Next Fest 26|2 Day 2

Even before Steam activates their recommendation engine I'm seeing a ton of puzzle games this Fest. I'm trying to spread the interesting ones out across the few days, but if it feels like things are very puzzly then that's why

Highlights: Echo Weaver, VoidHue

VoidHue

VoidHue on Steam

VoidHue is a top-down puzzle game that fuses classic sokoban mechanics with colorful light mechanics. Mix and match colors to phase through gates, activate light-based mechanisms and solve vibrant puzzles to bring back the color to the world.

STEAM

VoidHue is very straightforward in its mechanics, blending colors to go through colored barriers or activate colored switches. But it excells as a demo, having both a lot of content from easy to tricky, and showing little preview of all the content not in the demo you can look forward to, including some very neat mechanics I don't really want to spoil. If you enjoy puzzles and don't mind sokobans (pushing blocks around) then do give it a go!

Micro Solar Punk

Micro Solar Punk on Steam

Micro Solar Punk is a hybrid tactical strategy game combining RTS and TBS. Reposition, attack, and survive while building the foundations of a new, miniature human civilization. But its ambitions will face the retaliation of the true owners of the land: the insects.

STEAM

This is an odd little game. You are on a grid as a crab whose job it is to level the entire field by either shoving durt to the sides or digging it up, all while avoiding a barrage of missiles from surrounding beetles. It's definitely unique, and at the chaotic x2 speed/size it was somewhat fun, but it feels like a one-trick pony that needs more substance to hold it together beyond the demo

Echo Weaver

Echo Weaver on Steam

Time is your greatest resource and secrets are your only upgrades. Master an unraveling time loop in this knowledge-based Metroidvania. As the last Weaver, exploit time-altering anomalies and use what you learn to break the cycle. Explore what remains. Uncover the mystery. Perfect the loop.

STEAM

A time loop metroidbrania. It has secrets, shortcuts, and "I could do this all along?" moments. Has a lot more thinking/platforming than fighting, focusing on how to make best use of your time each loop. Audio felt a bit subdued at times, but it's not a big deal. The whole package has plenty of secrets if you want to look around, and probably many more in the full release too

Rift Haul TD

Rift Haul TD on Steam

Take direct control of your hero in this stylized 3D tower defense. Don’t just place your defenses—pick them up and rush them to the front lines as the tide of battle shifts. Strategize in real-time to protect your realm from ever-evolving threats.

STEAM

A tower defense game where your towers aren't locked in place, but instead you can pick any of them up and move them around as you see fit. As you may imagine this is both handy and less necessary than the game would imply if you just place them well. I like the idea of having a boss just walk around spawning things rather than head for your 'core' directly, but otherwise the demo is very... "mobile phone quality"

Darkphobia

Darkphobia on Steam

Turn off the lights. Reach the bed. Stay alive. Play through three intertwining nightmares where light is your only lifeline. Don’t stay in the dark too long, or "It" will find you.

STEAM

A game about turning off all the lights and running back to your bed before the darkness gets you. A simple premise for a simple game. It's novel, constantly changing the layout of the house and introducing new types of lights/electrical malfunctions, but it is also much slower and less frantic than you'd expect. A good casual experience

Gathera

Gathera on Steam

Gather materials to craft and craft to gather more materials! Open new locations to explore the world, build a cozy home and decorate it with your collections. Build manufacture to optimize gathering and crafting. Survive against the monster raids if you want!

STEAM

Gathera aims to mix cozy survival crafting game with a bit of a factorio experience of automatic production. But that second half isn't really in the demo, so the demo is mainly just a little survival-crafting experience. And it's fine, a bit on the generic side of things, but at least it's indeed cozy and bug-free

PRELUDE Dark Pain

Prelude Dark Pain on Steam

Prelude Dark Pain is a Tactical RPG set in a dark fantasy world. Assume the role of a local blacksmith named Soren, lead an uprising against the Order of the Ashen Crusade and save a world ravaged by war.

STEAM

This one features tactical turn-based battles, where positioning is key, alongside using your characters abilities well. It has a gritty aesthetic and leans heavily into its narrative which... so far so good? For as much as does happen in the demo, it is hard to judge a book by its cover. The setup is decent enough, up to the writers to now squeeze a satisfying story out of it