Had time for few

Punch A Plant (VR)
First person tower defense with punching mechanic. I guess the biggest problem is that punching doesn't really feel satisfying as enemies are tanky. There's hint though that punching them off the platforms is way to go. Didn't have patience for learning that though.

Shinobi Match
Sort of match three game. What makes it special is that there one type of tile that represents people who need to save and rest you shouldn't let escape. Saving and escaping works by the match three mechanic. Though instead of switching tiles around, you use weapons to destroy them.

Quite satisfying level of complexity.

Is This Seat Taken?
As the name suggests, the game revolves around seating people. Puzzle element is that people have different demands you need to fulfill. For example some people have forgotten to shower and they spread the bad smell around them. Some people don't like bad smells. There more of demands like that and them make the game mildly complex.

Problem is that the demo doesn't ramp up the difficulty that much. It plays bit like simple Sudoku and you'll shortly get perfect solution.

Monster Train 2
Fusion of few game ideas like the first one. Basically you defend pyre by placing monsters. You defeat enemies by playing cards. There's also map that has slight branching and branches usually have different set of rewards. You have some kind of idea how the game plays if you have played Slay the Spire or Legend of Keepers.

It's not radically different from the first one. Clans have been remixed and now it's mix of heaven and hell. Effects are also bit different. Still had good fun, though I could maybe play the first one instead to get my fix.

Ryua: Ascension
Also bit more complicated match three. This ones is actual puzzle game. After some simple puzzles showing how the game is played, the puzzles start including drawing patterns and dropping blocks. Slightly frustrating, but puzzle fans probably get something out of it.

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I personally find these big events more than a little overwhelming. I fear I'm missing out on so much because masses of developers choose to only have their demos up for such a limited amount of time.

It is disappointing that devs are so stingy with their demos, but I am grateful to the Next Fests that we get demos again at all.

It's actually quite murky. Some demos vanish right away when the event ends, some linger for a while after that and quite large number of them stay.

Problem is that only way to be sure which category game belongs to, is to ask the developer. Only rule of thumb I have found is that the AAA and AA studios pull their games fastest.

I managed to play two demos today. As I have played some casual games lately, Steams algorithm recommended me some more of them.

Spire Blast is a puzzle game where you collect things while destroying a tower. It's fun at least for a while and demo manages to introduce few mechanics. Gamepad controls are bit messy and when I managed to mouse controls working, the most of the frustrations were gone. Idea has potential, though maybe more varied buildings could provide variety. Also it feels in some ways like a mobile game.

A Building Full of Cats 2 is part of many games in the series and I'm not sure if it brings much new. Not that it absolutely needs to, clicking hidden cats is fun as is.

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You can call it jealously, but it annoys me having to hear year after year that Linux's market share is too small for devs A, B and C to make games for it, and yet a whooping 23% of them are making games for a platform with only a tiny *checks latest Steam Hardware Survey* 1.61% of the players.

The math just doesn't work, you know? 🧐

As the question is platforms being used, it could be that Linux is part of the development process somehow. Part of it could be that game is tested on Proton, but it could also be that Linux is used somewhere in the build infrastructure. If the title of the chart is same than the question in the survey, there is some ambiguity in there.

Creating unambiguous questions can be bit tricky.

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I'm kind of surprised that Balatro didn't win the Best on Deck award. I haven't played GoW Ragnarok, but when I do it will be on my desktop to get the most out of the visuals.

I voted Balatro for game of the year, best game on Deck and most innovative gameplay. Didn't help, it didn't win any of the awards.

Awards are bit of popularity contest though. While Balatro is a successful indie title, it might not be as popular as some of the AAA titles.

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I have been playing games mostly from the bronze category. No Mans Sky, Balatro and tiny bit of Satisfactory. Silver and gold categories have some interesting games, but there has been so far always something more interesting to play.

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I don't even remember when I switched to 100% Linux. Probably already by 2011 and then it was from FreeBSD. This year there's also 7% VR.

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Redemption deadlines are more common this time around. Bombrush Rush Cyberfunk, Crime Boss and Moonstone Island have them. Still plenty of time as the deadline is January 6th 2026.

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Quoting: FeistOnly game I have bought this far is "Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord" a remake of the classic rpg from 1981.

However, I have my eyes on "Robocop", "Stray", "Drova" and the remake of "Resident Evil 4" as well. Though I feel a bit unsure about the 3 first games and I would like to wait for Denuvo to be removed before buying RE4.:unsure:

Robocop is good, though checkpoint system is awful. It could save bit more often, and make it even more clear when that happens. Now I guess best way is to check autosaves timestamp as save doesn't always happen when you think it does. Still, it seems to get tone of the movie about right, which doesn't happen that often.

Stray is sort of platform puzzle exploration experience with some bit frustrating action sequences. Though still, you can take nap and scratch things among other cat like behaviors. There's also some lore you find out if look around. So If you like sci-fi and cats, it's worth trying out.

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Quoting: tmtvlAnother FPS I would recommend people check out would be Hedon Bloodrite, which is currently 25% off on GOG. It's built on a fork of gzdoom (fork's called hzdoom), and it's a real blast. ...although I must admit that I'm not much of an FPS player, so my recommendation should be taken with a grain of salt. Try the demo first, I guess, that's what I did.

I didn't really get into Hedon Bloodrite. It was bit confusing. Though I last played it December 2022 and there have been few updates that look like have been improving things on that side.

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Quoting: KlaasThere hasn't been anything that has tempted me into buying, but I'm still busy with Steamworld Quest which I bought on GOG a few weeks ago.

Do I need Brotato if I'm still not done with Vampire Survivors and Halls of Torment?

Funnily enough I'm in same situation. Haven't yet played Castlevania DLC for Vampires Survivors and Hall of Torment has plenty of new free content that I haven't played. I can raise you with Deeprock Galactic: Survivor (that also has free content update that I haven't played).

As for other games, there's so much good stuff for cheap. Personally I think I'll wait for winter sale, I don't really need more games. Just bought UFO 50 and that already has 50 games to play...

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