Next Fest 26|1 Day 3
Micro-reviews for Day 2 of February Next Fest 2026, exploring Voidling Bound, Map Map — A Game About Maps, BOOST VECTOR EX, Eon Rush, Gloomveil, Deep Dish Dungeon
Day 3 came and went, and I've got more goodies to share! This round is mainly fueled by suggestions I got from people reading these, but I always take more if anyone has something specific they want tried
Highlights: Voidling Bound, Deep Dish Dungeon
Voidling Bound
Voidling Bound mixes a lot of different elements in a very appealing concoction. In some ways it's a shooter, but it revolves around a "voidling" creature you control to defeat enemies on your way to a level's boss. Then with the spoils you can evolve your goober to change its appearance and abilities to suit your playstyle or the enemies you need to kill. Feels really good to play
Playtime: 40-90min
Map Map — A Game About Maps
This game has a very accurate name. You have a map with an outline of an island. Your goal is to figure out where on the island your goal is, and then place a marker on the map. It's a very good chill balance between being too difficult and too easy, and should be a good chill game whenever it comes out
Playtime: <1h
BOOST VECTOR EX
While I'm very bad at it, I recognize that this is actually a really fun boost racer. The boost crystals you collect do not recharge between laps, so rather than always taking the optimal path you are encouraged to go a slightly different route every time, making the runs more interesting, and overall good performance more important than being good at some particularly risky shortcut
Playtime: 20min+
Eon Rush
A co-op ARPG that feels like a MOBA, but I wouldn't really call it that. Demo features two different modes of fighting waves of enemies up to a boss and while the general roguelite method structure of the runs is fine, I can see it becoming very repetitive very fast. At least the PvE side of things. Only played solo because nobody was available to try co-op, so it's possible the game feels very different when enemies have multiple targets to shoot at
Playtime: 40min+
Gloomveil
Gloomveil has you explore an underbrush of a thick forest in a vague quest to a queen that calls for you. While there is some combat and very dangerous enemies, most of the foes standing on your way are just minor inconveniences or passive creatures. Feels like you are encouraged to avoid hitting things, maybe it'll have some impact on the game. Very slow, chill, and mostly about the atmosphere
Playtime: 30-60min
Deep Dish Dungeon
This was a lovely time. You go in, alone or with friends, and explore an underground dungeon, step by step opening the various doors and finding the many passages, alone or with others and an in-game VC. Along the way you collect materials to gear up, but most importantly ingredients to cook a wide range of meals. Mostly chill, at times a bit spooky, but overall something I hope to drag some friends into once it's out
