Shanhai Exorcist - a deckbuilder where each card has two faces
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Just dropped
Ninety-two demos dropped yesterday, nearly nine in ten of them self-published, with simulation, incremental, and idler tags dominating the pile as usual. Nineteen already carry reviews and none were vetoed for mixed scores, so today's picks are the ones that stood out on craft and the handful already drawing an early crowd.
The big arrival
Not a find: this one landed with an audience already waiting.
Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival
by Saber Interactive Self-published
Gore · Action · Horror · Atmospheric · Adventure · Dark
A first-person horror survival built around the Genesis Configuration puzzle box, putting players face to face with Pinhead's bargain rather than just chasing jump scares.
1,068 people already playing its demo on day one, 428 demo reviews in (Very Positive)
Today's pick
Shanhai Exorcist: Yin-Yang Chronicles
by Wu Qing Ying Self-published
Deckbuilding · Card Battler · Roguelite · Roguelike · Turn-Based Strategy · Turn-Based Combat
Why it leads: our strongest combined read on craft plus distinctiveness, out of the 92 demos that dropped yesterday.
Every card carries two faces, and flipping between Yin and Yang resets both its cost and its effect, forcing constant recalculation of cost, timing, and enemy intent within a Chinese-mythology roguelike deckbuilder.
Also worth a look
Phasewright
by Lucaren Self-published
Simulation · Strategy · Sandbox · Puzzle · 2D · Abstract
Light moves one cell per tick, and that single rule becomes the whole toolkit: laying conduits, splitting colours, and timing pulses to hit a beat, with no clock pressuring the puzzle.
Demonic Sect Survivalist
by 魔门弃徒 Self-published
RPG · Interactive Fiction · Xianxia · Casual · FMV · Adventure
A branching interactive movie about a cultivation prodigy hiding inside a demonic sect, with no combat or grinding, just chapter rewinds and a flowchart for replaying any decision.
Celestial Decks
by Celestial TCG Inc. Self-published
Trading Card Game · PvP · PvE · Competitive · Story Rich · Deckbuilding
A competitive card game leaning on illustrated decks and synergy-hunting, pitting the Penumbra's storyline path against straight matches against other players.
1 early demo review(s)
Cyber Wukong
by 成都方寸山 Published by 摸鱼游戏
RPG · Action · Adventure · Action Roguelike · Cyberpunk · Loot
A roguelite reimagining of Journey to the West as cybernetic mysticism, sending players against a mechanical Buddha armed with both scripture and a gun; the store page itself is unusually built out for a demo.
1 early demo review(s)
Catching on
Demos that launched in the last few days and are already getting noticed. From the moment a demo goes live we watch two things - the reviews players leave on the demo itself, and how many people are playing it right now. These are the ones where early players clearly like what they tried.
Granule
by Tevark Self-published
Sandbox · Physics · 2D · Action · Simulation · Pixel Graphics
A ditherpunk physics sandbox that hands players a character named Murray and every tool needed to make a bad situation worse; reviews are already trending positive and follower count is building.
18 demo reviews so far, rated Positive; and climbing · 555 community-hub followers
Rookie Raiders
by Team Neverending Self-published
Auto Battler · Roguelite · Party-Based RPG · Strategy RPG · Class-Based · RPG
An automated combat roguelite RPG where builds and party composition do the fighting for you, with an early run of positive reviews suggesting the automation clicks.
10 demo reviews so far, rated Positive; and climbing · 56 community-hub followers
JAWED
by ReinerTheGod Games Published by PlayWay S.A.
Story Rich · Adventure · Emotional · Horror · Atmospheric · Psychological
A psychological horror story following Adam, a man silenced by grief, as new evidence about his missing fiancée forces a reckoning; early reviews are landing on the positive side.
18 demo reviews so far, rated Positive · 85 community-hub followers
How our picks are doing
How earlier flags are doing - the demo reviews accrued since we picked them, wins and misses alike.
Iron Bramble - flagged Sep 16 with 48 demo reviews; now 155, Very Positive.
Fieldcraft Scout reads every demo that drops on Steam and flags the few worth opening. Picks are notable / distinctive, not a quality verdict - the reviews decide that.
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