Next Fest 25|2 Day 0
Micro-reviews for Day 0 of Summer Next Fest 2025, exploring SwooshCat, Horripilant, Gecko Gods Sixtar Gate: STARGAZER, Dragon Shelter, CIPHER ZERO, Ratatan, Sagas of Lumin, and Trifoil
It's that time of the year again, where developers release a ton of games and I go through them like an all-you-can-eat buffet. And Day 0 is here to give you some demos to try out while we wait for floodgates to open.
Highlights: Dragon Shelter, Gecko Gods, Trifoil
SwooshCat
The game presents itself as a Celeste x Katana Zero, and honestly it's pretty accurate when it comes to style and gameplay. However, it does stumble a bit when it comes to gamefeel. The demo throws you into deep waters quite quickly, and even early on the obstacles leave very little room for error at times, which is less than ideal when you're trying to familiarize yourself with the controls. Worth trying if you enjoy difficult platformers, but expect to die in the same way multiple times as you get familiar with the controls (which are quite solid and have a lot of potential in the full game).
Playtime: ~40min
Horripilant
Horripilant mixes elements from clicker games and autobattlers. While I'm not a fan of either of the genres, I do think the game does what it sets out to do quite well, including the unsettling atmosphere. Ultimately it's hard to judge a game like this on balancing, but it's worth trying if you like idle games.
Playtime: 1h+
Gecko Gods
Welcome to the life of a gek, where you can walk on literally any surface, no matter if it's a floor, wall, or ceiling. While it brands itself as a puzzle platformer, the game offers more eyecandy than braincandy, and at least in the demo has a stronger focus on exploring the mysterious island than being stuck on any particular challenge it offers. And that's okay, because the game's stylized look is absolutely lovely.
Playtime: 30min
Sixtar Gate: Stargazer
STARGAZER is a spin-off to the other Sixtar Gate game, featuring the same style and setting, but with completely different gameplay. Both are rhythm games, but the gameplay changed from highway to the notes coming into center of the screen. Overall very polished and comprehensive rhythm demo, with the main issue being me not knowing how to change language until after the tutorial, though not like that was that much of a problem.
Playtime: 40min+
Dragon Shelter
A cozy farming/cooking sim, where dragons help you with your daily chores: Water dragon can water crops, Fire dragon can light the furnace to bake some bread, and all dragons can receive pets for the good job they're doing. What more is there to ask for? Call me biased, but seeing dragons bustle around the kitchen is just adorable. Worth giving a try if you like these types of games, and don't mind lengthy tutorial sequences.
Playtime: 1h+
CIPHER ZERO
A simple rule discovery game about lighting up cells in a grid. There isn't anything particularly challenging or revolutionary in the demo, however it does a stellar job with it's glitchy digital aesthetic. Short and sweet
Playtime: 10min
Ratatan
Ratatan is a spiritual successor to Patapon games, with a lot of shared DNA in terms of using rhythmic commands to control armies of lil guys. But it's far from a copy, since the core loop is that of a roguelite, with strong focus on repeating runs to upgrade your army after each one. It has some very unintuitive UI choices, and I worry that the design of the game might have some flaws that might need ironing out, but the more I played the more fun I had and that's what matters.
Playtime: 1h+
Sagas of Lumin
An Action RPG that has you control both the dragon rider — in varied combat including a little bit of everything you'd expect in a soulslike game; as well as the dragon — flying around the world and having air battles with the wild dragons. While the two modes of play don't interact much in the demo, they are balanced well and intertwined with each other and the story. There is some buggyness and the performance is poor at times, but it still is very much playable.
Playtime: 40-60min
Trifoil
Another rule discovery puzzler, this time about creating a path that satisfies all conditions in the grid. And this time, the content is both decently challenging (for the early game it presents) and feels unique not only in how it looks, but also in what it does; even if the specific mechanics may be present elsewhere. Very much worth trying if you have a passing interest in this types of puzzles.
