Steam Next Fest has come around once again, offering hundreds of demos for smaller games hitting Steam in the near future. It's a time for the smallest of teams to emerge into the spotlight for the first time and for more established publishers to set the stage for the next twelve months, all timed around the behemoth that was E3 2021.
Telltale's The Walking Dead from digital purgatory. Two nostalgic indies from the company should help with that a great deal, as both show a lot of promise in newly released demos.
Skybound At Steam Next Fest: Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan
One of the first in what will almost certainly be a trend of games adapting the old-timey cartoon vibe of Cuphead, Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan is an all-ages adventure developed by ManaVoid Entertainment with an assortment of different gameplay hooks. There's an aspect of Pokémon as Billy cheers various monster friends up and adds them to the team. There's some Undertale in each combat scenario as Billy talks with foes and tries to puzzle out how to make them less aggressive. It has a cute hybrid art style that blends the 2D characters with polygonal backgrounds and takes advantage of that for a few enjoyable platforming moments. There are also rhythm game sections when attacks do occur on top of everything.
It's a lot to take in, but none of the mechanics are too hard to figure out, and they're set up to offer a lot of variety for anyone with a short attention span. In fact, Rainbow Billy feels aimed squarely at the younger set in a way that isn't often seen on the indie marketplace. Most developers going for a whimsical style try to capture both the young and the young at heart. Sweet adventures like Dropsy or the well-reviewed Wandersong employ the same bubbly persona as Rainbow Billy while centering on strong themes of acceptance and friendship. The narrative of The Curse of the Leviathan instead involves restoring color to the world to avoid what are described as less whimsical thoughts. It draws a clear line between a more boring adult world and a colorful childlike wonderland in a way that appears blunt through grown-up eyes.
Still, more games made for console and PC aimed at younger players are a welcome sight, and Rainbow Billy could be a great early game for any adolescent who wants to explore Steam's vast library. Anyone with more games under their belt and the ability to keep their expectations in check will probably find something to enjoy here too. Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan is aiming to release by the end of the year on PC.
Skybound At Steam Next Fest: The Big Con
Skybound's other Steam Next Fest release is also pretty kid-friendly, just as long as that kid is from the '90s. The Big Con is an adventure game by developer Mighty Yell that seemingly takes place in the cities and towns located just off-screen of a Nickelodeon commercial. In this universe of squiggly lines, Ali is a high-schooler who spends her off-hours in her family's video shop. Due to a sticky financial situation, that could all come to an end. To save the VHS palace, she befriends a grifter, skips out on band camp, and rides a bus across America to pickpocket strangers. All this and a friendly specter named Rad Ghost to keep her honest.
Gameplay-wise, The Big Con is a pure point-and-click adventure complete with hidden interactions, humorous dialogue, and useless items to stuff into an inventory. The writing hits the '90s groove just as hard as the visuals, including some self-aware bits from the game's characters acknowledging that they're in a demo. The stealing mini-game can be a bit tedious (which might be why there's an option to turn it off), but The Big Con definitely captures the mood it's going for. The very brief story scenes in the demo leave great potential for the full game, which launches on Steam and Xbox later this year.
With these two games and the recently released Before Your Eyes, the original output of Skybound Games and its partner developers is definitely carving a unique path forward. While all of Skybound's original games so far could go under the broad Adventure genre, the company is willing to take a chance on a variety of moods and gameplay styles. In time, Skybound's games could rival the diversity of its other output in TV and comics.
The Big Con and Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan are scheduled for release later this year on PC, with The Big Con also releasing on Xbox platforms. Screen Rant was provided demo codes for both games for the purposes of this preview.
