a spooky mansion full of secrets, The Horror at Highrook has got serious board game vibes. When a disgraced noble family goes missing from the titular estate, a team of investigators are sent to find out what happened. With rumours of the family getting into some shady dealings, there are all sorts of secrets to uncover in their not so humble home.
Each of your council hired crime solving team specialises in something different, and you’ll need to place their card in a plan of the house to get them to work. You’ll also need to give them a tool to use for this, like a spyglass to explore the nearby cliffs or a trowel to uncover buried bits and bobs in the garden. All these actions take time though, and you’ll need to spend this wisely while keeping an eye on your team’s hunger, fatigue and sanity or you’ll never solve the mystery. With an intriguing story that features more than a sprinkle of horror, I’ve never played a card game quite as intriguing and atmospheric as The Horror at Highrook.
Read our article on the platformers to play in Steam Next Fest.
