Author: Jordan Wood
Jordan Wood
Jordan Wood is a recovered academic who writes about games, culture, and music as often as he can. He has a stick poke tattoo of the sword from Transistor, a regular tattoo of the mouse from Redwall, and a new-school tattoo of a pheasant. He is not Byronic.
Steam Next Fest may be over, but that does not mean our coverage has. Here are five gems to keep an eye out for. Even the most diligent gamer is bound to miss some absolute rippers each Steam Next Fest. But don’t worry! I’ve spent the last week toiling away in the demo mines to unearth a few specimens you won’t want to overlook. Give this list a look get your wishlist ready so that when the release schedule on the back half of 2026 starts hitting heavy, you’re ready. Sovereign Tower Kingdom management sims are among my favorite micro-genres,…
Virtue and a Sledgehammer was a highlight of the Steam Next Fest. In this preview, we dive into the implications of what a game full of rage and poetic revenge entails. I played a couple dozen demos for the June 2026 edition of Steam Next Fest, Valve’s triannual celebration of upcoming indies. Many were well worth my time, finding a spot on my wishlist as soon as I exited back to desktop, but one game stopped me in my tracks, hit me like a truck. Or should I say, like a sledgehammer. Do you know that feeling when you aren’t…
Steam Next Fest season is in full swing, but the sheer amount of options may be paralyzing to some. Here is how to navigate it. It’s that time of year again, when Valve opens the floodgates to hundreds of developers with upcoming games to share their demos with the general public. Steam Next Fest has become one of my favorite gaming traditions: settling down in front of the Steam storefront in each February, June, and October to scroll through dozens upon dozens of new games to try. You, however, may be less prone to doomscrolling a video game storefront than…