The only bad thing about Steam Next Fest is that it showers us with so many tantalizing demos for upcoming games that it can be hard to know which ones to play. This can be an especially tough choice for those of us who love indie games, as this time around it is overflowing with exciting indie titles, but it’s a nice dilemma to have. If you’ve found it difficult to know which indie game demos are worth your time, fear not. The hardworking writerlings from IndieRanger have put their heads together to present you with their recommendations of the best upcoming indie games featured to add to your wishlist.
Tactical Breach Wizards
by Jack Curran
Tactical Breach Wizards taught me a new word—defenestration—which refers to the act of chucking someone out of a window. Indeed, this game is so focused on (ahem) breaking glass and kicking ass that it tells you exactly how many defenestrations you perpetrated at the end of each mini-level.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. A nifty little tactics game that looks at first glance like XCOM with wizards but plays more like Into the Breach... with wizards. Each level is divided into several small rooms with doors dotted around the edge and enemies sprinkled throughout. You’ll ‘breach’ one or more doors to enter the room, then take turns flinging spells around in grid-based battles. The two playable characters in the demo both had access to abilities that push opponents backwards by one or more squares. If said opponents happen to be standing in front of a window—and many of the foolish chaps in the demo were doing exactly that—and you push them in the right direction… well, you get the idea.
As fun as the window smashing was, the most enjoyable part of the demo was how the game handles taking your turns. You’re allowed to test out a sequence of moves for your entire team, then see what your enemies do in response, before committing to anything. It gives you a level of control over encounters that feels almost like cheating, allowing you to fiddle around with your characters’ abilities to your heart’s content without fear of messing things up. It’s like playing a game of chess in which you can plan several moves ahead by actually moving pieces around on the board, rather than trying to visualizevisualise everything in your head. This system turns each separate room within the larger levels into a pint-sized puzzle to be solved.
Between levels, there’s a knockabout noir detective story—think The Maltese Falcon but with quippy, self-deprecating wizards wearing SWAT gear. The dialogue was superbly written, with characters that seemed somehow both extremely capable and endearingly inept. At the end of the demo, the game informed me that the full campaign runs to about 8-10 hours, which feels about right. Every part of the demo was small and precisely crafted, and if the full game is the same, it will be a delicious morsel to devour when it comes out in August.
Odinfall
by Guido Salvador
Odinfall is a twin stick shooter roguelite with norse mythology and sci-fi motifs, loaded with quick paced action and lots of lead that can put your reflexes to test. The plot is simple: you are trapped in a strange laboratory along with a mechanized Loki, who claims to have been wrongly accused by Odin of awakening the fire giant Surtr. To escape the lab, we need to help Loki rebuild his body and defeat Odin. The only way to do this is to blast through hordes of enemies and kill every god of the norse pantheon and other mythological creatures such as Fenrir. All aforementioned beings are mechanized in some way to play along with the sci-fi theming.
The demo gives us access to two characters, Britta the Cyberserker, and Leifi the Moose, but they are enough to give us the feel of the possibilities the game offers. With a topdown perspective, your objective will be to plow through each area and find a key. Each floor gets increasingly difficult, culminating with a mid-boss at the end of each level. There’s usually three floors per level, although the number increases as you progress through the world map, eventually culminating in a boss fight that puts all your skills to test.
Accomplishing such a task is possible due to the variety of weapons you can find through the level, each one with a different gameplay feel. You have melee weapons, guns, and even crossbows, all of which can be modified with different upgrades, giving you a variety of ways to build the strongest and scariest weapon a mortal can hold. The game incentivizes you to clean up all the enemies and hazards on each floor before proceeding, by giving you bonus cash that allows for the modification and acquisition of new weapons. Depending on your route through the world map, you might be able to find a weapon store, however I would advise you to not harm the shopkeeper as things can get ugly real fast.
Since this is a roguelite, you carry some progress forward from run to run. Your characters level up as you play and acquire points to improve their skills. This allows further customisation of the way you play, as levels get much tougher as you keep progressing.
Each character is not only visually distinct, but they are also different mechanically. My favorite character to play is Leifi, since he is able to withstand plenty of enemy fire with his shielding ability, becoming invulnerable for a short period of time. I think he is quite overpowered, so I recommend him for those who would like to try the game out but might struggle with bullet dodging. A nifty mechanic the game provides is the ability to fully destroy levels, provided you have the weapons to do so, to access the goodies hidden within walls.
The experience overflows with style and vibrancy, including varied animations and colourful sprites, and a soundtrack that gets you in the mood to frag some enemies. Odinfall is an interesting take on the roguelite genre that I have been eyeing for a while, and I can say with certainty that this one is going to be a blast to play when it gets released.
Wild Bastards
by Ewan Limb
This game was on my radar long before I played the demo, as I was an avid fan of the developer’s previous work. From its neon-soaked mix between sci-fi and the wild west, to an art style that takes a lot inspiration from comic strips, Wild Bastards seemed to be brimming with personality, and after playing the demo I find myself even more excited for the full release.
The game has two main modes of play, tactical traversal of a planet’s surface and frenetic gunplay. Combat takes the form of a first person shooter where you control one of several characters, all of whom are dripping with outlaw charm. Each character has a different weapon and stunt ability, and you can freely switch between them both at the touch of a button, allowing for some interesting ability combinations as you run and gun through short frenetic encounters. Outside of combat you move between nodes on a map, grabbing as much loot as you can. After a few turns, the princes: powerful enemies dead set on killing your ragtag band, until there’s not a single bastard left standing. Their arrival turns moving around the map into a mad dash to the exit before they hunt you down.
It’s a nice twist on the western formula. The outlaws are the heroes, persecuted for their differences, and the peacekeepers are the villains, a collection of psychotic murderers. Wild Bastards seems more focused on its narrative, when compared to other roguelikes. Between planets, there are snippets of banter between characters as they concoct plans and discuss their goal of reaching a sector known as the Homestead.
While I enjoyed getting to know each of the bastards, I found myself wondering how this was all going to fit into the larger rogue-like structure. The difficulty quickly ramps up after the first few areas and I can’t help but feel that rewatching reels of dialogue after each failure may start to get stale, no matter how well written it is. Perhaps, it is just the nature of the demo which felt quite linear, if very polished. Hopefully the full release will inject a little more randomness into its already eccentric galaxy.
Having said that, even in its current form, Wild Bastards is shaping up to be a great addition to the genre. It’s an experience that fosters a strategic approach while also having some high stakes action to stop it feeling too cerebral and it perfectly balances these two aspects.
This well-constructed game, draped in a finely-honed aesthetic, is definitely one to watch when it releases in September.
Tiny Glade
by Annie Wraight
With the increasing popularity of cozy games like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley in the last few years, it isn’t surprising to see that indie developers are getting involved and putting their own spin on the genre. Sometimes these cozy games lose focus, and they try to do too much. Classic farming simulation games like Harvest Moons did many things well — the farming was great; the exploration was charming and the foraging was clever. Modern indie cozies often attempt to implement all these mechanics while adding their own flavor, like a grand overarching storyline or an intricate battle system. Many games are afraid to do just one thing and do it well.
Doing one thing well is where Tiny Glade shines. It is a beautifully presented game about building an environment. People who enjoyed decorating, terraforming and building would enjoy this peaceful escape. The premise of Tiny Glade is to turn forgotten and empty areas into whimsical castles, cozy cottages or romantic ruins.
There is no grid system in this building game. It feels very much like doodling with its intuitive camera controls. The demo had limited glades, limited space and limited tools. Fortunately, the full game will add several additional things to extend the gameplay. There were few details mentioned at the end of the demo, so it is up to the developers to surprise us with more content on release.
The presentation was very charming — a chill soundtrack added ambiance while critters like sheep and fireflies moved around the scene. Some tools will do more than advertised. For example, the path creation tool will create a doorway when connecting it to a building. Also, there is a night and day cycle. This was a little distracting at first, but fortunately it can be disabled in the options menu. However, the opportunity to see the diorama at all times of the day with spectacular lighting effects is just too great to miss out on.
Tiny Glade may be a small game, but it has a big heart. Someone who enjoys building up areas and is looking for a relaxing and cozy atmosphere should look forward to its release. If this sounds like you, drop by its Steam page and wishlist now. Tiny Glade has already been wishlisted over 1 million times on Steam thanks in part to being covered in Steam Next Fest June 2024. It is planned to come out in Q3 2024 so stay tuned for more information about this game.