The Demo Thread

• Doubleshake - (link) - A 2d platformer using a visual style from the PS1 and early PS2 era. I don't have the nostalgia for this particular combination of gameplay & era/platform, so this was a pretty big miss for me. If you played 2d platformers on the PS1, this might be right up your alley! It just wasn't mine.
• Toxic Crusaders - (link) - 4 player co-op beat'em-up. It feels... fine? This isn't a genre I normally play, so I don't know. It looks alright, and no obvious bugs or problems. Just not really for me.
• Big Boy Boxing - (link) - An attempted modern version of Super Punch Out. It's not as good as Super Punch Out, and I don't think it looks as good as Super Punch Out. Eh.
• Liftlands - (link) - God game on a 2d plane. Very early on, but they are patching this thing once a week it seems like. Give it a look, might be up your alley. It just wasn't mine.
• Timeless Rain - (link) - A fairly simple (looking) 2d platformer that you would think would be right up my alley. However! Too many instant kills, a too-rudimentary art style, and pretty garbage controls. Pass.
• Unbroken - (link) - A highly retro art styled FPS with some immersive/rogue-ish elements going on. Controls are suspect, and there are some weird things going on here. Eh.
• Blue - (link) - It's like Snake meshed with an oddly controlling platformer. It's a weird game. Not for me, but I'd watch the shit out of a speedrun of it!
• Ctrl Alt Ego - (link) - A puzzle FPS title with "immersive" asperations and shit controls. Meh. Not for me. Also it looks eh.
• Rusty Rangers - (link) - 2d shooter. Controls feel bad, visuals are uninspired. Meh. MEH I SAID.

• Sons of Valahalla - (link) - 2d tactical/strategy game that reminds me of an attempt to make a Nordic and more action focused version of Kingdom. Demo is on the right below the "Is this game relevant to you?" thing instead of in a call out boxmixed in with the "buy it" and bundles. And honestly? If this is your jam? Cool, but Kingdom is probably a better game.
• Paper Sky - (link) - Solo dev flight game where you fly a paper air plane. It's a bit obtuse, but it's pretty for what it is. Some definite bugs and optimization problems, and I didn't gel with the controls. But go look at it, and give it a shot if it looks interesting.
• A-Spec First Assault - (link) - Space sim. Controls feel alright, combat is... okay. Looks and feels like a game that is 10 to 15 years old.
• Tinkerlands: A Shipwrecked Prologue - (link) - What if: Terraria, but top down and a crashed pirate. I can see the appeal, but this didn't really grab me. This is a "Prologue", so a completely seperate experience - the main game won't be available for some time yet.
• Mini Settlers: Prologue - (link) - Another "Prologue" title instead of a traditional demo. This one has been making the gaming news punditry rounds lately. And there isn't anything wrong with it. It's a really minimalist colony sim. Could be someone's jam. Just not something I'm going out of my way for.
• Shogun Showdown - (link) - A sinle plane strategy title with sort of turn based (global timer), sort of real time game play? It's a bit weird. I'm not wishlisting it, but I wouldn't say no if someone gave it to me or if it showed up for free in a bundle. This is the demo, and NOT the Prologue that is also available.
• Metal Suits - (link) - 2d shooter with actual decent controls, Contra inspired power ups, and stupid enemies. Silly game.

• SoulQuest - (link) - 2d hack and slash. Movement and combat feel pretty good, even if the combat in the demo is mostly pretty simple. I really like the art style, mostly to draw inspiration from in for my own pixel art shenanigans.
• Akatori - (link) - Platformer with supposed metroidvania aspects. I love the art, I enjoyed the movement, despite the blind jumps. Combat is a bit iffy, but they are still pretty darn early in development.
• Sagres - (link) - Top down sailing/exploration game. For some reason this one just grabbed me and didn't want to let go for a half hour. Maybe it's scratching some form of Sid Meier's Pirates! shaped itch or some thing.
• ZERO PROTOCOL - (link) - A reto FPS survival horror puzzle game that, unlike a lot of these, just freaking grabbed me. I don't know why! But I spent 20 minutes in this one, and that's a pretty significant time investment for me when it comes to demos.
• Lumina Rush - (link) - 2d Platformer, really simple graphics. Very fast, some interesting mechanics. Fun to control after a few moments. I don't know why THIS one grabbed me and others didn't, but it did!
• MemoryMaze - (link) - 3d maze/puzzle/physics game where you move a giant ball/marble around a course. Not normally in my wheel house, but I enjoyed my time with it.
• Lacuna: Prologue - (link) - Pixel art, 2d adventure detective title. Courtesy of @Jackass JoeJoe in the Adventure Games thread. I liked my brief time with the Prologue (aka, NOT a demo but sort of a demo).

• WHAT THE CAR? - (link) - It's a racing game. Sort of. More timetrials. You really do need to play it for yourself to get why this had me grinning and chuckling like a lunatic. From the makers of the similarly themed and named, "WHAT THE GOLF?". I liked it a LOT!
• Leila - (link) - Okay, this one is a bit esoteric, even for me. It's a found object puzzle game. And a point and click narrative adventure game. And a visual novel. All of those? I liked it, but it is a game I find extremely hard to recommend.
• Banishers: Ghost of New Eden - (link) - Focus and Don't Nod put out a demo! I played it for a few minutes to confirm the controls feel alright, and it looks good. Good news! The controls feel alright, and it looks good! Was already on my wishlist, but now if I see a decent sale I'll pick it up for a 'soonish' play through.

• Cryptmaster - (link) - What a wild typing mess of a dungeon crawler. I liked it a LOT. It got to a bunch of people, lots of press on it - including from the Front Page.
• Slay The Princess - (link) - It's been out for a while. It's simple looking. But holy smokes is the narrative chops strong as hell with this! Fully voiced, and so many different choices to make. This is how you make interactive fiction, folks!

• Nothing from LudoNarroCon.

• Lil' Guardsmen - (link) - This one has been out for awhile. Medieval "Paper's Please" -like featuring a child; the eponymous "Lil". Personally, I think there are other games in this genre that are better. Including the original Paper's Please. Hence why it ended up down here in the "if it's free" zone. NOTE: The demo is no longer available - I was only able to find it on the now defunct LudoNarroCon Steam Page.
  
• In Stars and Time - (link) - An oddly retro monochrome affair; like a mix of modern stylized art and Game Boy music and some visuals. It's weird. Combat is a hybrid rock paper scissors affair (literally - characters are rock or paper or scissor type!). Eh. If it was free, maybe.
• Nirvana Noir - (link) - Sequel to "Genesis Noir". Graphically striking conversation / investigation game. Narrative looks trippy as well. Another "if it's free".
• The Horror of Highrook - (link) - Card based management / investigation game with a eldritch horror theme.Eh. Looks like it gets insanely complex. If it's free or cheap. Removed from wishlist.

• Reka - (link) - You know that third person game featuering Baba-Yaga's chicken-legged walking house? This is it. The trailers make this look a lot more interesting than it was to play. Janky, fetch quest laden, and just not engaging. NOTE: Demo is no longer available. You aren't missing much.
  
• Minds Beneath Us - (link) - A cyberpunk narrative side scroller, but mostly an interactive fiction exercise where you select text responses to conversations. I was bored to tears after five minutes. Gave it another five, and gave up on it. Eh. EH I SAY.
• Back to the Dawn - (link) - Top down investigative RPG. Anthropomorphic animal people. Just didn't grab me.
• The Posthumous Investigation - (link) - Side scrolling black and white detective game. Also didn't really grab me, at least in the short time I put into it.
• Horror Tales: The Beggar - (link) - Not a part of LudoNarroCon. In fact, recommended by @Frosty Grin over in the Random thread. Part of an ongoing series. Nothing overly wrong with it, just wasn't for me.

• None this time around!

quarlie said:

Maybe a dumb question: does anyone know a way to find out which games on my Steam wishlist have demos without clicking on each one?

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The Lurker Beneath said:

Prologue is usually just the new name for Demo.

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• Arksync - (link) - 2d sidescrolling Twin Stick shooter / action platformer, decent feeling controls with mouse and keyboard, combat is okay. Robot & Teddy Bear. Pixel art style - little muddy in spots (I'm getting more critical of this as I work on my own pixel art stuff - see my thread up in the Maker fora), but I liked it!
• Magicraft - (link) - An Isaac-like(ish) that I actually had fun with. I dumped 30 minutes into this one, basically an entire run of the demo. My notes: A top down KB/M roguelike (think Isaac). Lots of different synergies to play with. I liked it! One complaint - music doesn't match the vibe too well. Surprised how much I enjoyed it.

• Mullet Madjack - (link) - It seems you can't turn around without seeing a gaming pundit talking about this one since it's debut during the spring Next Fest a few months back. Timer based FPS roguelike thingy. Very retro look and sort of feel. Very stylized. Just not rocking my boat, for the most part.
• Roundguard - (link) - This one has been out for a while. It's fantasy Peggle mixed with a Slay The Spire like map and "goals", with neither the charm or depth of either. Bit of a bummer. Removing from my wishlist, but if it's free? I'll add it to the library and probably never play it.
• Stardeus - (link) - A perfectly fine space based colony / city management sim. It's a little too deep for me right now, but otherwise looks interesting. Removing from wishlists. Just a genre that isn't really doing much for me at the moment.
• Artifact Seeker - (link) - Demo link is on the right hand side, under the "Is this game relevant to you?" box. Serviceable (barely) Vampire Survivors-like that is too easy. Much better options out there. Played a full run, could have yawned my way through it.

• Treasures of the Aegean - (link) - Fast paced 2d 'alleged' metroidvania platformer. Puzzles that break the flow, otherwise? It's FAST. However, the controls and movement don't feel very nice to me. Looks like an early 90's cartoon, if I'm honest, which is kind of neat. Pass from me.

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• Teeny Tiny Train - (link) - Found this one via a link from Alpha Beta Gamer. And you know what? I adore this! It's a toy train pathing puzzle game. I like it a LOT. Surprised the shit out of me!

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• Enter the Chronosphere - (link) - Very cool concept - isometric turn based shooter. Didn't really gel with me, but it may be a game that takes more time to get used to. For being turn based, it is STUPID fast!
• The Land Beneath Us - (link) - Pixel art top down turn based rogue like - took a bit to get used to the combat (positioning is so important!), but it's pretty fun. Also feels limited in what it can be, though. Interesting, but not interesting enough for me. Screen shots show it can get pretty complex, but I didn't see that in the 20 minutes I played it.
• Rogue Voltage - (link) - Turn based rogue lite, with base expansion between runs, runs for loot, and combat based around wiring up (at first) rudimentary circuits. Very neat concept, if a little clunky. I wouldn't mind playing more, but not enough to actively seek it out.
• Rack and Slay - (link) - Pool (billiards) based rogue like. Eh. What it made me want to do more than anything else is, you know, go to a local pool hall. It's been awhile.
• Trigon: Space Story - (link) - Here's my impression of it: Do you want prettier but worse FTL? I'm not a huge FTL fanperson, but this might scratch your itch if you are. Or not. 'Cause, you know, worse.
• Below The Stone - (link) - Core Keeper, except more roguelike and looks a little worse. Otherwise? Feels alright. I'd recommend Core Keeper as a more fleshed out game, but if you are desperate for a Rogue-y thing-y that is more single player, this might be better for you.
• Quest Master - (link) - Mario Maker for Zelda, in a merely okay 2d Zelda-like. If this is something you've been wanting, ABSOLUTELY look at this! This is the best rendition of the concept of a "Zelda Dungeon Maker" that I've seen yet.

• Bing in Wonderland - (link) - 2d side scrolling platforming shooter beatem up thing. Honestly feels like a decent port of a bad mobile game? NOT for me.
• Sharded World - (link) - Yet another Survivor like with a hub world between runs and lacklustre gameplay. Doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from the pack. Pass.
• Little-Known Galaxy - (link) - Stardew Valley -esque farming sim on a ship with away teams instead of mines. Nothing wrong with the game, this genre just isn't one I enjoy very much. Honestly worth a look - just not for me.
• The Explorator - (link) - A wonky as fuck FPS with an interesting premise, floaty and too-sharp controls, and just eh. Pass.
• Soulbind: Tales of the Underworld - (link) - Just play Dead Cells. It's what this game wants to be (with added extraneous action RPG inventory nonsense), but Dead Cells is better in every single conceivable way.
• Space Pirates and Zombies - (link) - Older title, but it has a demo now! Just not for me. Top down space exploration/building/combat/mining game. I don't like the controls. At all. Looked at the videos for the second game, and decided that I wasn't going to put the time in to try it.
• Break the Loop - (link) - NOTE: The Demo is no longer available. Kind of an odd, Darkest Dungeon-y time traveling thing-a-ma-bob. Combat on a line, positioning and timing are important. Moment to moment gameplay doesn't really do it for me, and you have to Ctrl+Alt+Del to close the fucking thing if you are in the middle of a game - and that is on purpose!! Fuck you, game. Get outta here with that noise. The game released yesterday, and the devs have taken the demo down.
• Sinus - (link) - 2d side scrolling action platformer. Cyberpunkish. Pixel graphics. I don't like the controls or how the movement feels.
• ΔV: Rings of Saturn - (link) - Extremely in depth space mining sim. Top down viewpoint. This will be someone's jam (see the Very Positive review score!), but I HATE the controls!
• Athenian Rhapsody - (link) - Could be neat, I don't like the visuals at all. My understanding is this puppy gets freaking weird in an Undertale-y kind of way, but I'll never see it.

• Tax-Force - (link) - Roguelike beat-em-up. I don't really like the design choice surrounding the movement and combat animations - deliberately low frame count per action. It also doesn't render on a 3440x1440 very well - some UI elements wandering off screen.

• HardAF - (link) - How much did I like this? I played it for 32 minutes and beat all the levels in the demo. It is, as the name implies, a hard as fuck precision platformer. The gimmick here is that the level starts completely black, and the only way to see obstacles and walls and the floor or anything is to cover it in your own blood through death. Yes, it's success through iterative failure. But the respawns are SUPER fast, the checkpoints make reasonable sense, and the levels are fairly short (IF really difficult). For example, I completed one level in just over 4 minutes. I died 84 times. The momentum of the player character took a bit to get used to, but the jumps are responsive, the dash and the double jump are RIGHT there at the beginning, and there is a self-destruct mechanic that liberally coats an area in blood so you can see it clearly - I did this a lot, and found some alternate paths that ended up being easier, or lead to little collectibles (little heads you can switch to at the start of each level).
  
  I liked this game. I liked it A LOT.
  
  It is most CERTAINLY not for everyone. Not even by a long shot. But if this is a genre you are interested in or have had fun with before? Give this one a try.
  
  Found via link from Alpha Beta Gamer.

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• VOIN - (link) - A first person sword hack-and-slash with roguelite elements, a hub, and open world stuff, and runs. Not something I expected to be in to. However! I actually had a pretty good time with the demo. Combat feels a bit outsized on the hit boxes, but otherwise pretty good! Movement was good - double jumps and dashes and a movement/traversal mode that is faster and has a teleport. Wishlisted.
• Rungore - (link) - A combination autobattler / TCG / deckbuilder with some roguelegacy-ish things going on. Give this one a look - I'm kind of falling off the deckbuilder train, and I'm not that fond of autobattlers. And yet I played this demo through to it's conclusion. Go figure! Another game wishlisted I didn't expect to.

• Astronite - (link to "chapter 1" called Landing on Neplea // link to main game) - Be aware - this is one of those "chapter 1 / prologue" things with a separate Steam page from the main game. 1-bit metroidvania platformer. Complete with giving you a dash that you can't remap, a jump pack that is cool, and a limited range gun. Feels like a decent starter kit - and they do the Metroid thing and take it all away. That combined with the monochrome, black and white art style? I'm normally a sucker for metroidvania platfomer types. But this? Eh.

• Ammo and Oxygen - (link) - As expected, this top down shooter is not something I'm into. Not optimized particularly well, enemies and interactive objects not clearly delineated. Some bad design choices in my opinion, but this is also a genre that I don't really enjoy that much.
• FLAKE The Legend of Snowblind - (link) - A narrative point-and-click adventure/interactive fiction title. Supposedly. One button press in the first five-plus minutes - the rest of it is cut scene. Some odd design choices in regards to how you interact with the screen, where the cursor obscures the action text, making it difficult to see what is going to happen. This one is a pretty firm pass from me.

• Ada: Tainted Soul - (link) - As @quarlie noted above, this is... well, it's not in a good state. This feels like it was rushed to satisfy clamoring backers, and.. yeah. The combat and the movement feel half baked at the moment and not fun to play, the dialogue needs quite a bit of work, the UI elements don't render fully on screen in ultrawide, and the menu is a dysfunctional mess - I had to alt tab out and kill it from the desktop. This is hopefully not done cooking, because there might be some interesting elements there. But not right now, not in it's current state.

Five new Steam games you probably missed (May 20, 2024)

Sorting through every new game on Steam so you don't have to.

www.pcgamer.com

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• Morbid: The Seven Acolytes - (link) - An isometric pixel souls like. First game in the series by the devs. The controls are a bit inconsistent. The art is decent, the combat feels pretty weighty, and the movement feels pretty good - sprinting doesn't mulch all of your stamina in seconds, which is nice. Not going to wishlist it, but I wouldn't say no if it showed up for super cheap or free or was part of a bundle.

• Morbid: The Lords of Ire - (link) - Second game in the series from these dev's. Shift to 3d graphics, third person souls like. The controls, sadly, are still a bit disconcerting in their inconsistency. Sprinting doesn't eat any stamina at all, but attacks will mulch through it incredibly fast. Also, a third person action game with no jump? Not feeling this one nearly as much as the isometric title.
• Master Key - (link) - Top down Zelda-like with 1-bit pixel graphics. They lean HARD into the retro aesthetic, with the art being large, chunky pixels and the music being rudimentary chip tune. I can appreciate what they are going for, but this isn't something I want to spend time playign. Could be interesting, but a pass from me.
• Nienix - (link) - Top down looter shooter - space ship shmup. Eh. Controls allow for some customization, but it's just not tickling me. Not a big surprise, but I try just the same!

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Frosty Grin said:

Enotria: The Last Song demo is available now. What I can say at this point is that it's different from Lies of P in that it's rather demanding. High settings for global illumination and reflections use raytracing, and I wouldn't recommend trying this demo with a GPU slower than the RTX 2080 - it's not the kind of game where the art direction powers through even on "Medium". Animations are a bit Harlequin/puppet, which is appropriate and distinctive. But the "soulslike" aspect isn't especially enjoyable so far. It didn't help that one of the opening areas reminds you of Dark Souls 2. But even when the art gets distinctive, it still feels like a rather old game with a new coat of paint.

Don't know if I'm going to keep playing - I'm finishing NIoh DLC right now, and it's a more enjoyable soulslike, not to mention the performance. But with a few months before release, one still can be hopeful about Enotria.

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• Weird West: The Bounty Hunter Journey - (link) - Had it on the wishlist already, and the game has been out for a hot minute. This is that CRPG/ top down/isometric Shooter wild-west-but-freaking-weird hybrid from former founder/creative Director at Arkane (Colatonio). Played with a mouse and keyboard - can definitely get used to it - but it looks like it natively supports both xbox and playstation controllers, which is dope. I mostly wanted to see how it feels to play, and I'm happy to report that I enjoyed my time with the demo. Stays on the wishlist, hope to get to play it someday down the line!

• The Gun is Good - (link) - More big map bullet hell than survivor like. Rudimentary graphics, an StS roguelite map. Multiple characters. I had fun with it, but I don't see playing more than the demo.
  
• Lumencraft - (link) - Top down resource miner/crafter and tower defense game. Not bad. Definitely would be better co-op.
  
• The King is Watching - (link) - Tower defense puzzle game with legacy upgrades. You build out a "castle" in order to produce x, which you use to produce y, then z, aa, b, etc. The kicker is you can only have certain production structures activated at once, so the puzzle ends up being what is built where, and when is turned on. Surprisingly engaging, if simple, loop. I don't know if I'd play it beyond the demo, but if you gave it to me? Sure! Looks like there is hopefully a lot of room for updates and upgrades, screen shots show a LOT of stuff that I didn't see in the demo. I played through two "boss" runs, one where I beat the "boss" and one where I lost. This almost made it to the wishlist. Almost.
  
• Crashlands 2 - (link) - Did you like the original Crashlands? This is more, but prettier! Action RPG / crafting hybrid. The combat always feels a bit wonky in these, but they are some peoples absolute JAM. For me? Simply an 'eh'.
  
• Shape of Dream - (link) - Isometric action RPG with MOBA controls. I enjoyed my time with it, but honestly? Given the huge update that Diablo 4 got in season 4 that made that game (according to pundits) MUUUUUCH better? I'd go play that instead. Controls are a bit iffy with this one, but it seems pretty early in the dev cycle, and there are some interesting concepts here. Give it a look.
  
• Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty - (link) - BIG demo (41gb). Lots of graphical options for tweaking that I didn't both to get into. I've never been over fond of Team Ninja's previous titles, but I figured I'd give this a shot. If I was more into their games, I would be all over this - the Three Kingdoms period (when this is set) is so wild. Not necessarily for me, but this is pretty awesome. Looks decent with my hardware in ultrawide as well. WARNING: Button prompts defaulted to PlayStation! Be warned!

• Fishbowl - (link) - First, there is nothing wrong with this game. It's just that "game" is too strong of a term - this is interactive fiction. It has some minor puzzle elements, a matching game, and a pixel art aesthetic. But it's all an engine for the devs to express their story of loss. Also, it's made by "imissmyfriends.studio". Which is just depressing. It's not badly made, it's just not for me.
  
• Airships: Lost Flotilla - (link) - It's a survivor-like with airships. Means the movement deliberately feels more "airshippy" and doesn't lend itself to speed of the enemies very well. Better options exist.
  
• Enotria: The Last Song - (link) - Played through first rest and promptly ran up to something and got absolutely murdered. Yep. It's very, VERY Souls inspired - and I SUCK at these .
  
  Game play wise, it seems… fine? And like most Souls games, the story when you first jump in is incomprehensible. Not for me, obviously. Hey, I can land the parry every once in a while without having to fiddle with options, that's a plus! But as to how it stacks up against other Souls and Souls-like games from a game play perspective? I couldn't say.
  
  But the optimization for graphics and controls definitely needs some work. If Souls are your jam, might want to let this one cook a bit more, see if the developers can straighten out some of the graphical hitches and screen tears.

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Frosty Grin said:

Wo Long is actually rather different from games like Nioh. The structure is more or less the same. but, with morale and fortitude, you're essentially leveling up throughout the level, and the better you do, the easier it gets. So it feels more fun and dynamic. Don't know if the demo is long enough to show this and you played it long enough to see this. Still a soulslike with difficult bosses though.

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• Star Trek: Resurgence - (link) - BIG demo - 15gb. Is it very Tell Tale? Yes. Is it a little jank? Yes. Is it Star Trek? Oh my, yes it is. And Tell Tale -like (former devs) telling a Star Trek story? Hell YES this is staying on my wish list! I want to tackle this one some time this year.
  
  The reviews on steam sum up what I've read in other places. If you want a technical masterpiece? Look elsewhere. If you want Good Trek? This is probably the best in years that is a crafted experience. TNG Era, by the by.

• Traveler's Refrain - (link) - Ocarina of time with a lute, and that common 3/4s vie Action RPG (think Link to the Past and other 16 bit era) with mediocre combat and minor puzzle elements. Strangely compelling. Very small team. I'm not real sure about this one… Going to wishlist it, because I want to be reminded to check reviews upon release, but I can understand NOT wishlisting it as well.
  
• The Art of Reflection - (link) - A very odd first person teleportation environmental puzzler. That was a neat little thing. Not sure if the mechanic expands or not, but I enjoyed spending a little time with it!

• Union of Gnomes: Prologue - (link) - It's a prologue, not a demo - so this puppy will live in your library forever. A fairly bog standard roguelite deckbuilder. The only interesting mechanic is the cards are 'gnomes' that must be fed as you go down the path. If you run out of sausages, one of your gnomes 'faints' and is removed from the deck. That's pretty much it for interesting mechanics, otherwise there isn't a lot to differentiate it from so, SO many other games in the genre.

• Block Strategy - (link) - Small form factor, pretty quick moving RTS. Resources, bases, small number of units. VERY small number. Could be for some others, didn't really get me. The world is pretty moldable in a minecrafty sort of way.

• Delic - (link) - Strong mid-2000's energy with this one. I get the impression it wants to be Stalker. I can't verify that at all, because it crashes to desktop at the end of the first cut scene.

Frosty Grin said:

In terms of genre, isn't it just a rogue-lite?

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quarlie said:

The visual style is pixelated 3D - kind of lo-fi without being overtly retro.

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• Nine Sols - (link) - (edit: DEMO NO LONGER AVAILABLE.) What is happening here?!? That turned from fantasy to a hard sci-fi pretty fast! Hand drawn side scrolling souls-like platformer. Wish listed, but not sure if I'll ever play it - leans pretty hard into the difficulty. Same devs that put out Detention a few years ago, and Devotion after that (before it was pulled for.. upsetting... certain... elements... in that part of the world).
• Chasing the End - (link) - An adventure/puzzle platformer with minor environmental puzzles. Similar to Inside/Limbo/etc mechanically. Presentation/narrative (which is what these kinds of games are all about) is really well done pixel art in a ruined Seoul - the world is ending in six months due to an asteroid. I enjoyed my time with the demo, but I am really "in" to these kinds of games. Hell, one of my 'games of the year' last year was American Arcadia, which is another adventure/puzzle platformer. I'm wishlisting this, but this isn't a genre space or aesthetic for everyone. Oh, and the dialogue is a bit... yeah. It could be better.
• Alcyone: The Last City - (link) - A narrative choose your own adventure game. Set in a sci fi world where something truly terrible happened before. The premise is interesting. The writing (at least in the beginning) is decent. And the UI is more than just text - there are a lot of graphical components to it. Sometimes these kinds of games are EXACTLY what I'm looking for. I'm adding this one to the list.

• Blasphemous - (link) - I gave this a second chance. And after tweaking the controls slightly (parry to left trigger)? I find that I enjoy it a lot more! My understanding is that gameplay wise, the second game is MUCH stronger and the story is convoluted as fuck no matter what. So, moving this to 'eh' / 'if it's free' (from it's previous hard 'Meh' designation) and wishlisting Blasphemous 2.
• POOLS - (link) - A "Backrooms" game. Pretty well done. I think I'd rather watch someone's edited playthrough, though.
• Withering Rooms - (link) - It's a roguelike (or a roguelite, but I didn't play for long enough to find out if it resets you to a zero point or not), 2.5D side-scroller horror game. Has some RPG elements, there is an interesting premise, but I don't really like the combat. Another game where I think I'd rather watch someone else play it.

• Scars of Mars - (link) - Real time positional tactics game that can get pretty convoluted, pretty quickly. Has some modern tropes as far as map path choice (I blame StS ). Could be interesting, but not for me. Courtesy of RPGSite.net.

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