A Steam Next Fest Goodie Bag, Part 3

If you have a love for indies, Steam Next Fest is like Christmas come early. It’s a time when many small developers and upcoming games will have more eyes on their games than ever. With the latest iteration of its week-long festival of demos just wrapped up, I'm bringing you the best of what I played!

In Part 2 (check it out here), we covered the origami-based platformer Hirogami, city-builder After Inc: Revival, retro side-scroller Mina the Hollower, and the 2D return of a classic franchise with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. And don't forget about Part 1 with three more amazing games profiled! Now we're back to wrap up our coverage with three more gems, I hope you enjoy them too!

Rentlord

We’re starting to see the emergence of Balatro-like games on the scene in recent months after the success of the famed poker-based roguelike deck builder. I don’t really blame other indie devs for attempting their own spin on Balatro’s formula; it’s a fun and addictive formula that became popular for good reason, after all. There’s nothing wrong with iterating and making your own spin on what you, as a developer, enjoy in other games. To quote a post from Obsidian’s Josh Sawyer about this, “more games should just directly copy stuff that feels good from games they like and then riff from there.” I, for one, am happy to sacrifice even more hours of my life to these Balatro-like games.

Of the Balatro-like games I’ve tried so far, I'll usually find some fun in them for a while, but I am more interested in seeing the formula used in creative ways. Please, if you’re making a Balatro-like, I’m begging you, don’t just blatantly slap the Balatro formula onto any board game or card game. Put some more thought into it. Flex your creativity and show people ways that the formula can work when they wouldn’t expect it to do so! For those reasons, I was quite taken with Rentlord. This game takes the now-famous formula and applies it to the concept of a property management game, resulting in a combination I absolutely never would have thought about. Such a blend of ideas was really intriguing to me, so I knew I had to try it while browsing the Next Fest listings.

Rentlord’s tutorial is short and to the point. You’ll pick properties to purchase from a randomly generated map, which resets at the start of each in-game week. Each property has a base income along with a base multiplier, much like Balatro’s different card hands. You can buy slots for more properties beyond the initial two, but you’ll find that the cost for additional slots becomes increasingly more expensive. Your goal is to make the required amount of income at the end of each week by collecting rent daily. If you can’t reach the amount of income needed, you’ll lose the run.

Mind you, the income requirement must be based on what you’ve earned during that week specifically, not your overall account balance. You could have one million in the bank, but still fail the 600K weekly quota if you have a slow week. I learned that the hard way during my first run, but I still almost won the run by getting to Week 10 (I was unfortunately just 200K short of the goal).

In order to hit this weekly goal, you’ll gain access to Plugins, which are essentially the equivalent of Balatro’s Jokers since they help net you more cash. Only 2 plugins appear in the shop each day, but you can pay a fee to reroll the available options if you don't like what's on order. I do hope there are more Plugins or an adjustment to their frequencies in the full game, because I found myself seeing the same ones over and over again by the time I had my fill of the demo.

There’s not much more to Rentlord, for better or worse. While I admire the simplicity of the game, its current iteration lacks some of the depth that made Balatro so darned addicting. There are different card suits, card effects, over 100 different Jokers, vouchers for passive bonuses, tarot cards, etc. A plethora of content really makes Balatro replayable, and I’m worried Rentlord doesn’t have that at the moment. It would be great to see the full release rectify that situation, along with some UI tweaks, like having the option to turn off the CRT filter or adjusting the way the calendar pops up on the screen at the start of each day.

These are very minor critiques, however, and I find Rentlord to be a splendidly creative idea. We won't have to wait long for the full release on June 23, it will likely be out by the time you read this.

Rentlord is being developed by Verty and is being published by Rogue Duck Interactive. Side note: If you enjoy cozy deckbuilders, Rogue Duck Interactive is worth a look since it seems as if they’ve published quite a few.

Thysiastery

I shall now gush about what was my most pleasantly surprising find during Next Fest!

Thysiastery is a retro-styled dungeon crawler combined with a turn-based RPG. Upon starting a run of this game, you’ll receive a randomly generated set of two party members to begin with, their classes chosen at random as well. You’ll then head forth through the Labyrinth with your new party, in hopes of finding a way out while encountering enemies and exploring the many areas. The demo doesn't allow you to pick or customize your starting party members in any way, but it seems like you’ll be able to in the full release, so that’s good to know.

Combat is excellent; each class has its own set of passive skills and abilities, some of which can be taught to other party members if desired. This is a standout feature I’ve noticed from other RPGs, where you can copy abilities to other party members for them to receive upon leveling up. Going into the demo, I expected the combat to be more akin to a CRPG based on the retro aesthetic, but I was completely wrong; this is turn-based combat more akin to a retro JRPG. A turn order is present on the side of the screen while in combat, for instance. Each character has HP and MP that work as you’d expect. You can perform a basic attack or defend on each turn, there’s a front and back row… you get it; there aren’t any dice rolls involved here. To be quite frank, I prefer JRPG systems over CRPG systems anyway, so I find this game to be utterly genius for pulling it off while blending it with a classic dungeon crawler.

What also excites me about Thysiastery is how punishing it intends to be. There’s permadeath in this game, so anyone in the party will be gone for good if they perish in combat. Party members have a chance to avoid death when they hit 1 HP, but they acquire a Wound afterwards. Each Wound accumulated on a party member means they have a lower chance of surviving subsequent deaths, though Wounds will slowly heal over time. Exploring can yield items and equipment via your encounters, but you’re never guaranteed to find those, making progression increasingly difficult while also encouraging exploration.

It’s unfortunate that character customization wasn’t included in this demo, as I would’ve really been hooked even more if I could customize my starting party members and toy with the different classes. The game would work really well with a character pool feature like XCOM, even, letting you encounter party members you created during your runs. 

Thysiastery’s art style is wonderfully retro as well; there are various color palette options to change the look of the game to your preference. The music and atmosphere are excellent, dark and liminal, forming a horror-like vibe as its aesthetic. I was expecting a jumpscare at some point to pop out, but none ever occurred. 

My first playthrough of Thysiastery ended in swift failure after both of my party members died to the Rot Golem boss. On my second playthrough, I had a Soldier and a Thug who did really well. At a campfire while resting, my party encountered a dog who actually joined the party after we fed him scraps. The dog even had his own ‘Hound’ class with its own set of abilities! They had a great passive where they followed up allied attacks with a basic attack of their own. After finding another party member who we rescued from a cage he was trapped in, I was able to successfully beat the game (or at least hit the end of the demo). Physical attacks seem very strong in this game at the moment, but it does seem like difficulty settings will be a thing as well, so I’m eager to try them out when I inevitably get my hands on the full game.

I think I’m already in love with Thysiastery; it’s a brilliant game concept and seems to be pulled off with aplomb. It almost feels like it was made for me with how much it appeals to my interests both aesthetically and in terms of gameplay. If you’re into old-school dungeon crawlers and/or turn-based RPGs, you need to put Thysiastery on your radar.

The Trolley Solution

This is going to be very brief, namely because this game is very short and to the point. That said, I think it’s worth ending with something more light-hearted that will likely be a fun experience.

The Trolley Solution is a game based on the well-known “Trolley Problem” thought experiment originally proposed by Philippa Foot. The game has individual levels, each with one of these thought experiments to solve. One track has ‘X’, but if you divert the trolley to save ‘X’, then ‘Y’ will happen - what do you do? That’s the gist of the Trolley Problem thought experiment, and the game provides a plethora of these scenarios to explore.

It’s a great idea for a game, and I hope the full version will have some kind of online tracker or counter so we can see what players choose most for each of these scenarios, since I’d find the data to be very interesting. What appealed to me most about The Trolley Solution, however, is how it is presented, in a very tongue-in-cheek way that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s written with an excellent blend of dark, crude humor and satire in a format that feels very intuitive and well thought-out.

The Trolley Solution’s various levels are interspersed with levels based around point-and-click minigames. These minigames are a large part of the game's appeal, along with the novelty of the scenarios and the cartoony, comedic style. The minigames aren’t too easy, but I’d also refrain from calling them difficult either. They’re more so stressful, getting quite intense towards the end of the minigame. That feels fairly intentional to me, and even if it isn’t, I find it to be a good thing. Minigames should become more intense as they progress, after all.

The Trolley Solution seems like it’ll be a cute and funny little experience with a nice set of levels and minigames. II don't think it will be a very long game either, but it should be a fun time regardless. You can check this one out in Q4 2025 if you’re into more comedic indies or if you are interested in the concept of The Trolley Problem. 

Final Thoughts

Steam Next Fest is a wonderful way to showcase games to the average gamer, who could love these titles but might have never found them without the aid of this festival. I didn’t even know Thysiastery existed, for example, and now it’s one of my most anticipated games. I definitely added many of the games mentioned here to my own wishlist, and I hope you were convinced enough to do the same yourself for at least a few of them. 

I also want to thank Steam for adding the AI Disclosure section as a requirement for games on their platform. It definitely helps you avoid games that will be an absolute waste of your time. There was one AI game I ran into that was unfortunately a waste of a great concept. It will go unnamed here, but it was a retro JRPG in the style of Final Fantasy I with the aesthetic and theming of Dark Souls. Brilliant idea! The problem? It felt like 90% of the game was AI-generated, even down to the really mind-bogglingly oddly out-of-place rock music for the battle theme. The player character in the overworld was just a square, by the way, and didn’t have a sprite. It felt so unfinished and cheap that I wondered why it even had a demo available.

I point this out only as a warning. The disclosure is a requirement, so don’t be afraid to do your due diligence about any games you may be skeptical about. I ran into several during the week of the festival. I bring it up because there are just so many games out there worth your time compared to these cheap AI-generated cash grabs. They can’t even have the decency to be halfway playable either. If you suspect something is AI-generated on Steam or if you’re even a person who is somewhere in the middle, where you don’t like the assets but are okay with AI coding, just take a few seconds of your time to look at the Steam page of what you’re about to play. It’ll be better for your conscience. 

Regardless, people will always gravitate toward games that are meant to be good. Fear is with all of us, and always will be, but we need not fear AI when developers like the ones above are holding the torch. We should not predict doomsday over the industry when indies remain vibrant and bursting with creativity, as they are now more than ever. With indies like some of the ones seen in the Steam Next Fest, I think we’ll all be in wonderful hands - and as someone who truly loves gaming as a medium, it genuinely warms my heart to know. 

Thank you for checking out all the demos I loved during the latest iteration of Steam Next Fest! Jump into the comments and let us know what you thought of these games, and if there are any gems we missed that you recommend we try out!