NEXT FEST 2025 - Demonic Rougelikes in your area...

Another day of STEAM NEXT FEST! This time around, we are shifting the mood - yesterday it was all nice, soft, and cozy, but today we are getting into much darker games. Demonic, even! And all of them have some flavor of a roguelike, too, imagine that. As often as I gripe that the "genre" of rogues is suffering from overabundance, there are always some precious gems on the horizon, proving that this core loop framework can still be squeezed out for some fresh and exciting idea. I should write an editorial about that... But for now, let's check out another trio of superbly promising titles!

KORRIDOR

Okay, so hear me out. I have no clue if this is the dumbest game I played in over a decade or a stroke of brilliance, a true genius manifest unto earth. I am not joking, I am literally struggling here to decide, sitting on the fence, gnawing my nails, trying to figure it out. On a surface level, this is almost comedically simple, crude, and unrefined. Its core loop is one of those mobile games run-down-the-corridor nonsense. There are just a few models for enemies, the cramped endless walk forward is drab, and as shoddily made as you can only hope for. You even get those moving 'gates' you see in horrible mobile games advertisements that look nothing like the actual scam 'game' they promote!

Now, reading the paragraph above, you might justly believe that I hate this game and think it is a stinker. And yet, somehow, I love it. I love it to bits. I can't stop playing this stupid game. And as I am writing this, I am figuring out why. First, the stakes. Despite being a corridor runner, this game ain't piss easy. Sure, it's not a hardcore experience, but you will be checked here and there if you've managed to scrounge up a working build. Then, there is the vibe. Body checking the hordes of imps, their pathetic bodies smashing over your armored bulk. Those glorious moments when the grindy metal tunes ramp up, perspective narrows, and a massive flood of charging enemies run down to meet their maker at the end of your lead-spitting Gatling gun. The constant moment-to-moment decision making - should I ramp life regen or armor? Should I start focusing on gun damage? Boss is incoming, DPS check with it, am I ready? Am I one with the Juice and prepared to unload an ungodly amount of firepower in their ugly face?

There is simple purity in this unadultered carnage. No complex rulesets, no lofty goals, no story to weave through your tragic past. Just a hunky metal-clad lad with a giant gun cutting down endless hordes of demons. With excellent pacing, superb moments of both gentle lulls and high-octane nonsense, KORRIDOR shapes up to be a glorious time sink I can't wait to bite into in full.

THE KILLING STONE

I was utterly flabbergasted. My Gast was completely Flabbered. I had no clue what to expect from this. From just seeing some screenshots and the little teasing picture in the STEAM store corner, I thought, "Great, yet another rougelike deckbuilder that looks a little undercooked". I could not have been more wrong. My brow even lifted a little in mild perplexion when a gods damn deck builder had me wait a moment for... compiling shaders! Since when does a card-driven game need shaders so robust that they need compiling beforehand!?

All became clear once I started the game. Holy dang, this is that Gourmand stuff, top-shelf quality. The presentation, the atmosphere, the music, the effects, the characters, and the top-of-the-line voice acting! This feels way better than most AAA productions I had the misfortune of trying out recently. But let me get to the point - THE KILLING STONE isn't merely a deck-builder. It is a full story, a robust narrative with a mystery to solve. As an acolyte of a witch, you find yourself bargaining with demons - very literally! - for the souls of the deceased. You wander through the mansion, chat up the characters to unfold the narrative, and in the meantime, your chatty familiars guide your steps to another grueling challenge. Another fearsome demon who will test your skill and insight to render their contract void and free the souls bound to them.

It's not easy to put in short words how well it is executed. The evil here, the demonic forces, are not played for laughs, nor are they exaggerated horrors. If anything, they have that cosmic horror coldness, and otherness, and yet, they are bound to the rules with complete adherence. The presentation is key. Each 'encounter' starts with bargaining with the demon for blessings and banes that alter the oncoming fights. Then you use your evolving deck to fight a tug of war with the demon forces in a very fresh, innovative combat flow that is way more cerebral than it looks at first glance. All that in a great setting of a real table, with creatures represented by sculpted figurines, pawns in the game of life and death. And each demon's core is their own eyes, placed together with your enchanted eye in a jar to face off. Every sound, every animation is spectacularly made, giving the game the sense of immersion that is all-encompassing.

And so, I am blessed to stumble upon this DEMO. I had no idea what to expect, and by sheer luck, I found out an absolute gem, a hit in the making. With a robust story, superlative voice acting in Ye Olde English, deep and interesting combat mechanics... It has it all. And it's just the demo!

SLOTS & DAGGERS

What a snappy little banger. It's a devilishly clever game prancing about pretending to be a simple, goofy slot machine, but do not be deceived! Despite its heavy RNG - hard-coded into any game based on slot mechanisms - it has some depth to it and skill expression. Plenty of abilities you put on your reels require timed activation. Clever comboing of items and equipped symbols can rapidly ramp your power or ensure your survivability. Even in the demo, there is a solid glimpse of a variety of builds to tackle, which is a hill a good roguelike must conquer to have staying power.

But what makes SLOTS & DAGGERS shine is its tactile feel to every single aspect of it. The presentation is beyond stellar, absolutely impeccable. The machine itself is an expanding gizmo locked neatly to some shady tavern table, with accouterments of an adventurer on a quest. Gold coins, cards, blades, drinks. It's a nice setup, but what makes it all shine is the stupendous quality of every single animation, every sound bite. The whirring of the reels, the mechanical grind when they stop, the clinking of the gold, and the crunches of items being used. Music, combat, every corner of this little game glimmers with extreme polish, and it is hard to overstate how immersive it can be, even if your enemies are just a bunch of dark pixels on a shoddy screen.

I am excited to get the full version. I have no doubts that this is going to be a small, compact game with relatively little replayability, but I am equally sure it will be well worth the few bucks it is likely to cost. Packed with just enough variety to keep me entertained until I overcome the final challenge. Bring it on!

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