Accessed Archive: Nextfest Summer 2026

Apparently, the end of the world is brought about by a little guy in a cloak doing increasingly complicated pokemon strength puzzles. Turns out, I actually really like increasingly complicated pokemon strength puzzles. I was drawn to this game by its art style and colours with, frankly, no idea what the actual gameplay was. The result is simple but welcome- Dittori takes an age-old formula and adds new pieces to it frequently enough to keep it interesting. The demo was short but did make me want to play all the content available- I'll be curious to see if it can keep up with its own pace in the full release.

Score: 6.5/10    Tags: 2D, Puzzler, Block Pusher

In a paranormal take on Hypnospace Outlaw, you investigate and classify potential hauntings based on submitted evidence from a Windows 95 style CRT monitor. The game has a good sense of its own atmosphere, but makes a few choices that undercut itself. First of all, it's a puzzler that drops you right into its puzzles with no real effort to show you what you should be looking for, leading to some early frustration. This might be fine if it gave you the space to explore, but the game puts some heavy artifical pressure on through daily time limits and 'rent' to be able to continue doing our job, which actively discourages you from actually checking out what the cases have to offer. If they're willing to change up those key aspects of the gameplay loop, this could end up being something really engaging.

Score: 5/10    Tags: Paranormal, Horror, Detective

What an absolute delight! Phonopolis is a completely uniquely crafted whimsical cardboard dystopia with unbelievably tactile puzzles. On paper (heh), I suppose its a point and click, but that feels like a disservice to how creative it actually is. In practice, Phonopolis really feels like you're playing with a cardboard diorama, or perhaps one of those weirdly ethereal eye spy books you had as a kid. The world is just absolutely lovely, and working your way through the puzzles gives you a pure sense of joy. This is already out now and an instant pickup for me.

Score: 8.5/10    Tags: Puzzle, Stylized, 'Point-and-Click'

Suri is... a rhythm game without a sense of rhythm. I've been really into the rhythm/action platformer genre in the past with things like Crypt of the Necrodancer, but despite this demo giving me MORE than a clear enough idea of what the game is about, extending past its entire first act, I found myself fighting with it the whole way through. The character, unfortunately, seems to move on a different clock than everything else in the world, resulting in unsatisfying movement combos and frustrating recoveries. There are bones of something good here, but for it to really be what they want, some fundamental changes need to happen that I don't see happening.

Score: 4/10    Tags: Rhythm, Platformer