Reviews of some demos I played during Next Fest: June 2024, including CAIRN, Dead as Disco, Flick Shot Rogues and BALL x PIT.

CAIRN

I absolutely love this demo. CAIRN is the closest indie game I’ve ever played to Death Stranding—and I love Death Stranding. The gameplay is simple: you, alone, must climb Mount KAMI with nothing but your bare hands. Before each section, you need to plan your route and then execute it. During the climb, the game automatically assigns limbs for you to control, and you must carefully place them on a stable spot.

I really appreciate how the game uses minimal UI to create a strong sense of immersion, yet still manages to communicate your current status effectively. For example, you can judge your condition based on the protagonist’s breathing, limb movements, and posture—giving you a clear sense of whether you’re in a dangerous position or not. Although the demo still has bugs (including some unrealistic movements and postures), I truly enjoyed it. Even though it’s not part of this Next Fest, I still wanted to write it down.

Dead as Disco

At a glance, this game feels like a fusion of Hi-Fi RUSH and SIFU. It perfectly blends countering incoming attacks with executing your own badass combo moves— all based on rhythm. I really admire how the game syncs different moves with the current beat; it feels incredible when the execution animations align perfectly with the background music. The gameplay is genuinely fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed countering, chaining combos, and beating down enemies. The execution of the core mechanics is simply a blast.

Flick Shot Rogues

This game is overall a lot of fun. First of all, it features a solid core gameplay loop: you shoot your character at different angles, crash into enemies to deal damage, and then land in a new position to dodge incoming attacks. Mastering the shooting mechanics takes real skill and practice, as you’ll need to both deal damage and position yourself strategically for the next turn.

The roguelike aspect is also quite engaging. Before each run, you choose two characters, and their artifacts can be selected soom after. From there, your goal is to pick upgrades that enable these four components—two characters and two artifacts—to synergize effectively. In other words, your foundational setup is established early on, and the rest of the game revolves around finding the best way to make everything work together. It’s fascinating to have your core synergy determined so early, leaving it up to the player to adapt and strategize from there. Thanks to the engaging core mechanics, this game delivers a fun and rewarding experience.

BALL x PIT

Maybe you’ve noticed—I’ve come to realize a crucial factor for making a standout game in this Next Fest: the core gameplay must be fun. Games like CAIRN, Dead as Disco, Flick Shot, and Ball X Pit all share one thing in common—a strong, engaging core mechanic. That’s what made them stand out to me among the dozens of other demos I’ve played. I’ve relearned an important lesson: before adding additional layers like roguelike elements, the foundation—the core gameplay—has to be fun. I’ve played too many demos where the core mechanic wasn’t enjoyable. Learning how to play those games became a chore. I’m not saying those games are inherently bad, but if the learning process itself isn’t fun, the demo fails to make a good impression.

Ball X Pit is hands-down the best demo I’ve played in this Next Fest. It features a perfect “easy to learn, hard to master” core gameplay loop, strong roguelike synergies, satisfying progression and pacing, a clear showcase of what to expect in the full version, and appealing visuals. It’s one of the most addictive and well-crafted demos I’ve tried, and it reminded me once again of just how important it is to nail the core gameplay first.

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