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, live streams 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.
Industria
Developer: Bleakmill
Publisher: Headup
Release Date: 2021
Available on: Microsoft Windows
Industria is what Generation Zero should have been. A retro-futuristic(ish) first-person shooter set in an alternate reality Berlin towards the end of the Cold War, Industria struck all the right chords with me. Beautiful aesthetics, Half-Life-style immersion, and the otherworldly feel of surrealist desolation have got me excited for the full release.
HROT
Developer: Spytihněv
Publisher: Open for Business
Release Date: SOON
Available on: Microsoft Windows
As uncle Dave Oshry of New Blood Interactive put it, HROT is basically Slavic DUSK. Except that it’s not as frantically fast-paced and there’s a fucking horse high on god-knows-what trampling around in the first level. Set in 1986 Czechoslovakia in the aftermath of a disastrous event, your job as the unnamed boomer shooter hero is to protect your socialist homeland from the strange intruders. Featuring nuanced gameplay mechanics such as flushable toilets, destructible light bulbs, and lots and lots of low-poly violence, HROT is surely going to satisfy your retro shooter needs.
VAGRUS: THE RIVEN REALMS
Developer & Publisher: Lost Pilgrims Studio
Release Date: Prologue coming July 10 | Early Access on July 22
Available on: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
Vagrus: The Riven Realms has been on my radar ever since its crowdfunding campaign. Set in a unique Romanesque apocalyptic landscape, you take the role of the titular leader of a traveling company trying to survive just another day by doing whatever necessary. Featuring elements from management sims, turn-based tactical games, and RPGs, Vagrus is what happens when The Banner Saga meets the classic story-driven RPGs from the late ’90s. Its strikingly beautiful art style, extensive lore, choice-driven gameplay, and haunting soundtrack have got me excited for the Early Access launch later this month.
That’s it from my side, do check out our top picks from Steam Summer Sales. If you’re looking for more demos, check out what Sailesh, Niranjan, Arka, Sushir, and Subhasish have in store for you!