Steam Next Fest Diary | My First Four Demo Discoveries | Part 1
Every Steam Next Fest starts the same way.
I tell myself I'm only going to download a few demos.
Then suddenly my wishlist is overflowing, my storage space is disappearing, and I'm telling myself "just one more demo" at two o'clock in the morning.
This year has been no different.
Over the past few days I've been exploring everything from vampire farming sims to ghost stories and even a platformer where you play as a flower pot. Here are the first four games that stole my attention during Steam Next Fest.
Moonlight Peaks 🦇
Of all the demos I played this week, Moonlight Peaks was one of the easiest additions to my wishlist.
Moonlight Peaks is a cozy farming sim with a gothic twist where you play as a vampire settling into a supernatural town. The demo took me a little over two hours to complete and did a fantastic job introducing the game's core mechanics through a quest that had me farming, crafting, gathering resources, and even fishing.
As someone who doesn't always get along with fishing mini-games, I was surprised that I actually didn't mind it here.
One of my favorite features was the ability to transform into a cat and run around town. Was it necessary? Probably not. Did it immediately win me over? Absolutely.
Then there's Death. Yes, Death.
He's one of the town residents and I am once again asking cozy game developers to let me romance the questionable goth-coded characters.
My only real complaint was that the controls felt much better on a controller than on mouse and keyboard, which is my preferred way to play on PC. Even so, Moonlight Peaks remains firmly planted near the top of my wishlist.
You can download the demo to play for yourself here.
Moonfrost 🌙
If Moonlight Peaks won me over with vampires, Moonfrost won me over with mystery.
The game takes place in a world still recovering from a devastating meteor storm. From the giant meteor shard in the center of town to the second moon hanging in the sky--Why is it there? What happened? What does it mean? I need answers.
Moonfrost mixes farming, exploration, gathering, and home building, but one feature that really stood out to me was the ability to build your dream home by collecting blueprints and materials rather than simply purchasing upgrades.
The world feels surprisingly large, the art style is beautiful, and the soundtrack quickly became one of my favorites from all the demos I played this week.
The demo did crash on me after about an hour, but honestly? I enjoyed everything leading up to that crash enough that it didn't diminish my excitement for the game.
Play the demo for yourself here.
My Adorable Ghost Story 👻
I started this demo because the art style was cute.
I finished it because I need to know how Edward died.
My Adorable Ghost Story's demo is a short experience that only took me about thirty minutes to complete, but it managed to leave a lasting impression.
The gameplay itself is fairly simple, but the real draw is Edward, the ghost companion at the center of the story. As the demo progressed, I found myself becoming increasingly invested in learning more about him and uncovering what happened in his past.
I even earned a Steam achievement while playing, which always makes me irrationally happy.
Sometimes a game doesn't need dozens of mechanics or a giant open world to keep me engaged. Sometimes all it needs is a compelling mystery and a character I want to learn more about. I mean look how cute he is!
Play the demo here.
Potter About 🪴
Steam Next Fest introduced me to a lot of unusual games this year.
Potter About might be the most unusual.
This cozy 2D platformer has you playing as a broken flower pot navigating oversized rooms using plant-inspired powers.
Platformers are not usually my strongest genre, but I appreciated how approachable this one felt. The stakes never felt particularly high, which allowed me to relax and enjoy the experience rather than stress over every jump.
The demo only took about ten minutes to complete, but it was long enough to leave an impression.
The premise is charming, the perspective is unique, and there's something oddly satisfying about guiding a tiny flower pot through a giant world.
The full game releases in just a few days on the 23rd, but until then you can play the demo for yourself here.
Final Thoughts
These four demos could not be more different from one another, which is exactly what I love about Steam Next Fest.
One minute I'm trying to romance Death in a vampire farming sim.
The next I'm investigating a mysterious second moon, helping a friendly ghost uncover his past, or rolling a flower pot across a living room floor.
And honestly? That's the magic of Next Fest.
Have you played any of these demos? Which one would you add to your wishlist?
Stay tuned for Part 2, where we'll talk about magical villages, cozy bakeries, runaway boys, and my personal favorite demo of the all the ones I've played.
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2023 has been an amazing year for farming sims thus far but there's one game that has been trying to influence the space. Join me as we uncover WHY Moonfrost , a free-to-play farming game is hiding it's NFT past....and let me tell you there's more than just "NFT" when it comes to the history of this game
I might've already sent these but I can't find them so here we go again: Moonfrost, Roseclaw, Featherlight and Snowthorn.
Moonfrost - An intelligent and proud cat. Moonfrost takes themselves very seriously, and it is extremely hard to convince them they are wrong of anything or change their mind, they have always been intelligent and cats have always recognised this and praised them for it, ultimately serving to inflate their ego. To Moonfrost’s credit, they are a great problem solver and strategist, and they are somewhat of a perfectionist, they make their plans to the tiniest detail, and can often rapidly improvise if something goes wrong, 15/10
Roseclaw - A skilful and confident cat. Roseclaw radiates confidence in everything they do, they never seem unsure of themselves and they are never deterred by anything and are always unfazed by any surprises, their friends always try their best to jump out and catch them by surprise, they haven’t succeeded yet, Roseclaw always smirks at them and tells them “Nice try”. Roseclaw is extremely swift in battle and never seems to falter, their every move is executed flawlessly, this paired with their merciful nature towards beaten opponents has earned them a lot of respect amongst all the clans, not just their own, 13/10
Featherlight- A cheerful and kind cat. Featherlight often moves like they don’t have a care in the world, and when they are particularly happy they will often trot rather than walk, it is very easy to read Featherlight’s emotions, they are a very expressive cat. Featherlight always does their best to chip in and do their part to help out their clanmates, even readily performing apprentice tasks if need be, they will never complain about what is asked of them, and they will always do whatever is needed, no matter how tired they get, Featherlight’s clanmates generally don’t like to take advantage of Featherlight, so they will always playfully demand that they get some rest once they start to notice their step has become less springy, 15/10
Snowthorn- A courageous and introverted cat. Snowthorn doesn’t talk much, at all, and it can often be an effort to try and engage in a conversation with them since they don’t feel that comfortable speaking to anyone that isn’t their kin or a close friend, and even then they they are still very reserved. However what Snowthorn doesn’t say in words, they make up for in their actions, despite not engaging in conversation with their clanmates that much, they are still deeply loyal to them, and it isn’t uncommon for Snowthorn to endanger themselves for the sake of their clanmates, and they will often wordlessly risk themselves to tear enemies away from their clanmates in battle, always looking at the clanmate they helped afterwards and give a satisfied nod before going back to fight if their clanmate is ok, often leaving their clanmate pretty puzzled but very grateful, 15/10
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
