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This retro-inspired indie platformer swept me off my feet—and you can try it for free during Steam Next Fest right now
Steam Next Fest is one of my favorite gaming events of the year, and for good reason. For a week straight, gamers get to try out free demos for upcoming games. These events are an opportune time for indie developers to show off what they’ve been working on over the past few years—and I've found what could be my next favorite as a fan of retro platformers. Windswept, an adorable platformer from developer WeatherFell, is one of these many indie games looking to impress this Steam Next Fest. The game follows Marbles, a fresh duck hatchling, and Checkers, a resourceful little turtle, who've been swept away from their homes during a devastating storm. Together, they must find their way back, navigating thick forests and fighting fearsome foes in the process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbwNnavCA5o As you pilot the two animals, you'll combine their talents to overcome obstacles. Marbles can glide horizontally from platform to platform, launch intro the air with a spin attack, and yeet Checkers into enemies to take them out. Checkers, on the other hand, is all about verticality. He can throw Marbles into the air and serve as a platform for Marbles to jump on top of, allowing for the traversal of deadly chasms. I've only played the first few levels of Windswept so far, but I can tell you I'm duly intrigued. Throughout your journey, you'll team up with other animals—including a dolphin, a giant iguana, and a fluffy husky—all of which introduce new ways to travel around the game's many maps. There are plenty of bosses to beat, the retro art style is adorable, and the gameplay is fun and fluid. But wait! There's more. I haven't even talked about my favorite part of the game yet: collectibles. No platformer could call itself a true platformer without hidden collectibles—and boy, does Windswept hit the ground running on this front. Each level, including the first tutorial map, has a set of collectible coins for you to find. Some of them are out in the open but may be challenging to get to, demanding you to combine Marbles and Checkers' talents to reach. Others are sneakily hidden behind objects and require you to hunt for them. More, still, can be found in bonus levels reached via portals. These bonus levels introduce new objectives: defeat all the enemies or collect all the coins in a map, for example—all while a timer ticks down at the top of your screen. These collectibles are tracked as you progress through a map, ordered in such a way that makes it clear when you've missed one before you've advanced far enough into your playthrough of a level. I adore when developers design their systems like this; as a relatively busy person, I don't always have time to backtrack and hunt for hidden items. But I'm also a completionist at heart, which can make playing through a game fairly aggravating if it has a collectibles system. Windswept, though, makes it satisfying without being too demanding, and it's kept me eager to check every little nook and cranny for that 100 percent badge. You can give Windswept's demo a whirl yourself during Steam Next Fest, which runs until June 16. For those of you looking for other demos to try out, the team at Destructoid also recommends Ambrosia Sky, a game reminiscent of Power Wash Simulator (if it took place on an alien planet), and Phase Zero, an indie horror that fans of Resident Evil will love. The post This retro-inspired indie platformer swept me off my feet—and you can try it for free during Steam Next Fest right now appeared first on Destructoid.
Steam Next Fest is one of my favorite gaming events of the year, and for good reason. For a week straight, gamers get to try out free demos for upcoming games. These events are an opportune time for indie developers to show off what they’ve been working on over the past few years—and I've found what could be my next favorite as a fan of retro platformers.
Windswept, an adorable platformer from developer WeatherFell, is one of these many indie games looking to impress this Steam Next Fest. The game follows Marbles, a fresh duck hatchling, and Checkers, a resourceful little turtle, who've been swept away from their homes during a devastating storm. Together, they must find their way back, navigating thick forests and fighting fearsome foes in the process.
As you pilot the two animals, you'll combine their talents to overcome obstacles. Marbles can glide horizontally from platform to platform, launch intro the air with a spin attack, and yeet Checkers into enemies to take them out. Checkers, on the other hand, is all about verticality. He can throw Marbles into the air and serve as a platform for Marbles to jump on top of, allowing for the traversal of deadly chasms.
I've only played the first few levels of Windswept so far, but I can tell you I'm duly intrigued. Throughout your journey, you'll team up with other animals—including a dolphin, a giant iguana, and a fluffy husky—all of which introduce new ways to travel around the game's many maps. There are plenty of bosses to beat, the retro art style is adorable, and the gameplay is fun and fluid.
But wait! There's more. I haven't even talked about my favorite part of the game yet: collectibles. No platformer could call itself a true platformer without hidden collectibles—and boy, does Windswept hit the ground running on this front. Each level, including the first tutorial map, has a set of collectible coins for you to find. Some of them are out in the open but may be challenging to get to, demanding you to combine Marbles and Checkers' talents to reach. Others are sneakily hidden behind objects and require you to hunt for them. More, still, can be found in bonus levels reached via portals. These bonus levels introduce new objectives: defeat all the enemies or collect all the coins in a map, for example—all while a timer ticks down at the top of your screen.
These collectibles are tracked as you progress through a map, ordered in such a way that makes it clear when you've missed one before you've advanced far enough into your playthrough of a level. I adore when developers design their systems like this; as a relatively busy person, I don't always have time to backtrack and hunt for hidden items. But I'm also a completionist at heart, which can make playing through a game fairly aggravating if it has a collectibles system. Windswept, though, makes it satisfying without being too demanding, and it's kept me eager to check every little nook and cranny for that 100 percent badge.
You can give Windswept's demo a whirl yourself during Steam Next Fest, which runs until June 16. For those of you looking for other demos to try out, the team at Destructoid also recommends Ambrosia Sky, a game reminiscent of Power Wash Simulator (if it took place on an alien planet), and Phase Zero, an indie horror that fans of Resident Evil will love.
The post This retro-inspired indie platformer swept me off my feet—and you can try it for free during Steam Next Fest right now appeared first on Destructoid.
