The third Steam Game Festival has come to an end and what a journey it has been for the past few summer days! This week-long digital event featured gameplay, livestreams and chats, and AMAs with developers from across the world. From 40 odd demos in their Spring Edition, Steam has upped their roster to over 900 games! And since it was a limited-time event and it’s nigh-impossible to try out every one of them, our crew took the task to heart. Through a series of short articles, each of our writers will be reporting on the top 3 demos they found to be the most fascinating. So without further ado, here are my Steam Game Festival Takeaways:
SPIRITFARER
https://youtu.be/0AtPu52_plI
Developer & Publisher: Thunder Lotus Games
Release Date: 2020
Available on: Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch
Spiritfarer is a cozy management game about dying. You play as the ferry master to the deceased and sailing on a customizable boat, you guide spirits across mystical seas to finally release them into the afterlife.
The demo was incredibly promising, boasting moving emotional stories, relaxing gameplay, and a fantastic and imaginative world to explore. The gameplay is pretty casual and accessible. Including fishing, cooking, farming, mining, and crafting mechanics, it seems like Spiritfarer is going to successfully deliver on what I wanted so badly for Summer in Mara to be. Plus, there’s some light platforming in there too to keep things fresh.
More than anything, the beautifully detailed hand-drawn art and animations and the comforting, serene aura it projects, really makes it easy to feel the effort and love that the devs have poured into this project (heck, there’s even a hugging mechanic). With co-op available as well, this is shaping up to be the perfect game to play with your significant other or just to unwind after a long stressful day. Plus, it features probably the most adorable and well-animated cat ever (sorry, the cat from Timelie).
GHOSTRUNNER
Developer: One More Level, 3D Realms, Slipgate Ironworks
Publisher: All in! Games
Release Date: 2020
Available on: Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PS4
Ghostrunner is a hardcore first-person slasher set in a stylish dystopian cyberpunk world. It’s basically a fusion of Mirror’s Edge and Hotline Miami so you can expect super-fast, exciting gameplay involving wall-running, sliding, dashing, and a time-slowing mechanic. Plus, there’s a grapple! So of course, that adds an additional layer of complexity to the platforming and contributes yet again to the frenetic nature of the gameplay.
The electronic music had me in a trance while I played the demo, which I completed multiple times getting better and better at it to see just how fast I could beat it.
GAME DIRECTOR STORY
Developer & Publisher: Double Blit Games Inc.
Release Date: 2020
Available on: Microsoft Windows, macOS
Being an aspiring game developer, this game had a spot on this list as soon as I found out about it. A satirical behind-the-scenes look at just how games are made, the devs claim it to be based on first-hand accounts by industry veterans, so that definitely has me excited, if nothing else, for pure wish-fulfillment. The game promises to give the player the full experience, the emotional roller coaster of guiding a team through the agonizing decisions and compromises needed to ship a game.
Though the demo was only a thin slice of what the game is aspiring to be, the potential is crystal clear. Yes, the messaging mechanic seems to be the only gameplay interface which is a shame, but the fun, interesting characters and trying to balance your relationship with them – your team, the publisher, the press, and the fans – promises to be a great concept filled to the brim with potential.
Those are some of the ones that I’m most excited for. Seems like it’s gearing up to be a fun couple of years for fans of pretty much any genre.
Check out some of our other writers’ favorite demos here: Sushir’s picks, and Sailesh’s picks.
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