Steam Next Fest is now a regular event, and honestly it's kind of hard to keep up with all the demos. There are over 5000 entries in this Fest, and it's almost impossible to find the good stuff. Nonetheless, I tried and found quite a few demos I enjoyed. This is the second group of games I both liked and was not super impressed with. The first group is here.

Echo Isle - cute little homage to classic Zelda games. Very simple and apparently really short, but really enjoyed it. Will pick up on sale. Ended up buying and finishing this one.

Nimbit Frontier - Creature collector with a twist - instead of battling with the monsters you catch, you're raising them to release back into the wild. Very clearly well-made, but not sure if the premise grabs me yet. Seems to have a Stardew Valley-type relationship system and some town-building elements. Releasing into Early Access, so I'm holding off on wishlisting but will try to keep an eye on it.

Screenbound - 3D puzzle platformer with a twist that you carry around a Gameboy-ish handheld and have to play a 2D version of the 3D game at the same time. Fun interactivity between the 2D and 3D. Art style is nothing special, but I like the mechanic.

Multiplanetary - 3D Platforming/shooter game in the vein of Ratchet and Clank. Has potential, but the levels I played felt more like random geometry placed to serve the platforming rather than actual crafted levels. Has potential but currently feels more like a tech demo or student project than a fully fleshed out game.

Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo - Action/Adventure 2D Zelda-like where combat is done with a yoyo instead of a sword. Fun combat, and it doesn't seem to be too hard like some of these types of games. Nicely made and very well-received. Wishlisted, and I'll likely pick it up down the road on sale.

Echoes of Aincrad - Action JRPG published by Bandai Namco in the Sword Art Online universe. Feels well-made and has high production values but combat and art style feels very generic "anime game". Fun for fans of the universe but doesn't seem like anything new or refreshing.

Desktop Explorer - Another great Fake OS game. I'm a real sucker for these types of games where you explorer fake/old-style OSes and solve puzzles by clicking through files, taking notes, etc. The demo for this one had 10 puzzles and while some were tricky none were too hard to solve. Very excited to check out the full game and unravel the game's mysteries. The story seems pretty interesting too, you're exploring your uncle's old computer and delving into his past.