United Label, CI Games’ home for smaller, but equally ambitious titles, has confirmed that both of its upcoming 2024 releases are participating in Steam’s Next Fest, taking place from today through to 17th June. Demos for Odd Bug Studio’s Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter and Sam Enright’s Beyond Galaxyland feature during the digital event, giving players their very first chance to experience the respective medieval fantasy and space-age RPGs before they launch later this year.

Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter

“It feels half Witcher, half Game of Thrones… Tails of Iron 2 presents us with a rich, full world.” – The Gamer

“The sequel to one of the best indies of recent years aims high” – HobbyConsoles

“Tails of Iron 2 has improved on the original in every way” – God Is A Geek

“Whiskers of Winter is shaping up to deliver another excellent Souls-inspired adventure and one that has rocketed to the top of my most anticipated games list for 2024.” – Well Played

Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is the next chapter in Odd Bug Studio’s rodent grimdark action-RPG opus. The Steam Next Fest demo provides the opening chapter of the game, in which Arlo – son of the Warden of the North – embarks on a beast hunt with his father before returning to Winter’s Edge moments before a devastating onslaught from new nemesis: The Dark Wings. In addition to showcasing the game’s brand-new and enhanced gameplay – including monster hunting and its trademark visceral combat between rat and foe – the demo also marks the return of multi-award-winning voice actor, Doug Cockle (The Witcher 3, Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2), as the game’s narrator.

Features:

• An expanded campaign of violence and revenge – Whiskers of Winter’s ‘tail’ of Arlo’s fight against the ferocious Dark Wing Bats is an intense experience, featuring a semi-open RPG world set across six varied biomes to explore, and new animal factions to discover.

• Challenging combat – Building upon the series’ trademark hardcore combat, Tails of Iron 2 features enhanced weapons gameplay, including four elemental effects (fire, ice, electricity, and poison) to imbue Arlo’s arsenal with unique abilities to use against foes.

• NEW Monster hunting gameplay – To tip the balance against the new fanged army of Dark Wing Bats, Arlo can track down and overcome 15 gigantic and challenging beasts to harvest their cadavers for rare upgrade materials.

• Improved base building – Construct and upgrade the devastated settlement of Winter’s Edge to gain access to more powerful items from the smithy, tastier meals at the kitchen, a wider range of powerful traps from the shoppe, and more!

• NEW Day and night system – Arlo will face different foes depending on the time of day, with more enemy types added as additional monsters are hunted down and vanquished.

Beyond Galaxyland

“Beyond Galaxyland could easily be a Game of the Year contender… I am so excited to play more” – God Is A Geek

“Star Wars meets classic Final Fantasy… an epic adventure” – GameSpew

“A tribute to the classics, but with a modern twist that makes the whole thing fresh and intriguing.” – PPE

Beyond Galaxyland is a 2.5D adventure-RPG created by Chicago-based developer and music producer, Sam Enright. Set among the stars, the game follows Doug; a high school student who’s whisked away to Galaxyland moments before the destruction of planet Earth by a celestial destroyer of worlds known only as ‘The End’. The Steam Next Fest demo follows Doug and his anthropomorphised pet guinea pig, Boom Boom, during their interstellar journey through the wildly different environments and climates, creatures, and – ultimately – planets that make up Galaxyland, and somehow try to undo the untimely end of the World.

Features:

• Active turn-based combat – Engage in strategic turn-based battles against a vast range of galactic nemeses, with time-responsive defensive gameplay to minimise damage. Each party member has a range of unique abilities at their disposal, but for an additional tactical advantage, sneakily scan your enemy pre-battle to discover their strengths and weaknesses.

• Interplanetary exploration – From the blizzard-swept planes of Arcos to the tropical jungle ravines of Erros, the neon-buzzing cities of Neo to the arid sand dunes of Xalm, explore a cosmic cluster of unique worlds, each with its own quests, environmental puzzles, and out-of-this-world characters.

• A classic sci-fi adventure – A semi-open 2.5D adventure-RPG in a classic sci-fi fish-out-of-water tale that pays homage to family-friendly adventure and sci-fi movies. Beyond Galaxyland’s story features laughter, loss, peril and friendship, all dipped in a dazzling layer of neon-tastic pixels.

• Epic boss battles – Encounter 25 epic bosses throughout many extraterrestrial travels, including colossal space dragons, flesh eating flowers, and the all-knowing bionic behemoth that is the Nexus Mind.

• Capture & utilise enemies – Successfully capture the many weird and wonderful creatures encountered on different worlds, each possessing exclusive abilities, and later unleash them during the heat of battle.