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What we're feeding the Maw
"The mid-summer dry spell"? My friend, your lack of sophistication is matched solely by your rudeness. You ought to feel embarrassed! This week is anything but parched. It marks the arrival of another Steam Next Fest β a stretch of deliberately shortened, wishlist-generating abundance, where we stuff the Maw's numerous jaws full of demos and playtests.
There are also a handful of genuinely new games launching this week, including a polished Square Enix RPG, a robot bathing simulator, and a shooter that merges the unpleasantness of the US presidency with the unpleasantness of goblins. Take a look.
Monday 15th June
Stellaris: Nomads introduces a variety of migrant civilizations with planet-sized spacecraft to the well-established 4X strategy game.
Day Trade Coach is a stock market trading simulator featuring a live news feed and a terminal interface that feels authentic. Any day traders out there? Care to share your thoughts?
Mole involves piloting a terrible drill while following the voices of the dead deep under Slavic earth. A world of analog controls and white rabbits.
I believe I've exhausted any remaining interest in self-proclaimed "boomer shooters", yet Alaric offers lamplit libraries, unsettling barn owls, and open-ended metroidvania level design.
Tuesday 16th June
A football management game set in 2026, as I live and breathe! Copa City somehow feels relevant to current events. It's actually focused on what occurs outside the football experience β you're tasked with preparing cities for hordes of invading fans.
Wednesday 17th June
Play every US president on a mission to halt Bedlam and correct history in goblinAmerica (pictured), a "squirming, bouncy" early access FPS, "packed with delightful sights and terrible places". This is the kind of aesthetic that leaves me gasping for air as I struggle to come up with words more clever than "rad".
You don't need Halo, for you have The Last Salvage Squad, where 12-meter-tall anime robots blast red-on-black UFOs. It looks rad as⦠as⦠ghwghwjefgjhbwefw.
What if chess, but in four dimensions?
Thursday 18th June
R-Type Tactics I β’ II Cosmos is a collected, enhanced remaking of the turn-based PSP reimagining of the R-Type shoot-'em-ups. I found the original R-Type Tactics enjoyable back in the 2000s β the sequel never made it to our region.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is a new action-RPG from some of the creators behind Octopath Traveller and Bravely Default. It features the familiar "2D-HD" visuals, but unlike those other titles, it's a real-time experience.
Mech Spa earns a mention simply for the concept of being kind to mechs, for a change.
Mythic Love: Iberian Legends is an otome visual novel about dating and potentially being devoured by creatures from Iberian folklore.
The Quiet Things is an autobiographical exploration of childhood abuse and assault, aiming "to tackle the shame and open conversations".
Friday 19th June
Moon River is a brief, somber, pixel-art RPG where you play as a mariner trying to reach the end of a river that appears only under moonlight. This is the "full", "2.0" release, built on an older free demo.
As for what we of the Treehouse are up to this week: Mark is embarking on a grand city adventure, possibly involving some major sci-fi universe. Julian is busy distributing portions of insight about fungal brains. James is opening another Pandora's Box, hoping it won't be too costly. Callum and Jeremy have blocky gardens and painterly expeditions on their minds. I am contemplating how the trillionaires will cope once the rest of us are gone. How about you, any plans? And are there any cool games I've overlooked?