Author: CtrlAltNoob

Funeral for the Sun – Demo Impressions

When logic meets the surreal.

Funeral for the Sun

Developer: Nicolás Cid Delgado

Release Date: Coming soon

Search the ashes of an abandoned Latin American town and uncover 500 years of secrets. A non-linear mystery where you travel back in time and untangle the complex history of a community cursed by supernatural forces.

The final demo that I tried from the Thinky Direct 2026 was the demo for a game that I already had on my wishlist, Funeral for the Sun. We play as a historian on her attempt to unravel the past of a town doomed to flames and time.

Of all the games that I have tried that have evoked Return of the Obra Dinn in some way – my favourite game of all time might I add – Funeral for the Sun has come the closest to capturing that magic so far. Don’t get me wrong, Funeral for the Sun has its own soft, painterly art style, its own story to tell and its own unique way of telling it, but exploring the environments, discovering clues from the past and encountering the drama along the way is reminding me of the reasons that I like the genre. It is not only for the deduction of the logic puzzles – however smart that makes me feel when I have some success – but the story that unfolds along the way, the surprises, unexpected turns, and the oddities that provide another level of intrigue.

In less than 45 minutes I was given enough clues, enough fulfilment and enough strangeness to really want to continue beyond what is currently available. Exploring the same scenes in both the past and the present in order to fill out our journal, put names to faces and make the connections between them is an endlessly satisfying process, presented seamlessly. I will be keeping my eye on this one!

Demo Length – 30min-1hr
At a glance
+ A satisfying deduction system
+ I have no idea where the story is going to go
+ Drama ramps up quickly
+ The way the past and present work together to present puzzles and solutions
+ The colour palette is evocative and art style recognisable
– Only being able to save a limited amount of journal entries felt restricting

More from Summer Game Fest

More Demo Impressions

Sign up now to stay up to date with the latest posts!

Deductopia – Demo Impressions

A clever, cozy use of a deduction style format.

Deductopia

Developer: Nightwell Games

Release Date: Coming Soon

Explore the scenes, find clues, and sort out people, pets, and belongings in this cozy slice-of-life detective puzzle game. Fans of Duck Detective, Little Problems, and The Case of the Worst Day Ever will enjoy this new deduction game for all ages.

I have tried a lot of demos for Obra Dinn and Golden Idol likes (admittedly I still have yet to play Golden Idol beyond the demo), and Deductopia has been my favourite so far. It is a logic puzzle to its core and it did all of the right things. The UI is intuitive, the clues are just enough, and it pushes you in the deep end, giving that delicious initial overwhelm that unravels through exploration, turning ‘how the heck am I ever going to do this?’, to ‘if this is this then that must be that’, at a satisfying fast pace. It throws you in a scene, provides you with some questions, some clues and some solutions, and says, ‘have fun’.

Something that I really appreciate about Deductopia are the difficulty options. There is the option to experience these levels in two different ways. Easy mode checks your answers as you go, informing you if you are correct or potentially going down the wrong path. Hard mode waits until you have inputted all of your answers and deduced the entire scene to reveal whether you made any mistakes. Hard mode was exactly the kind of challenge that I am after. If you give me a way to brute force a puzzle I will, I just can’t resist it so for me, easy mode would have had me gaming the game rather than playing the game. I only bring this up because, while I am glad it exists for the folk that prefer to play that way, a lot of the reward of a deduction games for me is the dopamine flood I get when I get confirmation of my answers. From my experience so far, this is always 10x better when lots of information that you have been chipping away at all gets approved at once. These options allow me to flex whatever brain muscles that this works, while also providing reassurance that if I get stuck later down the line, I am not hung out to dry, easy mode will be there for me.

The demo offered 3 of 12 scenes to explore and solve. It took me 30 minutes total, so this is not going to be a long game. It does however seem like it is going to be an extremely satisfying version of what it is. Low stakes, sit down with a cuppa and a biscuit, and be the observation hero that everyone needs.

Demo Length – 30 mins
At a glance
+ Difficulty settings
+ Thoughtful UI
+ A good ratio of clues:deduction so far
+/- Trusts that the player doesn’t need handholding
+/- Short

More from Summer Game Fest

More Demo Impressions

Sign up now to stay up to date with the latest posts!

Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School – Demo Impressions

Stupid-smart puzzles. Genius, dumb fun. Clever all around.

Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School

Developer: Coin Crew Games

Release Date: To be announced

Class is (back) in session with Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School! Get a first look at next year’s curriculum with this new playable demo. Escape from a death-defying introductory puzzle course, kick it with new and familiar faces on campus, and enjoy a sneak peek at our brand new quest system!

There is something to be said for frantically zooming around a scene, on the clock, clicking on every little thing to help find your puzzle solutions and at least 50% of the time being provided with a pun instead. Whether the jokes land or not doesn’t matter, it is a delightful experience and surprisingly enough, the majority of them do.

Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School is the upcoming sequel of Escape Academy, where you are student at Escape Academy, learning to… well, escape. The pressure is high and the consequences for failure can be deadly, but that is just another day at the prestigious school. The entire premise and the writing alongside it are the dumbest of fun and I couldn’t have more affection for it. The sequel feels like an expansion of the formula of the first game in the most exciting way.

The writing is fun, the vibes are peak, and the gameplay is equally strong. There are themed escape rooms galore and the demo gave a wonderful and substantial taste of the variety ahead. Between main puzzles there are optional side puzzles, an abundance of your peers to chat to with the best – and worst – names, and an ever expanding environment to explore as you prove your capability by not dying in class.

I am usually allergic to rushing, in games and in real life, but in the case of Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School, I do recommend choosing the timed option, providing you are at least a semi seasoned escape roomist. The urgency adds a lot to the atmosphere of the game and so far I had enough time for every puzzle while also thoroughly exploring every nook and cranny of the room. You will never know whether a one liner will be worth the 10 seconds of your precious time until after you have read it, and that was a gamble that was always entertaining to take. If you prefer though, you can turn the clock off and take the game at your own pace.

Everything feels so serious and yet so light-hearted simultaneously. You will solve a puzzle so intelligently to be greeted by the dumbest joke. The puzzle itself may be a dumb joke. That is what sets this game above so many other puzzle games for me, and why I recommend it so highly. Despite the silliness, I even had to pull out a note book a couple of times! There are local and online co-op options available too.

Demo Length – 1-2 hours
At a glance
+ Engaging puzzles
+ Abundant jokes and amusing writing
+ An improvement of an already great game in the way that great sequels are
+ New open world providing more opportunities for laughs and brain scratchers
+ Substantial demo really shows what you are getting into
+ Snappy pacing
+ Difficulty options

More from Summer Game Fest

More Demo Impressions

Sign up now to stay up to date with the latest posts!

Indie Showcase – Summer Game Fest 2026

Here you can find all of my coverage of the Summer Game Fest 2026 season.

Check back often to see the latest posts!

More from previous Festivals

Sign up now to stay up to date with the latest posts!

Noob’s Picks – Thinky Direct 2026

Thinky Direct features, as you may have guessed, games that make you think. Every variety of puzzle that you can imagine, and some that you can’t.

Considering I am so hit or miss with puzzle games – more of a reflection of my thinky abilities and perseverance than the games themselves – I am delighted to have a full, top 10 picks from the Thinky Direct 2026!

The games are in alphabetical order for convenience.

Deductopia

Developer: Nightwell Games

Release Date: Coming Soon

Explore the scenes, find clues, and sort out people, pets, and belongings in this cozy slice-of-life detective puzzle game. Fans of Duck Detective, Little Problems, and The Case of the Worst Day Ever will enjoy this new deduction game for all ages.

Wishlist Deductopia on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available and you can read my full demo impressions here!

Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School

Developer: Coin Crew Games

Release Date: To be announced

Class is (back) in session with Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School! Play in solo or co-op and explore an all-new campus, escape life-threatening puzzle rooms, and unravel a conspiracy as old as the school itself — all before the bell rings.

Wishlist Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School on Steam here. There is also a demo available, you can read my full demo impressions here!

From Ruins – A Detective Adventure

Developer: DigiTales Interactive

Release Date: 2027

A new-gen detective adventure combining deduction gameplay with a gripping story full of twists and turns. Gather clues, establish connections, and solve a series of increasingly challenging cases. Will you uncover the feud that began at the end of the world?

Wishlist From Ruins – A Detective Adventure on Steam here.

Funeral for the Sun

Developer: Nicolás Cid Delgado

Release Date: Coming soon

Search the ashes of an abandoned Latin American town and uncover 500 years of secrets. A non-linear mystery where you travel back in time and untangle the complex history of a community cursed by supernatural forces.

Wishlist Funeral for the Sun on Steam here. There is also a demo available, you can read my full impressions here!

The Granny Detective Society

Developer: Team Empreintes

Release Date: 2026

Play as Madeleine, a retired granny recruited by the Granny Detective Society (basically the FBI… but add dentures). Investigate your neighbors, figure out their names and professions, and uncover all their secrets in this no-murder detective game full of white hair and mugs of tea.

Wishlist The Granny Detective Society on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available!

Hello Again

Developer: Soup Island

Release Date: To be announced

Hello Again is a time-looping adventure about mystical ruins, ancient secrets, and goofy weirdos. Play as a hapless ferret shipwrecked on a strange island, stuck inside a strange time loop. Explore forgotten ruins. Befriend silly strangers. Solve time-bound puzzles. Repeat for the rest of eternity.

Wishlist Hello Again on Steam here.

The Land Forgotten

Developer: Daria

Release Date: To be announced

A hand-painted adventure puzzle game where language is magic. Explore a mysterious land, decipher ancient scripts, and solve language-based puzzles to uncover the secrets of a lost civilization.

Wishlist The Land Forgotten on Steam here.

Lock In

Developer: FLEB

Release Date: 2027

An escape-the-room puzzle game. Solve locks to unlock locks. Unlock locks to unlock more locks. Lock in.

Wishlist Lock In on Steam here.

Pikku Adventure

Developer: Pikku Studios

Release Date: Q4 2026

A challenging puzzle adventure about learning an alien language. Explore a strange world and meet its cute inhabitants. Decipher the language and earn their trust. With every word learned, you will uncover more secrets. Can you solve the mystery of this world and decide the fate of the Pikku?

Wishlist Pikku Adventure on Steam or play the demo here.

Servant of the Lake

Developer: Rusty Lake

Release Date: Aug 2026

Death isn’t the end – it’s your last chance. Solve haunting puzzles and make choices that matter as you guide Vale across the underworld. Will regret follow her into eternity?

Wishlist Servant of the Lake on Steam or play the demo here.

What a start to the Summer Game Fest 2026 season, we have had with the Six One Indie Showcase and now the Thinky Direct. I have played 5 demos from the former and now have 5 downloaded from the latter.

All of these games are featured as part of the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase, where there are sales, bundles and even more demos. If I get a chance I might do a further highlight post but for now… go and fill your wishlists!

Watch the full showcase here.

More List Content

More Indie Game Content

Sign up now to stay up to date with the latest posts!

Deep Pixel Melancholy – Demo Impressions

Not even dystopic, just real.

Deep Pixel Melancholy

Developer: ok/no

Release Date: Q3 2026

Deep Pixel Melancholy is a visual novel about being stuck in a time loop inside a far northern city. Unravel the mystery, and decide whether escaping is really worth it.

A unique Visual Novel demo that works on every level for me!

I realised as I was gathering my thoughts that I wanted to describe what I have played of Deep Pixel Melancholy as dystopic. When I pondered on that for only a few seconds, I realised that actually, there is nothing dystopic about it. The game is just portraying everyday life for millions of people on the planet. We go to the job that we don’t want to go to to pay the bills that we have to pay to survive, while worrying about losing the job that we don’t even want in the first place, because we need it to survive. Of course this isn’t the case for everyone in the world. If you don’t relate on some level then I am genuinely so happy for you, but it is undeniable that this is a universal experience across countries and continents for many, and a sad but real part of the human experience.

A concern that I often have trying games with these kind of themes and atmosphere is that there is a thin line between bleak, and straight up, for lack of a better term, misery porn. Sometimes this kind of fiction, depending on the way it is written, makes me want to put it down immediately and play something else. But Deep Pixel Melancholy so far runs the line perfectly. I related to my characters thoughts, feelings and actions without ever feeling irritated or ever getting that ‘too real’ feeling that makes me run away. 

The pacing and prose make the story easily digestible. I am grateful for the bite-size, snappy sentances when dealing not only with a heavy world but a heavy mind. The game is written with present tense narration, guiding you as the player on what to do next, which you do by clicking on the stylised scene that you are in. You can also explore the scenes via descriptions and observations that you hover over. Each day they build on another which is another way that the game immersed me quickly. It is a subtle but true fact that my thoughts, even on a particular object, change each day depending on all sorts of internal and external factors and I loved seeing that represented.

Deep Pixel Melancholy has a gorgeously cohesive style, it presents just enough of a mystery to get its hooks in, and it has a relatable realness that I couldn’t help but want to see more. An immediate wishlist for me!

Demo Length – <1 hour
At a glance
+ Bleak but not overwhelming
+ Intriguing mystery
+ Unique visuals
+ Interactions feel more diegetic than a standard VN

More from Summer Game Fest

More Demo Impressions

Sign up now to stay up to date with the latest posts!

Noob’s Picks – Six One Indie Showcase 2026

The summer showcases have begun, starting with the Six One Indie Showcase 2026. Six One Indie are moving to a yearly format for their showcases, and with the addition of Six One Demo Days, I am excited to be dipping my toe back into games coverage.

Mind you, it is only the very tip of my toe. But you know, sometimes that is all it takes to then somehow fall in headfirst. Watch this space! (but not too closely).

The showcase featured a lovely variety of indie games, which made me want to showcase my own list of the featured games that I will particularly be keeping an eye on. And what do you know, that contains a wonderful variety too!

The games are in alphabetical order for convenience.

Black Jacket

Developer: Mi’pu’mi Games GmbH

Release Date: 12 May 2026

Gamble your way out of hell in this blackjack-inspired rogue-lite deckbuilder. Play powerful card combos or cheat to outwit your opponents and earn your freedom. Win their Soul coins! Bribe the ferryman! And uncover the story of those who stand in your way.

Wishlist Black Jacket on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available here!

Deep Pixel Melancholy

Developer: ok/no

Release Date: Q3 2026

Deep Pixel Melancholy is a visual novel about being stuck in a time loop inside a far northern city. Unravel the mystery, and decide whether escaping is really worth it.

Wishlist Deep Pixel Melancholy on Steam here. There is also a demo available. Read about my demo impressions here!

Grave Seasons

Developer: Perfect Garbage

Release Date: 14 Aug 2026

Grave Seasons is a narrative farming sim with a terrifying twist – someone in the town is a supernatural serial killer. Farm, romance, and investigate your way through the unsettling town of Ashenridge.

Wishlist Grave Seasons on Steam here.

Kaiju Cleanup

Developer: Brightrock Games

Release Date: Coming soon

Relax and unwind by cleaning up the world’s biggest corpses either solo or co-op. In a Cleaning Sim like no other, your job is to slice up and tidy away Kaiju carcasses, leaving the city clean and serene. Until the next Kaiju attack, obviously.

Wishlist Kaiju Cleanup on Steam here.

Kaz

Developer: Kalinarm

Release Date: 2026

Dopamine-fueled minimalist grid-based game that pushes the boundaries of psychedelic visuals and fast reaction time. KAZ is an action roguelike arcade game where choice of items, buffs, and maluses allows you to unlock cool visuals and themes while showing everybody your skill on the leaderboards

Wishlist Kaz on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available!

Pirofauna

Developer: Petums

Release Date: To be announced

Become a tiny living flame, burn away ghosts, reignite homes, and earn the love of bugs that absolutely adore a little arson 🔥🐛 A short adventure game set in an atmospheric misty forest made entirely of paper.

Wishlist Pirofauna on Steam here.

Sloppy Forgeries

Developer: Playful Systems LLC

Release Date: 2026

Sloppy Forgeries is a fast-paced competitive painting game. Practice your skills by butchering iconic masterpieces in one of the few drawing games that measures accuracy pixel-by-pixel in real-time.

Wishlist Sloppy Forgeries on Steam here.

Sonnet

Developer: Antique Song

Release Date: 2026

Transport a magical flower across scenic lands, encounter strange travelers, and uncover the kingdom’s secrets in this sprawling medieval roadtrip.

Wishlist Sonnet on Steam here.

Treetopians

Developer: Aparato Games

Release Date: To be announced

Treetopians is a cozy colony simulator where players build vertical villages in the treetops and care for a growing community of villagers with unique needs and personalities.

Wishlist Treetopians on Steam or play the demo here.

Vale’s Echo

Developer: Hollow Beak Games

Release Date: To be announced

Death isn’t the end – it’s your last chance. Solve haunting puzzles and make choices that matter as you guide Vale across the underworld. Will regret follow her into eternity?

Wishlist Vale’s Echo on Steam or play the demo here.

Thinky Direct, Wholesome Direct, Summer Game Fest, Steam Next Fest, and – my own most anticipated event – The Story Rich Showcase are all on the horizon. I am going to be watching along and creating content as often as time, life and inspiration allows.

I am also going to be checking out the demos from some of the games listed above so keep an eye out on my Bluesky/Instagram for any highlights!

Watch the full showcase here.

More List Content

More Indie Game Content

Sign up now to stay up to date with the latest posts!

The Sea

Sword of the Sea.

More Ocean Photography

More Video Game Photography

Sign up now to stay up to date with the latest posts!

Guest Appearance – Tales from the Backlog – Backlog Resolutions 2026

I was invited back onto Tales from the Backlog, except this time, instead of relieving my backlog of a game we talked about the legendary Backlog Resolutions Challenge!

Within Dave’s discord server lies a channel. Within this channel lies a google sheet. Each year, everyone gathers to this google sheet to create a Backlog Resolutions list: A list of games that you already own, that you may keep overlooking, that you pledge to play sometime in the next year.

Of course it is not that serious, and in this episode we look back over the year, what we played, what we learned, how we did, and how we are going to approach our gaming next year.

Available on your platform of choice!

I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Backlog Resolutions 2025 challenge, and I am looking forward to see where the lessons learned (or not learned) take me into 2026!

Thanks again Dave for having me on to talk about this really fun idea, that is growing into it a life of its own.

View the video version here!

This episode aired on 07/01/2026.