Steam Next Fest 2025.2

Wishlisted games are Marked

Also, I recently switched to Linux on my desktop so any demos that I played on there will have text in green.

Steam Next Fest 2025.2

Previous Year(s)

2025.1 https://rentry.org/bjsnf2025-1

From this previous next fest I only bought https://store.steampowered.com/app/3263480/Divine_Orders/ and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Tentative List

5/5 (Left me wanting more)

Link	Thoughts
This Peak Weebshit Was Made For Me! DRR...DRR... https://store.steampowered.com/app/3758120/hololive_Holos_Hanafuda_Demo/	As someone who's been playing Hanafuda since Zoo Corporation's Koi-Koi Japan in 2015 and has been a fan of Hololive since before their EN branch debut this game was basically extracted from my subconscious weeb mind. That said: the demo has a dumb stupid 20-minute timer on it and I noticed the translation is a little spotty (either that or the wrong voice lines were used). More interestingly, the game has both Koi-Koi (classic Hanafuda) rules as well as "Holo Awase" rules which involve pairing generations of talents (members are depicted on the cards) and combining them to get special abilities, all while using a scoring system more akin to Riichi mahjong.
SOVL https://store.steampowered.com/app/1274700/You_Alone_Can_Defeat_Evil/	Reminiscent of Darthlupi's The Cleaner and other 2000's GameMaker games, this one is great. It's hard to explain exactly why it works so well but I spent 90 minutes grinding demon blood and making a new character, pasting in all the tattoos/codes, then speedrunning through the tutorial just for fun (having all the abilities unlocked at the start lets you skip a lot of the more annoying sections so I will definitely be saving these codes for the full release). And yes you CAN delete your Soul and you CAN paste the codes from the Steam store screenshot but they don't seem to do anything. The devs are also teasing something "special" regarding the online multiplayer, and considering one of the abilities I unlocked as well as the tattoo system I can definitely see a lot of potential there.

Link

Thoughts

This Peak Weebshit Was Made For Me! DRR...DRR... https://store.steampowered.com/app/3758120/hololive_Holos_Hanafuda_Demo/

As someone who's been playing Hanafuda since Zoo Corporation's Koi-Koi Japan in 2015 and has been a fan of Hololive since before their EN branch debut this game was basically extracted from my subconscious weeb mind. That said: the demo has a dumb stupid 20-minute timer on it and I noticed the translation is a little spotty (either that or the wrong voice lines were used). More interestingly, the game has both Koi-Koi (classic Hanafuda) rules as well as "Holo Awase" rules which involve pairing generations of talents (members are depicted on the cards) and combining them to get special abilities, all while using a scoring system more akin to Riichi mahjong.

SOVL https://store.steampowered.com/app/1274700/You_Alone_Can_Defeat_Evil/

Reminiscent of Darthlupi's The Cleaner and other 2000's GameMaker games, this one is great. It's hard to explain exactly why it works so well but I spent 90 minutes grinding demon blood and making a new character, pasting in all the tattoos/codes, then speedrunning through the tutorial just for fun (having all the abilities unlocked at the start lets you skip a lot of the more annoying sections so I will definitely be saving these codes for the full release). And yes you CAN delete your Soul and you CAN paste the codes from the Steam store screenshot but they don't seem to do anything. The devs are also teasing something "special" regarding the online multiplayer, and considering one of the abilities I unlocked as well as the tattoo system I can definitely see a lot of potential there.

4/5 (Great)

Link	Thoughts
BÖoombHead https://store.steampowered.com/app/2721890/oo/	From the maker of ElecHead comes another puzzle platformer but this time you play as a cute caterpillar whose body sections turn into bombs. I don't really have any complaints other than the music being a little weak. The art is and animation are good and there's a nice filter on the entire thing. I do wonder how much more complex a full game could be but considering the author's previous work (which has Overwhelmingly Positive reviews as of writing this) I think it'll be fine. I'll keep an eye on it but doubt I'll actually purchase it, hence no Wishlist mark.

Link

Thoughts

BÖoombHead https://store.steampowered.com/app/2721890/oo/

From the maker of ElecHead comes another puzzle platformer but this time you play as a cute caterpillar whose body sections turn into bombs. I don't really have any complaints other than the music being a little weak. The art is and animation are good and there's a nice filter on the entire thing. I do wonder how much more complex a full game could be but considering the author's previous work (which has Overwhelmingly Positive reviews as of writing this) I think it'll be fine. I'll keep an eye on it but doubt I'll actually purchase it, hence no Wishlist mark.

3/5 (Good but maybe flawed)

Link	Thoughts
My Trolley Summer Romance https://store.steampowered.com/app/3219410/The_Trolley_Solution/	I went into this game expecting not to like it and Parent Trap being the second stage made me really hate the developer. That said, the game goes beyond just regular trolley problems with different trolley-related minigames and can be quite funny at times (even the very predictable joke with the very long buildup). Whether it's worth a purchase will depend on price and how much one is into trolleys; but either way I recommend checking the demo out.
Upwell https://store.steampowered.com/app/3667990/Dwarf_Legacy_Demo/	It's alright, the graphics leave some to be desired, the single song looping gets old after a while (especially if you're trying to complete one of the quest runs over and over), and the quests (which can be quite difficult) are basically necessary because otherwise you can't get any upgrades. I do like the quest system itself repurposing levels with different ways to play though, even if the level design isn't particularly complex if the full game keeps the same quality I think it could be quite good.

Link

Thoughts

My Trolley Summer Romance https://store.steampowered.com/app/3219410/The_Trolley_Solution/

I went into this game expecting not to like it and Parent Trap being the second stage made me really hate the developer. That said, the game goes beyond just regular trolley problems with different trolley-related minigames and can be quite funny at times (even the very predictable joke with the very long buildup). Whether it's worth a purchase will depend on price and how much one is into trolleys; but either way I recommend checking the demo out.

Upwell https://store.steampowered.com/app/3667990/Dwarf_Legacy_Demo/

It's alright, the graphics leave some to be desired, the single song looping gets old after a while (especially if you're trying to complete one of the quest runs over and over), and the quests (which can be quite difficult) are basically necessary because otherwise you can't get any upgrades. I do like the quest system itself repurposing levels with different ways to play though, even if the level design isn't particularly complex if the full game keeps the same quality I think it could be quite good.

2/5 (Mid)

Link	Thoughts
Bugland the Scuffed https://store.steampowered.com/app/3305790/Primland_The_Magus_Demo/	I really want to like this game. The art is nice, the music is actually pretty great (the Attract Mode in particular) and it has a sexy smelly tribal/goblin shopkeeper shoving her bare ass in your face when you buy upgrades at the right edge of stage 2. Oh and it also has a neat grid where you place objects to unlock abilities (not sure how complex that will become later or if it's just a linear straightforward unlock disguised as complex). That said, it is limited to 30 fps, the English translation only translated like 2 lines of dialogue from the main character, the environments are rather sparse, and the movement doesn't feel very fluid. I was met with a game stopping bug on stage 2 so I will come back to the rest of the stages later.
Competent Mobile TD https://store.steampowered.com/app/3394180/Bumper_Blitz_TD_Demo/	It's fine. It's competent enough. Graphically it looks good although it's very obvious by the UI/UX that it's either meant to be a mobile game or designed by a mobile game studio. The levels seem very limiting regarding where you can place towers so some levels feel very much like a puzzle game with an intended solution by the dev. Also, you can completely break and softlock the bonus stage 2 using the shield tower. It's just not very interesting.

Link

Thoughts

Bugland the Scuffed https://store.steampowered.com/app/3305790/Primland_The_Magus_Demo/

I really want to like this game. The art is nice, the music is actually pretty great (the Attract Mode in particular) and it has a sexy smelly tribal/goblin shopkeeper shoving her bare ass in your face when you buy upgrades at the right edge of stage 2. Oh and it also has a neat grid where you place objects to unlock abilities (not sure how complex that will become later or if it's just a linear straightforward unlock disguised as complex). That said, it is limited to 30 fps, the English translation only translated like 2 lines of dialogue from the main character, the environments are rather sparse, and the movement doesn't feel very fluid. I was met with a game stopping bug on stage 2 so I will come back to the rest of the stages later.

Competent Mobile TD https://store.steampowered.com/app/3394180/Bumper_Blitz_TD_Demo/

It's fine. It's competent enough. Graphically it looks good although it's very obvious by the UI/UX that it's either meant to be a mobile game or designed by a mobile game studio. The levels seem very limiting regarding where you can place towers so some levels feel very much like a puzzle game with an intended solution by the dev. Also, you can completely break and softlock the bonus stage 2 using the shield tower. It's just not very interesting.

1/5 (Bad)

Link	Thoughts
Unamused Dash https://store.steampowered.com/app/3077570/MOMO_Crash/	Terrible demo. To start with, the store page mentions "KAWAII x Upbeat" songs but we get... William Tell and Pomp and Circumstance??? Well, fine, maybe the full version will have actual denpa/j-core/happy hardcore or whatever, but even then the gameplay itself is way too simplistic. Z to hit blue notes, X to hit red, hold Z for cats. Maybe the point is that it can be played one-handed so you can jerk off to the thighs but you'd have to be an insane gooner to do so. Muse Dash and Unbeatable can also be played with 2 keys but the 2D plane and mechanics allow for using the buttons to dodge certain notes rather than hitting them, using both buttons at the same time for multi-lane notes, holds/mashing etc. The animation is actually pretty great, but I don't know if the concept has legs.

Link

Thoughts

Unamused Dash https://store.steampowered.com/app/3077570/MOMO_Crash/

Terrible demo. To start with, the store page mentions "KAWAII x Upbeat" songs but we get... William Tell and Pomp and Circumstance??? Well, fine, maybe the full version will have actual denpa/j-core/happy hardcore or whatever, but even then the gameplay itself is way too simplistic. Z to hit blue notes, X to hit red, hold Z for cats. Maybe the point is that it can be played one-handed so you can jerk off to the thighs but you'd have to be an insane gooner to do so. Muse Dash and Unbeatable can also be played with 2 keys but the 2D plane and mechanics allow for using the buttons to dodge certain notes rather than hitting them, using both buttons at the same time for multi-lane notes, holds/mashing etc. The animation is actually pretty great, but I don't know if the concept has legs.

Steam Next Fest 2025.2

Previous Year(s)

2025.1 https://rentry.org/bjsnf2025-1

Tentative List

5/5 (Left me wanting more)

4/5 (Great)

3/5 (Good but maybe flawed)

2/5 (Mid)

1/5 (Bad)

Looking forward to:

Need to review: