I played 10 Steam Next Fest RPG demos

Steam Next Fest is happening now, and this is my experience with 10 RPG demos

Steam Next Fest is up right now, and from February 5 to 12 there are hundreds of demos for a huge variety of games available to play. This is the perfect opportunity to get the lowdown on all the best upcoming indie games of 2024, and I went out of my way to play ten of them.

These ten games were randomly selected from the Steam Next Fest page’s RPG section, and not all of them strictly fit into the RPG definition. That’s fine though, because there’s some gold to be found among these demos, and these are my impressions of the ten I played.

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Yet Another Fantasy Title (YAFT)

YAFT seems fun, but how far does the satire go? / Atomic Wolf

As implied by the title, this is a tongue-in-cheek fantasy game with a nice artstyle and decent enough action combat. It’s simple, and characters talk in garbled language like Banjo-Kazooie characters, but it’s decent fun, and has a surprisingly large and lively world. Still, no idea if the core conceit will evolve past a drunk wizard named Grindalf.

Play Yet Another Fantasy Title (YAFT) on Steam.

Soulmask

Soulmask looks nice, at least / Qooland Games

This is a survival crafting game. It looks nice and seems pretty ambitious, but I can’t play another game that wants me to pick up sticks and rocks as soon as I take control of the character. I just can’t.

Play Soulmask on Steam.

Back To School

The game wouldn't let me play. I've had worse experiences / 聂宇星

When this game finally loaded for me I selected my language and then I was unable to do anything but stare at a classroom filled with realistic-looking anime school girls. It made me feel uncomfortable and I had to use Task Manager to close it.

Play Back To School on Steam.

Night Stones

A genuinely beautiful game you should be keeping an eye on / Advance Nine

This is great. The artstyle for this adorable adventure game is gorgeous, and the first area included in the demo feels a bit like the opening section of Ocarina of Time, forcing you to explore in order to get to the next area. It’s a shame that the demo is so short, because I wanted to keep playing. This should be high on your priority list.

Play Night Stones on Steam.

Souls Survivors

Vampire Survivors but awkward / Nomade Games

Honestly, I only wanted to try this one because the logo looks exactly like Vampire Survivors, and hey, what do you know, it is that style of game exactly, only you have to hold the mouse button to use your main attack. It’s Vampire Survivors, but with 3D character models, which is sound in theory, but in reality, it means those hundreds of enemies queueing up to attack you are also tanking the framerate. And I really do mean queueing – character models can’t overlap, so you end up creating a long train of foes following you around the map, patiently waiting for their turn in line. I played until my framerate could no longer stay above 10fps. The fact is, Vampire Survivors already exists, and doesn’t look or feel nearly as dreary as Souls Survivors does.

Play Souls Survivors on Steam.

The Girl Who Kicked a Rabbit

Adorable RPG fun / takunomi

An cute turn-based RPG, The Girl Who Kicked a Rabbit features a girl called Lumi who ends kicking an awful lot of rabbits. The battle system has some unique quirks which include stockpiling Catalysts, which you earn from the enemies, and then Synthesizing them into other objects that you can use. It’s all a bit abstract, but it’s intensely charming. 

Play The Girl Who Kicked The Rabbit on Steam.

Master of Vtuber

I couldn't find the English language option and got stuck / Ninth Games Co. Ltd

The only part of this game that was in English was the credits. As a result, I gave up as soon as I got to a stats screen and became intimidated.

Play Master of Vtuber on Steam.

Small Town Emo

I was a teenage emo once, so I can relate / Fnife Games

I couldn’t help but download this because of the title alone, but it’s actually a very sweet coming of age story for a bisexual boy who has a crush on his best friend. It’s adorable and nostalgic, with Game Boy-inspired visuals, “MSM” chats where characters have Naruto profile pics, and a slightly grating but fitting musical choice. Definitely give this a try if you spent too much time on MSN Messenger in your teen years.

Play Small Town Emo on Steam.

Rotwood

The best art style and animation of any game on this list / Klei Entertainment

From the makers of Don’t Starve and Mark of the Ninja, Rotwood comes equipped with one of the nicest art styles of any game on this list, with gorgeous artwork that appears hand-drawn, while still being fluid in motion. It’s a dungeon-crawling hack-and-slash that’s best played with friends, and is well worth keeping in mind when it launches in Early Access this year.

Play Rotwood on Steam.

Helskate

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater meets Devil May Cry. Sure, why not / Phantom Coast

Of all the games on this list, Helskate might be the one that is the most my thing, despite also being the least RPG of the bunch. It’s a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater clone at its heart, but it combines skateboard trick combos with character action combos. A dash can increase your movement speed, but upgrades can equip your dash with daggers, and you can manual towards foes while slashing with your katana. It feels like a ‘00s teenager’s idea of a bunch of cool stuff combined, and you know what? It really is cool. You have to add Helskate to your wishlist.

Play Helskate on Steam.