It's been quite the journey to get to this point, but the Steam Playtest for LockLine is finally live!
Demo is open, so access is granted automatically.
Go on! Give it a try!
store.steampowered.com/app/4…
Want the map to be a bit easier to read on first glance?
No problem! You can now enable unit outlines any time from the settings!
Trying to come up with new ways to better describe my game.
How about:
"Advanced Tic-Tac-Toe, but in this case you actually need some strategic insight"
Would that make you curious?
store.steampowered.com/app/4…
Pushed a big update again today to the LockLine playtest. Contentwise, it's almost ready for official demo.
But will have to do a good overhaul of my Steampage before I hit publish.
store.steampowered.com/news/… via @steam
Added a new ability to Lockline: Disrupt. Units inside the smoke can not be targeted, but can also not target themselves.
Came to realize how important it is for NextFest demo's to have short time-to-interesting-decision. Players don't know your game yet, they come to see if they like it. So you need to let them experience the actually gameplay asap. Don't start with a 20 min story set up.
Played 0.2% off all Nextfest demos today. Picked random. Got a bit of everyting, from slop to extremely polished. Standouts:
- Reshine. If you like cosy relaxing settings and restoring things, don't miss this one.
- Trust the System and the Order of Serenity if you're looking for interesting settings/vibes
- Pogona if you are looking for a solid and cute platformer.
- Stellar Harvest if you like clicker/incrementals. This one scratches that itch.
Demo 16: Reshine
store.steampowered.com/app/4…
Played 25 min
Very relaxing experience. Lots of attention to detail. Does 1 thing and does it extremely well. High quality.
Score 8.5/10
Demo 15: Off soundings
store.steampowered.com/app/5…
played 20 min
Very heavy on the story at the start, feels like visual novel. Some card combat later, not sure how deep. Bit boring. AI visuals, but clearly a lot of care has been put in. Maybe im not the audience. Score: 6.5/10
Demo 14: Drill rover
store.steampowered.com/app/5…
played 18 minutes.
Low effort, buggy, not recommended
Score: 3/10
Demo 13: Pogona:
store.steampowered.com/app/2…
played 20 min.
Cute platformer. Nice atmosphere, responsive controls. Fun abilities. Perfect difficulty level for me. Might be too easy for hollow night players.
Score 8/10.
Demo 12: Stellar harvest
store.steampowered.com/app/4…
played 40 min.
Satisfying clicker/incremental. Finished the demo. Very straitghtforward, not really original.
Score 8/10
Demo 11: Trust the system
store.steampowered.com/app/5…
Played 35 min.
Love the vibes. Severance meets papers please. Always want to discover more. But wonder how much more depth the gameplay has.
Score 8/10.
Demo 10: Leeway
store.steampowered.com/app/5…
Played 15 min.
Visuals are not great. Especially the people look horrible. Mostly boring. Sailing is very very slow when you need to go against the wind. Maybe with a lot of polish this could be something. Score 3/10
Demo 10: Full metal hell
store.steampowered.com/app/5…
Played 17 minutes.
Runs well, chaos looks smooth. But the loop didn't really click for me. Could use a tiny bit of player onboarding.
Score: 7/10
Demo 9: Bang bang boom pow
store.steampowered.com/app/5…
Played 15 min.
Like the style and the visuals. Very simple gameplay. Doesn't seem to have much depth. For me got boring soon. Am also not very good at this kind of game.
Score 6/10
Demo 8: Neon Sliders
store.steampowered.com/app/3…
Played 12 minutes.
Like the neon color palate. Racing controls feel way too sloppy. Having 120 opponents that get in your way makes it frustrating. Not a lot of replay value.
Score: 6/10
Demo 7: HexGame Hero Path
store.steampowered.com/app/4…
Played 2 min
Starts as a unchangeable window across multiple of my screens. No options menu at all. No way to change. Unplayable for me
Score 1/10.
Demo 6: Escape from doomstown
store.steampowered.com/app/4…
Played 30 min. Loop not super engaging. The English localization needs some more attention. Probably should have an AI disclosure.
Score 6/10
Demo 5: The order of serenity
store.steampowered.com/app/4…
Played 30 min.
Intriguing concept. Curious to see what happens. Didn't like that it took 3 tries and 10 min to finish the first questionnaire to even start playing. Weird floaty camera movement. Score: 7.5/10
Demo 4: Make the world great again
store.steampowered.com/app/4…
Played 17 min.
Looks great, great atmosphere. Running/moving feels very slow. Up close and far aways torch is not giving enough light. Very easy to get caught by the monster, making you start over again. Score 7/10

