Originally released along with Season 1 of the Playdate, Ratcheteer has been sitting on my device, mostly unplayed, for the last couple of years. You can’t blame me. Despite the Playdate being a fantastic portable device, I don’t always have time to indulge myself in every game that piques my interest—even if it’s a Playdate Community Game of the Year award winner for 2022. I’m glad, then, that Ratcheteer DX is releasing for Steam, and I can see why it won community favorite

Planet of Lana was a game that flew a little under the radar when it released in 2023. It’s part of a platforming adventure game subgenre that was made popular (and possibly originated) by Limbo. I would love to say that Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf raises the bar—but it is a solid example of its genre, even if it doesn’t redefine it.

I usually don’t do much sampling with Steam Next Fest. I do the odd article here and there, focusing on this demo or that. But this year, I decided to go all in and play as many demos as I could. I think I may have bit off a little more than I could chew—because between my upcoming coverage, the Marathon server slam, the fact I was sick most of the week, and my cat Mr. Worf demanding my attention, I felt like I was drowning in demos for a long time.

I’m an absolute sucker for old school survival horror, and based on my time with the Steam Next Fest demo for Senara: The Sacrament, that’s exactly what developer Influsion Inc. is going for. But instead of relying on retro aesthetics, they want to up the scares with "hyper-realistic" graphics that do their best to mimic real life.

here I am getting bogged down in genre discussions when I should be talking about The Berlin Apartment specifically. You can see I’m avoiding it. I feel like I’m going to beat up a cute little puppy that really doesn’t deserve it. I won’t be that harsh, but there’s a part of me that really wants to be.

Absolum is one of my games of the year. I have a feeling it's slipping under the radar a bit, but I hope it’s successful enough that Dotemu keeps working on these new IPs, because their first truly novel offering in a long time is an absolute gem. 

A look at 8 of our favorite upcoming games that were showcased at LudoNarraCon 2023