I’m a little late, but I finally got around to taking on the demos that caught my eye during Steam’s Next Fest this past month. All positive experiences, with one big stand-out.

Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop is a repair sim with a wild story driven by roguelite progression. Think of it as Papers, Please or Hardspace: Shipbreaker but with the grimy, whimsical styling of Spongebob Squarepants or (dating myself here) Ren & Stimpy. At first, I felt like a fish out of water and couldn’t tell my encoder from my pancake, surely by design. It wasn’t long at all before everything clicked in a big way–gameplay, story, themes, visual design–and I was happily clearing alien waste out of toilets. Very much looking forward to this release.

Keep Driving is a nostalgic road trip sim. Hitchhikers make up your “party” as you take on harrowing encounters such as slow tractors on country roads and birds that won’t move. Great soundtrack and UI design that’s all evocative of a low-information time when roads meant possibilities and places to discover. I think I’d need to get my hands on the full game to be more sure about the gameplay loop and the meta-progression. I’m also not entirely sure about the drunk driving quest.

Keylocker describes itself as an “unforgiving Turn Based Rhythm JRPG.” This is timed hits turned up to 11. The game’s combat doesn’t integrate music like I was expecting, at least not as far as I got in the game. Lack of music is a plot point for the game, and most spaces have some great ambient sound design to fill in the soundspace. The difficulty is certainly challenging, but the visual and audio cues for it are designed well. The sprite art is gorgeous stuff, with plenty of animation and distinct character design. It’s still rough around the edges, and the writing is a bit much (even for me, as someone with built-up tolerance for this sort of thing), but I’m interested after it gets a little more polish.

Knights in Tight Spaces is a high-fantasy follow-up to the well-received Fights in Tight Spaces. I loved Nitro Kid, a similar melee card battler with 80’s styling, and this is right up my alley. I’m much more into the detailed environments and characters here than Fights’ minimalist silhouettes. If the animations/camera perspectives get polished up a bit, it’ll be a treat. That said, I do want to know how much content I’ll get out of this before I buy, so the price point is going to be important.

How about you? Any finds from Next Fest?