Next Fest 26|2 Day 3

Day 3 is here, and with some big demos for your enjoyment! I started Order of the Sinking Star yesterday but had to pause because I had no idea how much was left and only finished it this morning. Good stuff.

Highlights: Order of the Sinking Star, Astra Bestiary, Rhythm Katana Dance

Knick Knack Stack

Knick Knack Stack on Steam

Knick Knack Stack is a cozy 2D physics-based puzzle game. Travel the world, build goofy towers in iconic places, take cute memory pictures of your creations and chat with your silly friends! Relax, you have all the time you need to be creative! Balance your way through this wholesome adventure!

STEAM

Knick Knack Stack has a very accurate name as the whole point is to stack knick-knacks up high without the whole tower falling over. I admit, when my carefully stacked knick-knack stack got knocked over by my own fault it was a bit more stressful than you'd expect, but I think that's just a me issue. There are multiple ways to solve the challenges, and an extra hard height challenge for those whose knack is stacking knick-knack stacks. Can you tell I like the name? Overall was a lot of fun, even if at first the conversational story segments between levels felt almost too much like I'm looking at someone else's chat history

D-Topia

D-topia on Steam

Step into the world of D-topia in this gentle-paced puzzle adventure. In D-topia, life is curated by artificial intelligence to maximize happiness. As the newest Facilitator, it’s up to you to solve puzzles to keep the D-topia residents happy and the facility running.

STEAM

D-Topia is a narrative puzzle game about an AI-ruled utopia. The demo is more focussed on the vibes than showing off too many of the puzzly bits, which might suggest the full thing is also a lot more narrative leaning. The setting is good enough for that, but I do think the demo could've shown off a bit more of what the game actually is meant to be

Astra Bestiary

Astra Bestiary on Steam

Raise Beasts from eggs into powerful Champions in this 2D monster-raising/taming RPG. Feed, train and evolve your partners to explore a perilous, non-linear world. Master fast-paced, tactical battles, uncover the secrets of a fading world and pass on the Beasts’ legacy across generations.

STEAM

A creature collecting/fighting game with a rock-paper-scissors combat loop (with a lot of variety on top of that). It's well made, though I found the UI a bit cumbersome to navigate for whatever information I was looking for. The world is a lot more lively and interactive than I expected, so you can dodge enemies you don't want to fight and have to constantly forage to train your Beasties. Not without flaws/rough edges, but might be worth trying if you like catch'em'all games

MassEve

MassEve on Steam

You are a massive neutrino. Craft quantum builds, clash with other subatomic particles, and survive a universe that reshapes every run. A fast-paced twin-stick roguelike where real physics bends the rules.

STEAM

Mass Eve has a unique take on a setting, twisting physic's standard model into biomes, enemies, and items. Sadly the more I played, the less I wanted to play more. Between not liking the visuals, not really seeing the bullet hell aspect of this twin stick roguelike, and the demo being repetitive enough to be borderline a linear adventure – it left much to be desired

Would You Love Me If I Was A Snake?

Would You Love Me If I Was a Snake? on Steam

A puzzle game where you play as a snake. Push objects, block lasers, teleport, and bite your tail off to escape dreamy puzzle rooms.

STEAM

Behind the simple graphics and silly name, Would You Love Me If I Was A Snake? is actually a surprisingly good puzzler, forcing you to work around growing and shrinking your body to accommodate tight spaces and avoid many laser beams. And while not devilishly difficult it does have some tricky levels that make it worth taking a peek at

Fluff'n'Roll

Fluff’n’Roll on Steam

Fluff’n’Roll is a challenging momentum-based precision platformer where you control the stage to move. Don’t let the cute fluffs fool you: this is a game that rewards perseverance, practice, and mastery.

STEAM

A ball rolling game where you rotate the world to get your ball rolling towards the exit. A classic, expanded by the ball being quite bouncy so that the real fast times require you to make some very dubious parkour

Rhythm Katana Dance

Rhythm Katana Dance on Steam

RKD is a first-person rhythm game where you can deflect bullets, dash, and slice enemies with a katana in perfect sync with your own beat using the in-game custom music editor.

STEAM

Going in I expected a rhytmic Ghostrunner, and while both have katanas and movement options, in here your main movement tech is zipping from enemy to enemy as you slice them in half. It's fast, it doesn't actually require you to have good rhythm since that's purely for your rank, and the simple graphics are more than enough for the gameplay they sustain. Short and Sweet demo too

Order of the Sinking Star

Order of the Sinking Star on Steam

From director Jonathan Blow (Braid, The Witness), Order of the Sinking Star is a narrative adventure set in a realm of magic and enigma. Solve over 1000 interconnected, hand-crafted puzzles, discover unique playable heroes, master evolving gameplay mechanics, and decipher a grand mystery.

STEAM

A large demo for an even larger puzzle game, and it's only set to expand further on Friday. Order of the Sinking Star mixes up multiple different types of sokoban puzzles into a single surprisingly cohesive package. I find it a bit too easy to get yourself into unsolvable states without realizing, even with undo functionality, but you can see the high quality make of this game through both the visual and gameplay design