Parallax Abstraction

Those are awesome!

I'm not buying what will inevitably $600+ hardware for any one company's games, not even GOAT contenders like Astro Bot and sure as Hell not for whatever pretentious drivel Neil Druckmann craps out next, much less your next half-assed live service bet.

This is PS3 all over again. How'd that go?

Congrats Sony, you just lost a pile of customers. I bought a PS5 and I've barely used it. I won't be buying a PS6 for exclusives. Those ports cost a fraction of a game's budget to produce, especially when you own the porting studio!

Don't BS us and say they weren't profitable. You're just greedy.

My demo highlights from the Spring-ish 2025 Steam Next Fest The first Steam Next Fest of 2026 happened and I highlight the coolest demos I played.

New blog!

Another #SteamNextFest has come and gone and I posted about my highlights from this one.

geekbravado.com/my-demo-high...

This one was a good one and I played some incredible stuff in all kinds of genres.

Sign up to get new posts in your inbox and post your favourtes in the comments!

Humble Games was putting out a lot of great stuff before Ziff-Davis does what they do best and messed everything up.

Very happy to see it's going to live on under people who get it.

Game #4 of 2024: Marvel Cosmic Invasion

Absolute triumph of a brawler, with tons of characters and moves, a levelling system for each, co-op that works well, lots of replayability and a story that purposefully leans deep into the cheese. Loved this as I do nearly everything @tributegames.com makes!

With that, barring any holdouts I find in the morning, I think that's another #SteamNextFest in the bag for me.

This was a pretty good one. Not too many dud demos and most of the ones I liked were REALLY good! The wishlist has gotten even bigger somehow. 2026 is going to be a great gaming year!

The Eternal Life of Goldman on Steam In this breathtaking platformer adventure, explore a vast hand-drawn Archipelago, inspired by ancient fables and depicted in classic frame-by-frame animation, and defeat a mysterious Deity.

The Eternal Life of Goldman by Weappy and @thqnordic.com.

A challenging, but not too challenging and astonishingly gorgeous platformer, but that has has some really messed up imagery and themes in it, seemingly coming from the imagination of a sick child. I. Need. This!

#SteamNextFest

CICADAMATA" on Steam + follow the white rabbit + hop, skip, and jump to become one with joyeuse, until you are no longer you +

CICADAMATA by flowergarden.

A reflex-based, score-attack FPS platformer with an intense, PS1-era, almost Wipeout-like aesthetic. Beat the demo and immediately wanted to beat it again. I can't wait for this one!

#SteamNextFest

Underkeep on Steam Explore a dangerous fantasy world in this role-playing dungeon crawler with tactical, turn-based combat. Assemble a party of adventurers, upgrade your gear and descend into the depths of the Underkeep...

Underkeep by @rakeingrass.bsky.social.

A really nice looking, old school, grid-based dungeon crawler that has Rake In Grass' trademark sense of humour. You gotta' be into these, but I am and this is very much on my radar now!

#SteamNextFest

SpaceCraft on Steam The Universe is yours. SpaceCraft is an online space exploration and building game. Explore a vast galaxy of solar systems and planets, mine and craft resources, design and build ships, automate plane...

SpaceCraft by @shirogames.com.

Chill (I think) space truckin' game about mining, exploration and crafting with simple controls and interesting atmosphere. I like this kind of stuff. Performance needs a LOT of work, but interested to see it at launch, especially with online!

#SteamNextFest

Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! on Steam Lock and load into the Starship Troopers universe and join the Mobile Infantry in the most realistic depiction of war ever made! Experience an original story in this action-packed, first-person retro ...

Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! by @aurochdigital.bsky.social and @dotemu.bsky.social.

An open-objective SST FPS by the team that made Boltgun. Nails the personality and I do like it, but the gunplay feels a bit light and I don't know about the art style this time. Will keep watching it.

Fogpiercer on Steam Fight through the fog in this sci-fi roguelike deckbuilder where clever positioning, explosive chain-reactions, and the environment itself can make the difference between life and death.

Fogpiercer by Mad Cookies and @hoodedhorse.bsky.social.

I don't like deck builders normally, but the pace of this one and the cool idea that's not Snowpiercer, but adjacent to the concept while adding its own ideas is really cool. I think I might jive with this one.

#SteamNextFest

I'm not normally super up on the genre but yeah, this looks interesting! Throwing it on the pile.

MSN Messenger was the huge one in Canada and AIM was the big one in the US.

And well, really old people like me started with ICQ. :)

#UhOhhhhhh

Give me MSN Messenger or give me death!

Wielders of the Essence on Steam A minimalistic incremental survivors-like. Short runs earn you resources to construct buildings, which unlock new powers, troops, and spells. Every run pushes you forward, even if you die. Delightfull...

Wielders of the Essence by Lavapotion.

It's a Vampire Survivors-like, but made by the Songs of Conquest people so it's the most different one I've seen yet. Initially more grindy than I think it should be, but the town building and summon abilities make this really stand out.

#SteamNextFest

Forbidden Solitaire on Steam Forbidden Solitaire is a card-slashing horror game about unearthing the contents of a cryptic 1995 CD-ROM that should have never existed. From the creators of Ancient Enemy and Home Safety Hotline.

Forbidden Solitaire by Grey Alien Games and @nightsignalentertainment.com.

Twisted solitaire game that is wrapped in a 90s CD-ROM style dungeon crawler and they absolutely NAILED that aesthetic in a way I've never seen done so well.

I am here day one for this one!

#SteamNextFest

I just saw a BetterHelp sponsorship (in the description, SponsorBlock FTW!) on a large channel's video (as in, a channel owned by private equity) in the year of our gorram lord 2026. Tell me creators aren't stupid enough to think people have forgotten?

ORBITAL on Steam Explore the cosmos, discover new worlds, and seed life across the stars in ORBITAL, a relaxing 2D space exploration and colony sim. Guide the growth of your civilizations through rich, narrative-drive...

ORBITAL by Night Sky Dogs.

I get some Star Control-adjacent vibes from this, but it's purposefully much more chill and low pressure and more about the intrigue of what the heck's going on.

I like the premise and am eager to see more.

#SteamNextFest

Find Matt's Cats on Steam Go on a scavenger-hunt adventure that spans 84 hand-crafted levels, while getting to know the four friends who struggle to keep their video game studio together.

Find Matt's Cats by @kupogames.bsky.social.

So I don't normally care for hidden object games, but this one's got incredible detail and really clever level design and doesn't mind you using hints. It'll be a great Pomodoro break title for me! Though, you find WAY more than just cats.

#SteamNextFest

Save 20% on Demon Tides on Steam Race across open oceans and uncover a kingdom’s dark secrets. Expressively platform your way across dozens of locales, upgrading your gear and modifying your move-set every step of the way!

Demon Tides by @fabraz.bsky.social.

Solid open-world 3D platformer. I found the demo took control away to blab a bit too much and what I played wasn't super challening, but the world's really cool, the controls are tight and it has a nice, bright style.

#SteamNextFest

Haunted Lands Demo on Steam Slay grim cultists, infernal minions, and nightmarish creatures in this dark and bloody retro-inspired action platformer. Uncover secrets, acquire powerful artifacts, and face challenging bosses in th...

Haunted Lands by Alevgor and @alawar.bsky.social.

A cool, multi-character, hardcore platformer with an NES vibe, but an EGA colour palette and things like parallax scrolling. Unforgiving, but in that NES way people remember fondly and you can tell there's a lot of depth underneath.

#SteamNextFest

Truckful on Steam Drive your pickup truck through seemingly peaceful countryside valleys, deliver much-needed goods to local townsfolk and unravel the small town mystery. Beware, the old forest is watching.

Truckful by @mythicowlgames.bsky.social.

I feel there's potential here in this cozy, but "What's happening to the world?" cargo driving game. But in the demo, I just kept going back and forth between the same places, until I went to one place and...drove into a pit. Sure there's more to it.

I did! Wishlisted straight away. I'm a pinball nut and anything that spins the formula is something I can get down with.

Wild Blue Skies on Steam Wild Blue Skies reimagines the classic on-rail adventures of the '90s. Join Bowie Stray and the Blue Bombers as they soar through the skies on a mission to save the world in this action-packed, nostal...

Wild Blue Skies by @chuhailabs.com.

Starfox-inspired down to the atomic level, not to say that's a bad thing at all. Definitely more challenging and has a great cartoon vibe, though the characters are a bit...eccentric at times. But yeah, I definitely want to see more of this.

#SteamNextFest

Pinball with a Gun on Steam If you die in Pinball, you die for real! Experience the classic arcade game with a Russian Roulette murderpop twist, and go for the Big Score! Don't worry about getting your head blown off, who even s...

Pinball With A Gun by @pinballwithagun.bsky.social.

I'll try anything pinball and this is that with uhh...messed up analog horror vibes and sometimes your hand gets pinned to the flipper buttons with nails?

You know what? Yeah, I'm in!

#SteamNextFest

The art in this reminds me of what The Last Night was supposed to look like before the dev kept making excuses for why they never had anything to show beyond it's reveal and instead devoted his time to posting pretentious drivel on Twitter.

Glad someone's actually making something witht he style!

REPLACED on Steam Expose the sinister secrets of Phoenix Corporation as R.E.A.C.H., an AI trapped in a human body. Set in an alternate 1980s America scarred by nuclear catastrophe, navigate a dark cyberpunk thriller in...

REPLACED by @sadcatstudios.bsky.social and @thunderfulgames.bsky.social.

Dark, story-heavy platformer with stunning pixel art and animation, plus Batman-adjacent combat that's easy to pick up, but super fluid and satisfying. And no endless yellow paint! I want this NOW!

#SteamNextFest

Grind Survivors on Steam Grind Survivors is a fast-paced action roguelike where demon hunters face endless hellspawn. Dodge, loot, and blast through brutal bullet-hell combat with dynamic builds and ever-changing weapons in a...

Grind Survivors by Pushka Studios and @assembleteam.bsky.social.

I'm pretty tired of "What if Vampire Survivors but..." at this point, but this one feels like it's own thing. Has solid, nimble gameplay, a deep upgrade system and a solid challenge. Think I'll like this one.

#SteamNextFest