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The Steam Next Fest 2020 is in full swing until February 28, 2022. With that comes an influx of countless indie game demos from passionate teams, striving to offer new experiences for gamers.
With that in mind, here are a handful of fresh concepts from creative minds across the indie space.
5 unique indie game demos like Tower Princess and ARTIFICIAL from Steam Next Fest 2022
1) Tower Princess
Developed by indie studio AweKteaM, Tower Princess is an intriguing take on the roguelite genre. It's primarily a 3D action platformer about Knights and princesses.
Set in a whimsical fantasy world, the Evil Dragon has been causing trouble for everyone, mowing down all who dare stray into his path. As a fearless Knight, players must show him his place while being aided by a princess and her powers.
The combat is hack & slash and incorporates a basic three-hit combo and a couple of special moves with a cooldown period. Don't let the cute artstyle fool you, the game does pose a decent level of challenge.
The indie developers have cited Dark Souls as an influence, with the boss fight against the cook in the demo reflecting that with its aggressive AI. But additionally, the Knight will also traverse a procedurally-generated castle filled with traps and enemies which he must overcome with brawn.
The princess can also tag along and is able to temporarily stun an enemy, allowing to get some more hits in. On that note, there are two Knights: a sword-wielder and one with a rifle.
The rifle Knight makes things easier as long-range enemies can be annoying to deal with, and the lock-on feature also helps. However, roguelite elements show up in the form of randomized castle layouts during every run, thus keeping gameplay fresh. That's a genre that's lately been seeing a lot of love from indie game developers.
No hint on a release date besides a "soon" from the team.
2) ARTIFICIAL
Solo indie creator Ondrej Angelovic's first-person puzzler is surprisingly remeniscent of Portal. Not at a mechanical level, but more of an aesthetic one. Especially the narrative sequences paired with the player's lone descent into the desolate unknown.
The narrative sees players in an underground colony on asteroid 2031 XT - except something is off. So to find out the truth, you're thrust into the depths of debris-littered corridors that are clearly in disarray due to neglect.
The protagonist can walk, run, jump and interact with objects. The fundamental gameplay revolves around moving from area to area and solving physics-based puzzles to proceed.
These can range from pulling objects to clearing the way or creating a path for yourself by stacking boxes and crates. A scanner also allows scanning certain markers in the surroundings which also contribute towards the puzzle design.
But it's not necessarily a chill experience - there's a looming sense of oppression at play even though no foe is in sight. Though there are enemies in the game, albeit occasional, like turrets, and hazards like lasers. Fans of the puzzle genre might want to keep an eye out for this one.
3) The Unliving
What happens when you combine indie team Motion Twin's Dead Cells and Nintendo's Pikmin? You get The Unliving. The roguelite skill elements of the former mesh with the latter's horde micromanagment gameplay to deliver something that hasn't really been done before.
The premise of the game revolves around an immortal necromancer who strives to raise hell and punish the townsfolk. The selling point of the game is the ability to ressurrect any killed enemy as an undead minion at the press of a button. This allows the nencromancer to raise an army of the slain and turn it against those who defy him in the blink of an eye.
The level begins with access to a few zombies, which can be used to kill foes, or if you so wish, they can engage in hack & slash combat themselves, but it’s risky. Foes can whittle down the necromancer's health quickly and they can also attack in large numbers. As such, retaliating with a wave of your own while keeping your distance is key.
At death, players can return to their hideout to unlock new skills that have a chance to pop up when opening chests during exploration - which is where the Dead Cells likeness comes in.
Commanding the undead is easy and done at the click and wave of a mouse cursor - seeing dozens of freaks gang up on enemies is not unlike commanding the cutesy colorful aliens from Pikmin.
It's a constant cycle of death and death that's as addictive as it is exciting. Indie developer RocketBrush Studio proves that developers haven't yet run out of creative juices. The Unliving launches sometime during the first half of 2022.
4) Jack Move
The oddly-named Jack Move from the even odder indie studio So Romantic is a stylish new JRPG inspired title. It's an indie cyberpunk RPG that impresses right off the bat. The game features Nao, a young hacker who loves living on the edge of thrill. After her father goes missing, she delves down a rabbit hole of shady dealings with megacorporations.
Everything from the pixel-art presentation and turn-based gameplay, to the banger audio is polished and engaging. The game features exploration in the overworld, with random encounters while in hostile areas. Battles transport her and the enemies to the cyberspace, where a traditional JRPG menu system is employed for battle.
The game also functions like a normal JRPG with sci-fi terminology instead. For example, magic/SP is called Data. Skills/magic are under the Execute tab, allowing Noa to use equipped abilities in battle (e.g. self-healing). The skills that can be equipped are governed by a RAM system that has limited slots and each ability occupies a certain number of slots.
But besides that, it’s your standard JRPG affair of keeping up your HP and whacking away at enemies until they drop dead. Jack Move applies a fresh coat of paint to a familiar formula, but does so with enough success that it's worth keeping on your radar.
5) Boundary
First announced as a PlayStation VR game, Boundary offers an experience that's never been seen before. I mean a competitive first-person shooter (FPS) set in zero gravity? That's quite ambitious - especially for an indie studio.
But indie developer Surgical Scalpels is definitely up to the task as the reception to the upcoming online multiplayer shooter has been positive. Boundary's battles take place in orbits around modern-day space-inspired settings, like space stations.
Combat is elevated to the next level thanks to virtually 360 degree movement - which also makes things challenging as players can be flanked from any side.
It features 3 different Operators to choose from, each with a unique loadout, special abilities and playstyle, as well as a handful of different game modes. The weapons can also be customized, including stocks, scopes, and more.
It remains to be seen how the final product will turn out, but the concept is undoubtedly fresh. Boundary will launch sometime in 2022.
