What are you playing this weekend?

Eclipses and games. What a neat combination.

Image credit:Falcon Development

Today is an interesting and rather awe-inspiring day in a part of the Americas: we had an annular eclipse. Unlike a total eclipse, where the moon covers the sun in its entirety, an annual eclipse does not. That’s because with the moon is at its furthest point from the earth, our celestial sister is not close enough to cover the sun completely. This results in what is called a Ring of Fire - produced when the moon is centered with the sun, resulting in a bright ring around the dark spot that is the moon. It is super neat.

Where I live, we only saw 45% of it because we were outside of its main path, and even then, we didn’t get to see very much because Mother Nature decided she wanted it to rain today. However, clouds parted a couple of times, allowing us to catch a glimpse of the new moon passing over the sun before once again becoming obscured. No ring of fire for us, though, what we saw looked more like Pac-Man than anything else. Still, it was very cool. The next annular solar eclipse visible from the US won’t happen until 2039, and the only way to view it is if you live in Alaska - as it is the only state in the path. While that is a bit of a bummer, the US can look forward to a total eclipse, which will occur on April 8, 2024. Where I live, we’ll only have to drive a couple of hours west to experience it.

Image credit:NASA

Check out more amazing photos of the eclipse over on Space.com .

Now that the annular eclipse has run its course, it’s time to figure out something else to do with our time. For VG247 staffers in the UK who didn’t experience the celestial event, it was weekend business as usual: relaxing, watching TV, heading to EGX 2023, or just playing games. For those of us who chose the latter, here’s what we’re getting into:

Lords of the Fallen launch trailer.Watch on YouTube

Dom Peppiatt, Editor-in-Chief – Lords of the Fallen

Right now, Britain is a miserable little land, teeming with ideological nutjobs that would rather see the country brought to its knees than act with kindness. It’s hostile, it’s grim, there’s an undertone of misery to everything, and those in power seem to delight in their rampant corruption and selfishness. It’s like a work of fiction, and I need an escape, a release, some fantasy to balm my shattered nerves.

So, I’m playing Lords of the Fallen (2023). It’s set in a miserable little land teeming with ideological nutjobs who would rather see the country brought to its knees than act with kindness. It’s hostile, it’s grim, there’s an undertone of misery to everything, and those in power seem to delight in their rampant corruption and selfishness. It’s like a work of–– oh. Oh, no.

EGX is this weekend!Watch on YouTube

Kelsey Raynor, Guides Writer - Everything at EGX

This weekend I’ll be playing lots of games because I’m at EGX ! I’m super excited to see how Super Mario Bros. Wonder plays out and plenty of other indie games, too. There’s also Pokemon cards here, so we might as well say goodbye to whatever is left in my bank account right now!

Madden 24 launch trailer.Watch on YouTube

Mark Warren, Senior Staff Writer - Starfield, Madden NFL 24

As someone who loves playing games that just sort of go on forever in a manner that doesn’t mirror most of my op-eds, I’ll be dividing my time between the field and the cosmos this weekend. I’ve just finished the Freestar Rangers quest arc in Starfield , so I have to work out what my ditzy space bandit’s going to do now that he’s finished talking to the good folks of the not-quite NCR.

I suppose he might look into doing some work for Ryujin Industries because landing a crushing corporate gig in a game just after you’ve started a fresh (and non-crushing, please don’t fire me) job in real life is good escapism. Other than that, I’ve got an interesting thing I want to try out in Madden NFL 24 , so wish me luck navigating the terrifying AI pass rushes of the NFL.

Here’s a look at Ghostwire: Tokyo Deluxe Edition.Watch on YouTube

Rebecca Jones, Guides Writer - Ghostwire: Tokyo

For the first time in years, I’m spending most of the weekend by myself, and this morning I began my temporary bachelor lifestyle by reorganising my sock drawer, so I feel like I owe it to myself to plan something fun for after work. I’ve got nowhere in particular to be and uncontested control of the big TV; I ought to seize this rare opportunity to go full goblin mode and no-life something on the PS5 for a couple of days! I think I’ll use my excess of me-time to make further headway in the massive open world of Ghostwire: Tokyo , which I’m determined to 100% one of these days.

Cattails: Wildwood Story hits Steam on October 20 and comes to Switch in 2024.Watch on YouTube

Stephany Nunneley-Jackson, News Editor - Steam Next Fest Demos

This evening, the husband and I are hanging out with my best friend since kindergarten. She has a new beau, and wants to introduce him - plus, she’s making dinner, and wow can that woman cook! I’ll bring some homemade sangria with me and my Cards Against Humanity decks to add a bit of hilarity to the evening.

When Sunday rolls around, I plan to try out a few of the demos available through Steam Next Fest . There are so many I want to try that I doubt I will be able to get to through the lot over Sunday and Monday. But I am really keen to give as many as possible a try. Some of the ones I am eyeing are: Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley , Songs Of Silence , Wizard with a Gun , Cattails: Wildwood Story , Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew , The Rewinder , Pioneers of Pagonia , My Horse: Bonded Spirits , and Weko The Mask Gatherer .

As you can see, picking which ones to play or not to play will be a tough call.

What about you, folks? What are are your plans this weekend? Are you planning on playing any games? Let us know! We’re nosey like that.

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Steam Next Fest: October 2023 Edition - here’s a list of demos you can try

There’s something for everyone.

Steam Next Fest: October 2023 Edition has kicked off, and there are so many demos available and it’s a bit overwhelming.

As usual with these fests, we try to comb through the lot and pull out a few interesting demos for you to look at.

Steam Next Fest: October 2023 Edition runs through October 16, and alongside demos, many developers are hosting livestreams to discuss their upcoming releases. There are also chats with the devs that will continue for the duration.

So, without further ado, below you will find a sampling of the demos we found. There are hundreds and hundreds of others available, so head over to Steam and start browsing.

Here’s a look at some Enshrouded gameplay.Watch on YouTube

Fans of the first Ghostrunner will be pleased to hear its sequel, Ghostrunner 2 , has a demo available for Steam Next Fext; if you have been wanting to give the stealth-strategy pirate game Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew a try, you’re in luck; the colorful medieval fantasy city builder Pioneers of Pagonia can be tried as well, and it’s definitely something I plan on giving a go because I like the looks of it; hellish turn-based grand strategy game Solium Infernum isn’t out until 2024, but right now, you can try to become the new ruler of Hell early; if you have been looing forward to The Talos Principle 2 , there’s a demo available for it ahead of its Novemeber release; and you really need to try out the demo for the Devolver Digital-published game Wizard with a Gun , an online cooperative sandbox survival game that has some super cool graphics; and here’s a demo for Enshrouded , a co-op survival action RPG for up to 16 players that currently sits at number 20 on the Steam Most Wishlisted list.

Create your very own kitty cat and roam the lands of the Wildwood in Cattails: Wildwood Story.Watch on YouTube

Cat lovers should have a look at Cats on Duty , a rather humorous looking RTS, tower defense, and match-3 game where you arm a bunch of cats with weapons to defeat hordes of formidable foes; and another game about cats is the lovely cozy life sim RPG Cattails: Wildwood Story where you become a cat and lead your colony into the mysterious Wildwood where you will build a thriving town, hunt prey, harvest herbs, collect magical treasures, and defend your new home from intruders. Sounds like a plan to me!; if you ever fantasized about managing a zoo, you can do just that in Zoo Simulator and you can give the demo a try today. Speaking of animals, as a little girl, I was obsessed with horses (as many are), and nothing has changed since becoming an adult - so I am probably going to give this demo for My Horse: Bonded Spirits a try. In it, you build a bond with your horse, complete tasks, and try to rebuild a run-down stud farm.

The time has come to embark on an unforgettable journey in Weko The Mask Gatherer.Watch on YouTube

A prolouge demo for upcoming action-adventure game Weko The Mask Gatherer is available, and it puts you in the shoes of a gecko on a quest to collect powerful masks to fight back the darkness; there’s the modern text-based adventure with cool pixel art, I Doesn’t Exist , which is classic Zork meets Existential that explores themes of control, isolation and mental health; if you want something more gritty, there’s rogue-lite FPS Soulslinger Envoy of Death which puts you in the cowboy boots of a gunslinger in limbo fighting a ruthless organization harvesting souls; those into classic CRPGs from the 1990s and early 2000s should download the demo for Passageway of the Ancients ; and Last Chicken Games as a demo available for the fun-looking, action-packed arcade shooter Jett Rider .

Songs of Silence is a story-rich, fast-paced strategy game set in two distinct fantasy worlds.Watch on YouTube

There’s a demo available for Farm Manager World , an interesting looking sim that lets you manage a farm across global locations. The developer, Cleaversan Games, has another interesting game in development titled Dragonscale Monastery that tasks you with building a dragon sanctuary. There isn’t a demo available for it, but I thought I’d mention it anyway since it looks interesting; World War I buffs should have a look at RTS game Last Train Home which tasks you with trying to bring your soldiers home post-war onboard an armored train while caught in the middle of a civil war between Russia’s Red and White Armies; on the other end of the spectrum is action RPG Monolith: Requiem of the Ancients where you try to protect a mystical world under threat by dark forces; and head over to the Songs of Silence page on Steam and hit the download button. It’s a lovely-looking story-rich game that’s a unique mix of turn-based kingdom management, exploration, and hero development, contrasted with short and intense real-time battles.

KarmaZoo is about helping, working together, and finding bliss in cooperation — especially when things go wrong.Watch on YouTube

KarmaZoo is another Devlover Digital-published title and it’s an altruistic, cooperative platformer where up to 10 random players help each other with the unique abilities of 50 different characters all for the sake of good Karma; side-scrolling, soul-shifting sandbox action adventure game Amedama is another interesting looking title set in feudal Japan during the last years of the Edo period starring a soul on a quest to find his sister within seven days; just in time for spooky season is the demo for Reveil , a narrative first-person psycho-thriller that focuses on story, puzzles and exploration; you ca try out thefirst-person factory building simulation game Foundry which is set in an endless procedurally generated voxel world; if you are more into sims, upcoming colony simulator Ascent of Ashes has a one-hour demo allowing you to try basic base building, survival, needs management, character customization, exploration, and combat; you can try out the brutal first person melee action game Unawake ; you can play as one of the Merry Men in the co-op Robin Hood-inspired game Gangs of Sherwood ; and there’s Sovereign Syndicate , a rather interesting looking Victorian steampunk RPG that uses tarot cards instead of dice.

Wild Country is a cozy-competitive card game with city-building elements.Watch on YouTube

A demo for free-to-play multiplayer shooter Histera is also available. This fast-paced game features a battlefield that changes on the fly in real-time. There’s also the interesting looking JustAxe , a 2D platformer with puzzles and interactive environments. If you’re looking for something cozy, check out the demo for Wild Country , a competitive card game with city-building elements; and one demo I will absolutley try is the one for Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley . It’s a musical adventure game in which Snufkin needs to restore the harmony of Moominvalley, after a series of grotesque parks has appeared and ruined the valley’s natural balance.

Deadly Rain is a survival horror FPS game that puts you in a fight for survival against hordes of mutants.Watch on YouTube

If you are looking for a fast-paced third-person shooter with rogue-lite elements, check out the demo for Simulakros . Here’s a demo for folks who like to shoot zombies: Last Whisper . This online solo/co-op/multiplayer survival game is set in a post-apocalyptic open world where a virus has turned humanity into mutants and zombies. Those looking for something less stressful should try the demo for management and simulation game SeaOrama: World of Shipping . The game has you starting your own shipping company with a fleet of over 17 types of ships and 90 port locations. There’s also Deadly Rain , a surival-horror FPS set in a post-apocalyptic, abandoned village full of mutants; you can also download demos for Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor and SpellRogue . The former is a Deep Rock Galactic spin-off that’s a shoot’em up with destructible environments, while the latter blends deck building with roguelike gameplay.

So there you have it! A massive wall of text full of links to some really cool demos you can download until October 16. Have fun, and let us know which ones you’ll be trying!

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