Find the Strawberry - Steam Next Fest Edition


Let's talk indie games!

Hello indie game fans!
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This newsletter is a bit late! That's because I decided to include some Steam Next Fest demos for you to check out in case you're completely overwhelmed. There are so many of them! More than 1000 I hear.

Usually, I recommend story rich demos, but this time it's been different. I've been drawn to sims and platformers. What have been your favourites from the festival?

Not everything has been Next Fest, though. So what else have I been playing?

Recently I've been playing... Roots of Pacha

Stardew in the Stone Age? I'm listening. Roots of Pacha is a life/farming sim set in the stone age but rather than buying seeds and animals, you're foraging for them and discovering what they grow. You also domesticate wild animals which are super cute, but I also felt bad taking them away from their families. Strangely I've never had this issue in a farming sim before. What makes a chicken different to a llama? ๐Ÿค”

Roots of Pacha is a huge game! You'll unlock different environments and a maze of a mine with puzzles to solve. Currently, I have played 14 hrs and I'm only half way through the second season! There are also many characters to befriend and romance. This game is big on community and I've barely even scratched the surface.. I'm telling you, this game is massive!

I also love that it is combat free, so you don't need to deal with critters attacking you while you're just trying to get some resources. However, you will set traps for animals and gain red and white meat.

If you're into big farming sims, Roots of Pacha is definitely worth a try. It will keep you entertained for hours as you make friends, meet new tribes and see what Pacha has in store for you.

Thanks to Stride PR for providing a game key for Roots of Pacha

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My Steam Next Fest favourites

โ€‹Kind Words 2โ€‹

TBA

Kind Words 2 expands on Kind Words by getting outside of your bedroom and having conversations with other people in the game!

Don't worry, you can still write letters asking for kind words and catch paper airplanes filled with uplifting quotes. It's just Kinds Words with more kindness.

โ€‹Doodle Adventure of Chameleonโ€‹

2024

This is such an adorable side-scrolling platformer with an interesting colour changing mechanic.

As a chameleon, you can change colours. This also changes the colours of the blocks in the world.

It takes a little bit of thinking and patience, but I found it very cute and lots of fun.

โ€‹Horribunniesโ€‹

TBA

Very cute, but also a little bit sinister. Horribunnies is a rabbit shop sim where you meet two characters. One loves bunnies and wants the best for them, the other is all about profit.

Which direction will you take when caring for these adorable bunnies?

The devs suggest going down the first route for a cozier game.

Less than 10 - Zeko

Did you know that the majority of games released each week have less than 10 reviews? That is hundreds of games with reduced visibility on Steam! Let's change that with this featured game.

Zeko is a Tetris inspired game but your focus isn't on clearing rows, it's on freeing animals!

Each block has a number. You need to pick up blocks with a matching number and place it on top. The blocks will combine and the number will increase by 1.

Your goal is to get to the bottom of a stack with an animal and allow it to zoom into freedom. It's way more satisfying than I was expecting to release the animals.

I played it on Steam, but a demo version is also available on Itch.ioโ€‹

Do you know a game with less than 10 reviews? Reply and tell me about it!


You've made it to the end of the newsletter! I hope you found some demos to wishlist and play. Be sure to reply and let me know what you're playing!

Until next time,

Sarah

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113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
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Find the Strawberry

Hi, I'm Sarah! I've been excited about indie games for years now, and it was such an eye-opening experience to find so many different types of games to play. There's literally something for everyone!

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