5 Demos to Sink Your Teeth Into (Demo Impressions Part 15)

Bakeru, Cupiclaw, Gori: Cuddly Carnage, Nif Nif, Wilmot Works It Out

I love demos and it turns out I love writing out my thoughts on the demos I play. While most demos come out during Steam Next Fest, and sadly only are available during that short time, there are times when demos are released outside of that week. I have a lot of demo impressions from the last Next Fest to release, but I wanted to highlight some demos that I recently played.

As always, those that I’ve marked with a (*) still has a demo up as time of publishing this article. I hope you check these games out if any of them sound like they fall under your gaming interest.

Nif Nif*

I know I’m bad at card games, but sometimes I get the urge to play one. Sometimes I’m able to resist and sometimes I’m not. However, Nif Nif was just too cute to not try it out.

Long story short, Nif Nif is like Slay the Spire. Long story long, in Nif Nif you play as a cute little pig going through the forest he lives in. However, you’re not fighting the other animals here. All the other animals have been covered in some strange goo and transformed into goo-ed up enemies. Determined to not get goo-ed as well, and to free those that unfortunately did, Nif Nif sets out to clean everyone that he comes across.

Once you’re ready to start a run, you’ll be using a map to travel by picking which way you want to go (if applicable). Three of these symbols are combat. Going into combat, you’ll be up against between 1-3 enemies and your first hand will be drawn. You’ll go first and you’ll be able to see the action your opponents will use that turn so you can prepare. From here, you just have to decide what’s best to do based on your hand and what your opponent is going to do. Though, instead of it being framed as you attacking, it’s you cleaning your opponent. Protecting yourself (aka applying shield) is also you cleaning yourself (probably by pig standards since it’s a “mud bath”). Cards that’ll give you other effects, liking increasing your Attack Power or healing you, are fresh fruits and veggies. Not to mention how cute the visuals are and, once you defeat your opponent, you’ll see how they look all cleaned up.

Aside from combat, there’s a resting spot where you can choose to throw away a card, upgrade a soup, or sleep to heal; a shop to buy more cards or soup; and a question mark which will be an event that can give you a chance to do something like gain coins. I did also run into an event where it seemed you’ll need something specific, but I’m not too sure as I couldn’t see what the grayed out open said.

Before each run, it looks like there will be various different equipment you can equip to gain an effect, like healing after every battle. The demo does give access to two hats and while I’m not entirely sure if there will be clothing for Nif Nif’s body, you can also change how he looks like as there are three different skins you can switch between in the demo. You can also cook a soup if you want, which is a consumable you can use so you can power up Nif Nif. These only last until the end of battle (increase Power) or whenever it’s used up (Apply 15 Protect). You’ll also be able to pick a Special Card. There’s also going to be a garden in the full game based on the tabs. I’m not too sure what that’ll be, considering you can make soup without having ingredients, but maybe it’ll be a bestiary?

Overall, Nif Nif is a pretty cute roguelike deckbuilder that can be unexpectedly hard. The demo does have the first area for you to go through and I was not expecting the boss to be hard (or at least, hard to me as someone that’s terrible at deckbuilding) and my second try I just barely won. Like I had 1 health left barely won. I can see those that enjoy a lot of deckbuilders enjoying this one.

Cupiclaw*

Well, turns out I played another roguelike deckbuilder, but this one doesn’t seem like one. This one is a claw machine where all you’re basically doing is getting as many prizes as you can before the time runs out. The goal is to not only get enough money to afford the next play, but also be able to afford the next machine that’s going to be switched in after 5 rounds. However, it takes the claw a bit to pull itself up, it’ll stop going down once it hits an item, there can be an enlarged version of a Prize that sells for triple the prize, the prizes are sold after each round, and there are penalty prizes which will take away coins at the end of the round. Between rounds, you’ll also be able to pick out a new prize to add, the option to upgrade an existing one, or to just add a token or coins. The tokens I mentioned are either reroll tokens, which will reroll the three options you get here, or a remove token which will let you remove a prize in your pool, which can be helpful when you regret what you get, doesn’t go with your synergy, or want a new prize. You’ll also learn that prizes have different types, different sell costs, and effects. Some items will change after you use the claw four times in that round or add more to the sell price of a specific prize type (like to plushes or food).

After every round, the machine will be emptied and refilled with new prizes. After 5 rounds with a machine, it’ll be switched out with a new one. A new machine brings a new floor layout, a penalty prize either being upgraded or a new one being added, a possible added effect inside the machine, and the cost being increased. The added effects I was able to see was bouncing floors and water-filled machine making all the pizes float around.

Cupiclaw is actually pretty difficult, with the penalty prizes, having to make sure you made enough to afford another round, and the steep prize increase for the next machine. In fact, the only reason I was able to make it as far as I did (5 machines) was due to getting lucky with getting a flower prize that turns into a tree, which turned out to be a big money maker. My main complaint is that the machine cost goes up drastically, making it hard to keep up unless you get lucky. It starts at 20 coins and then jumps up to 150, then 350, 600, and I was able to play once at the next 900 cost machine. With only 5 rounds and at the mercy of the claw and RNG, I feel this is too harsh. I did notice that the Steam page does show different machine costs so hopefully that the price pace goes up smoother than in this demo.

That said, I did like Cupiclaw. It’s difficult, but it’s addicting. The different claw machines also seemed pretty cool. If the prices raise more steadily, rather than being steep hills, I can see myself playing this and suddenly losing a whole afternoon.

Wilmot Works It Out*

Releasing October 23, 2024

I was not expecting to see Wilmot in a new game! I loved Wilmot’s Warehouse and I remember being so obsessed with it when I took the dive and bought it. When I got an email about Wilmot Works It Out being announced, and having a release date, I was surprised and then so excited. I instantly went to wishlist and then download the demo when I saw it had one.

In Wilmot Works It Out, this takes place during the time that he’s off from work. After a long day at the warehouse, Wilmot comes home and unwinds with puzzles. Throughout the demo, Wilmot will get packages from the Puzzle Club he subscribed to; as well as having small talk with the Sam the postwoman. Once you get the package, you just need to pick a spot where you want to unpack it and you get to see Wilmot unpack all of the puzzle pieces. These puzzle pieces look like how the items looked in Wilmot’s Warehouse, but you’ll use these to make a complete image like a jigsaw. You’ll also have the same moveset, with Wilmot being able to carry multiple puzzle piece tiles, being able to rotate the tiles around himself, and being able to move the tiles by pushing against them. Pieces that are correctly placed are also locked together like they’re one tile, which definitely helps moving the semi-complete to complete jigsaws. I also noticed that you get a little “Ding~” if you wait a second when you have a piece at the right place. Packages will also have extra pieces, which is part of the next puzzle you’ll be completing, and it does seem like there will be sets considering the Steam Page mentions multiple rooms and getting a completion time.

This demo includes the first 6 puzzles. I like this game so far. It was a good choice having you get packages as it does a good job pacing it out rather than throwing all the pieces at you. It makes it bite sized. The game also does have some tricky designs, adding to the difficulty, and all the designs are lovely. Out of the puzzles featured in the demo, I can’t decide whether the hotdog octopus is my favorite or the jellyfish. Though, I wish Sam wasn’t designed to look like a regular human, but as a box like Wilmot. It just seems a bit out of place. Also I just hope there’s no achievement for finishing the game under a certain amount of time.

Also, Wilmot Works It Out comes out on my birthday! Woo!

Gori: Cuddly Carnage*

Out Now

I’m so happy that I was able to play this demo! The cover art made me want to play the game when I saw it when it was first announced and, when I saw the trailer, made me want to play it even more. Not expecting a demo to come to consoles, I even watched the demo and it confirmed that I would enjoy it (though, I hoped that I would enjoy how the gameplay feel). Luckily, a demo was released for consoles and I was so excited.

In this game, you play as a orange cat named Gori and the game starts with him in space. It turns out that the ship’s AI talks and even his hover board. They all are just hanging out and talking, giving us a snippet of their current situation and their personalities, as they orbit around what seems like Earth. That is, until explosives that are strangely shaped as hearts gets launched at them and even hit. Luckily, Gori and F.R.A.N.K. (the hover board) had time to escape and grab Ch1-P’s ship AI cartridge before their ship completely explodes. Expertly dodging the leftover explosives, they all land on Maybe-Earth and find…well…carnage. The streets are empty, there’s a lot of pink (not that I’m complaining), there’s anti-human graffiti, and Gori is even made out as a traitor that needs to be killed on sight. Not to mention the first thing you see is a poor unicorn gets attacked and turn into an undead unicorn. Surely Maybe-Earth wasn’t like this the whole time. Let’s hope you can find another ship before the Cuddly Army kills you for sympathizing with humans.

I really enjoyed Gori: Cuddly Carnage’s demo. I already knew I loved the writing and this settled my fear about the possibility of not liking how it feels to play. This game’s writing managed to barely miss being insufferable and stayed in the funny territory for me. I liked Ch1-P and F.R.A.N.K. and I think they did well with having Gori not be understandable (since he talks in cat) as F.R.A.N.K. does fill you in on what he said pretty well. I also liked how it felt playing as Gori who is also on F.R.A.N.K. I loved gliding around, the movement is smooth, and I love how you fight with the hover board. The only complaint I have is that the boost doesn’t really feel like it really boosts your speed outside of combat, but I do like how it’s used to basically do heavy attacks. Also, you are able to see the Bash weapon upgrades and it did an amazing job with the designs. Each form looks so nice and pretty even as it gains more points in the badass category. The game is also decently hard and I loved how gory it is.

It looks like Gori: Cuddly Carnage will be separated into levels and this demo includes the first level. Letting you see the scoring system and fight the first boss in the game. You don’t have to wait long for this one to come out and for a surprising price of only $20. It really feels like it would cost more.

Bakeru*

Releasing September 3, 2024. Demo available on Switch

This one was quite a surprise. Bakeru takes place in an alternate fairy tale version of Japan. The game opens with someone named Sun, who is very small, running away from creepy eyes during a thunderstorn. Unlikely, she trips, but luckily the protagonist was right there to save her. Sun relays the terrible happenings that’s been going on. Someone named Oracle Saitoro is utilizing a festival to take over Japan. Oracle Saitoro even managed to brainwash Japan’s hero. Sun has been searching for someone to step up to the plate and the Elder has volunteered the protagonist, a Tanuki named Bakeru, to escort her safely to her next destination. Bakeru doesn’t really want to go, but he must. Transforming into his hero form, the Elder gives him their clan’s Haradaiko drum so he’ll be able to purify any evil spirits that’s along the way.

This demo includes four stages for you to dive into. The first two are regular stages where you’ll control Bakeru running through that stage’s location. Though, you won’t be able to just run through without running into trouble. Enemies litter all across the stage and you’ll use the drumsticks to damage enemies and any breakables. Hitting with the left and right are different buttons and this is due to chains requiring you to alternate which hand you have Bakeru attack. You can also do a strong attack by attacking with both at the same time as well as a strong charged attack. Guarding is pretty cool as the drum itself will pop up in front of you and reflecting attacks felt pretty great. The first stage is pretty easy, but it looks like this game does get difficult as you continue through the game. Not only will the location change and bring in different terrains, but there will also be more enemies and different enemy types. The fact that health drops seems to be rare make it a tad more difficult and while the item shop sells an item that heals you for one heart, you can only by one. Gotta be careful charging up that strong attack as being attacked yourself will cancel the charge.

Certain situations will also call for you to transform into another form. You need to gain a Henge license and have enough energy, but it looks like we’ll be able to transform into at least four different forms. The first form is as small as Sun so you can get through small spaces. There are some hidden and optional stuff in stages too. Aside from coins being hidden, there are also three souveneirs and five spots a character named Scoops will spawn to give you trivia (technically some were pretty out in the open, but some were also off the beaten path). There’s also a character that will let you buy items if you need it. Each stage will have you destroy three evil energy emitters so you can unseal the festival tower and beat on the drum there.

The other stages are a robot battle stage and a shooting stage. Robot battle is exactly as it seems, you and the enemy are fighting it out in giant robots. Both health bars are displayed on the bottom and victory is given either when either of you fall and don’t get up (it may be rng for the enemy but you button mash to get Bakeru back up) or when one of you run out of health. Combat is just like how it is in regular levels, but of course in a bigger, slower scale and with the added addition of an ultimate attack which, I’m pretty sure, gives a big chance at the enemy being knocked down. This is pretty decent, with my only complaint being how I’m not sure how you’re supposed to chain attacks when the enemy is knocked back too far away (though it could have just been this enemy). Blocking in this type of stage is going to take a while to get used to, though. The Shooting stage has you jump into a fighter jet that looks like a dragon’s head and you’ll be shooting at enemy robots that dare to shoot at you. Left and right have separated buttons here too and you can shoot a laser or use one of the limited bombs you have to clear the screen (or do what I assume is a lot of damage). This one is alright as well, I just think aiming is a bit weird considering it split left and right guns.

Overall, I liked Bakeru so far. It’s pretty cute and I did like how it felt playing.