I love trying out demos of games just to see what they’re like and potentially offer up some feedback when possible to help them along their way.
Interesting / Worth Playing
The Operator
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1771980
A very cool take on a computer-investigator. You work for a very shady sector of the deep state, and you have quite a lot of technology and information access at your fingertips. You'll be asked to investigate weird things and not ask too many questions. The cases you do in the demo were quite fun and hinted at some deeper darker secrets to be uncovered later. The answering system is quite robust and feels like it'd be hard to easily game.
Minds Beneath Us
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1610440
Starts off as a simple escape room and conversational game, but quickly devolves into some much deeper and mind-fucky stuff. What is really going on? Who are these people? Who are you and what will you do next? Unsure how much user agency the real story will have but the demo had a bit, either way it seems like it'll be worth delving into.
Blue Prince
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1569580
Escape rooms meets Dungeoneering/Carcassonne. Whenever you open a door you get to pick what the next room is from a small set of choices. Different room types grant different rewards or trigger different events. Try and build you way to the antechamber at the back, but do you have what you need to open one of the doors? What of the world outside the mansion? There were lots of secrets, puzzles, and mysteries. I enjoyed this one quite a lot. And the discussions showed that there are people so enthralled by the demo that the creators had to warn people in one 160+ comment thread about reading/contributing more because they were figuring out quite a lot and going to be spoiling the real game! That's quite the hook the demo has already!
Caravan SandWitch
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1582650
A pretty fun 3d platformer with some light puzzling and mostly just adventure and charming characters. Trying to find the source of a distress call so you can save someone's life before it's too late. You'll be exploring a very cute little continent (and probably more) as you collect abandoned machinery to upgrade your tools and vehicle to be able to progress. This was a short but charming experience that feels like it'll be a fun romp through a well crafted world.
The Alters
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1601570
Normally resource gathering and management isn't my thing, but in this case the story and characters are compelling enough that I'll fight through the gameplay systems to get that sweet sweet lore and character progression. You are stuck on a ship that you can barely operate and must survive on a hostile planet until you can either save yourself or be rescued. The conceit of the game is simple enough and revealed quickly, but still spoilery so continue at your own discretion.
Spoilers
You must create Alters to help you survive. An Alter is someone who's life started like your own, but they branch at some pivotal time in your life and become their own person, with their own strengths and weaknesses. Need a chef? Find a branching life-path that leads to cooking. Need a scientist? Find a branch where you go all in on biological research.Dungeons of Hinterberg
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1983260
The gameplay seems fun enough, hack and slash combat with souls-like rolling and stamina. Different enemies require different attacks to break through barriers. It seems charming enough and there is some Mario Galaxy-esque shenanigans with gravity and traveling between zones. The magical skateboarding is quite fun and the fact that it is tactically useful in battle is a nice bonus! But the town, despite being persona-esque with time-taking activities and people you can level up your relationship with to get perks, it is not as sublte nor as personable as persona. The game literally introduced hanging out with people as "here's some notes on what they can give you." This is the most Kantian thing I've seen in a while, using them as a means to an end instead of just because you want to help them or enjoy their company, it's very very game-y. Hilariously, the discsussions are locked down, and I think it's because one person left a nasty comment on one of the threads, and it's literally the only user comment, bet they spoiled it for the rest of us.
An Effort was Made
Mira and the Legends on the Djinns
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1927360
A 2d platforming hack and slash. Dude fuses with a Djinn and fights monsters. Dialogue is a bit stilted and not super interesting. Gameplay seems decent but nothing that blew me away, I could see it getting pretty repetitive. The art is great.
The Fall of Elena Temple
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2852470
A cute little reto-inspired game where you need to collect all the gems before being allowed to leave the screen. Despite the seeming simplicity it does ramp up with new powers introduced frequenty enough and the layouts getting trickier. It has some cheeky writing but nothing mind-blowing. A single discussion about the fact that they used AI to help them create art.
Artifical
https://store.steampowered.com/app/904510
Not much to say here... you navigate some rooms to get to the exit. The atmosphere is nice and the physics are decent, but otherwise it's a darker and more dystopian love letter to Half-Life 2 physics puzzles and Portal turrets. A bit too simplistic and small scale imo.
Astro Link
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2266640
A much more portal inspired puzzle game but with a decently unique teleporation mechanic and some puzzles that required a bit of setup and thought. Still very rough around the edges and not a lot of fun but showing a lot of promise if they can devise of some fun puzzle setups. Also seems to have a deeper narrative but hard to say how deep or interesting it'll be.
An Effort was Attempted, Needs More Time
limentional
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2179000
Looked potentially interesting, but the movement was wildly uncontrollable. The character is some kind of momentum beast and you can't walk forward without sliding around everywhere. This wouldn't be a problem in some cases but here you're expected to do 3d precision platforming with the slipperiest controls I've ever used, aside from maybe Giraffe Town. Otherwise it seemed to be a mix of liminal spaces and "creepy horror" (the first jumpscare got me good, can't lie). Needs a lot of work.
Villa Escape
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2538200
Another game that could potentially be interesting but the controls and interface are dangerously offputting. Solved one simple lock puzzle before quitting. A decently buggy and unrefined experience, hopefully the devs can pour more time into before getting people to demo it again.