With the Steam Next Fest running from February 6th until February 13th, hundreds of game demos are available to download to try out.
One demo I’ve been playing is I Am Future, a new survival sandbox game to be released on Steam on May 18th, 2023. It is being developed by Mandragora and published by tinyBuild.
I am Future
When the demo begins, a guy named Christopher awakens from cryogenic sleep on an overgrown skyscraper roof with no living souls in sight.
Once a majestic city of metal and glass, Cosmopolis has been destroyed and now lies flooded and ruins. It was destroyed during the decades-long struggle between UNICORP and the rival corporations. But now society has collapsed, and you are the only survivor.
What is the Mystery of the Last Days of Civilization
Playing as Christopher, it is up to you to try and solve the mystery of the last days of civilization and his sudden awaking. Or you can build your own future and enjoy the view of what remains of humankind.
Luckily the old skyscrapers are scattered with junk, such as old microwaves, rusty cars and antique computers; all this will come in handy for construction.
Explore the Rooftops
You start by carefully exploring the rooftop gardens, gathering resources and building a scenic new home for yourself. In addition, you can research new technologies and collect an assortment of tool attachments for your multifunctional bionic arm. Also, you can automate housekeeping with the help of a swarm of happy little helper robots, and you can even participate in a bit of fishing.
Furthermore, you can disassemble the devices from your collected resources to get the necessary items. Disassembling an item is like a mini-game as you inspect the item to take it apart. Then, use your newly found items and put them to use for creating futuristic gadgets according to the blueprints you get your hands on. The cyborg’s hand can also be upgraded.
Collect Resources and Craft
Once you find and replace the power battery to Earl the talking fridge, that also happens to be your storage. Furthermore, when the fridge is up and running, it will give you quests to complete.
Unfortunately, you are not alone in this new utopia full of resources for plundering. Whatever it was that tore the world apart is still around. You must protect the new utopia you’re building. You see, mutant bugs will appear at night, eat your plants, and suck your electronics dry. But hey, that’s nothing a can of insecticide can’t fix.
So you’ll have to construct some defences and prepare for nighttime battle. Then, once the night is over, you can reap the rewards come daybreak.
Release Date of May 18th
The demo plays very well and gives you a taster of what will come in the game once it’s released in May. At the moment, the controls are the keyboard and mouse. I hope the developer adds an option for controller support, as it would be easier to control that way.
The graphics are vibrant and colourful, and detailed. It looks like the world beyond Christopher’s rooftop home will be exciting to explore.
When the game launches in May, it will feature a freeform sandbox mode and an extensive story-driven campaign mode. You can find the Steam page here for I Am Future; go on and give it a wishlist you know you want to.