"Let's Play Some Demos!" Video Series YouTube Playlist 

Welcome to Part 26 of the Let's Play Some Demos! | LPSD series!
Thank you for your patience! I have been exhausted for the past week. I haven't been able to do much, since getting back from the Renaissance Fair. Big events tire me out. It affected my partner for a few days, too, but it was worth it!

For those who are new, I aim to provide commentary and feedback on game demos for educational purposes! In addition, with how saturated Steam is, let's get these indie games some attention, shall we (and the occasional AAA game I think isn't getting enough attention)?
For this episode, I used some of the demos I had grabbed from the Myths & Legends (I think) & Women's Day Sale Steam Events! 

RULES!
Typically, there are 4 demos. Each demo gets 30 minutes, not including the adjustment of settings and character creation. I might up it to 5 and/or play a great game for longer if there are technical issues. Or a demo finishes before the timer goes off.
And NO AI's spit, aka. plagiarism laundering.

Today, I played 5 demos for your enjoyment:

1. Atlas Wept by Kbojisoft - Available
   A Humanist retro-style RPG game about sincerity and empathy, featuring friendly robot dogs and evil smiley faces.
2. LEILA by Ubik Studios - Available: Apr 7, 2025
   A story-driven experience with puzzles about a middle-aged woman trying to make peace with herself. Join her in this dive to her mind and travel through memories and traumas. The unique 2d art style, meticulous sound design and hand-drawn animations bring her to life on this point&click...
3. Winter Burrow by Pine Creek Games - Planned Release Date: 2025
   Winter Burrow is a cozy woodland survival game about a mouse returning home to restore their childhood burrow. Explore, gather resources, craft, knit warm sweaters, bake pies and meet the locals.
4. Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall by Brave At Night - Planned Release Date: To be announced
   Rule your crumbling kingdom as you try to satisfy the petty needs of your people in this cinematic kingdom management RPG. Balance your resources, collect taxes, hire agents and make difficult decisions to see your kingdom prosper or fail.
5. When The Past Was Around by Mojiken - Available: To be announced
   When the Past was Around is an adventure point-and-click puzzle game about love, moving on, letting go, and the joy and pain of everything in between.

The links above are to the games' Steam pages.
Atlas Wept and When The Past Was Around's demos are also on itch.io!

Why 5? Because LEILA's lack of guidance made me rage quit, and Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall's demo was no longer available. Not a smart business move.

However, I will still be able to give an opinion, and it will be via the "Layered Compliment Sandwich":

Atlas Wept has a great story, I poked fun of a bit, I would like to get into but can't because looking at it gave me a headache. I don't know if it was the frame rate or not, but it was jumpy. Main issue aside, there were some pretty cool creature designs. I freaked out about it a little bit. I loved every creature! The dog didn't really look like a dog, but it, might, be an alien robot, so it got a pass. It helped that it was cute. The entire thing was cute, except for the giant thing that chased us and had me yelling at the game because I wasn't going down the ladder. That got me going. Good job! A great game I can't play. Sad face.

LEILA looks absolutely fantastic! And, since my exhaustion caused me to take so long to write this mini-review, at the time of writing this, the demo was still up. And there was a broadcast going on, that I didn't watch, because I needed to finish this. I hope the developers don't shoot themselves in the foot by taking the demo down. May the refunds requests be few! The premise is a good one! The sound design was fun! The voice acting was good. Even when Leila got snarky. Had the game had more guidance, there wouldn't have been a need to add snarkiness, now would there? And said lack of guidance was why I rage quit. Not a game for me, but I'm sure someone will like it.

Winter Burrow made me sad. Because it ended. And I was INTO it, too! I wanted to get more stone so I could upgrade the stove! Had I known the demo was going to end at that point, I would have waited... Oh, well. The story got me invested! The fact there were clear goals kept me, somewhat, focused. The most annoying part about it was the Food bar, which was because of how fast time was passing. The game could get away with time moving more slowly; I never felt like I was getting much done during the day. Getting to art, yes. I LOVE this art style! The art was, actually, what drew me in and it didn't disappoint! And the convenience of being able to track the item we're gathering for was spectacular! Good thinking, devs! Overall, great start! Gimme more!

Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall will make the second time I wasn't able to play a demo for a video because it was taken away without warning. For a few seconds, I considered going through all of the demos to see if they were still available and changed my mind. It's something you all need to see. And it needs to be pointed out, every time, developers taking away their greatest asset, their demo, is not only anti-consumer, they're also shooting themselves in the foot. If a demo is still available, even well after a game is made available, the player can play a portion of the game to see if they like it or not. If not, no refund requests to worry about.

When The Past Was Around was one of the few puzzle games I ACTUALLY enjoyed! There wasn't a lot of guidance, but it made up for it with the exploration. Exploration they made fun, which I, usually, don't find. Even though I had no idea what was going on, because I didn't read the description before grabbing the demo, I was invested in the story. I was invested in the characters. I wanted to know what was going on! I wanted to keep going! But it ended... The art was fan-fucking-tastic! It had a dreamy look, which I think was the point. And the music was nice! For anyone who likes these "explore the room, find the things you need to proceed" puzzles, then I recommend this one!

Overall, I want Winter Burrow and When The Past Was Around, and they are on my wishlist.

As a reminder, Atlas Wept is Available, LEILA will be Available on Apr 7, 2025, Winter Burrow's Planned Release Date is later in 2025, and Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall and When The Past Was Around Release Dates have not been determined.

And that's it for the mini-review of Part 26! Thank you for reading!
If this series of videos is something you're interested in, they're available on YouTube, The Titans' Discord, Steam, Rumble, Odysee, Ko-fi, and on multiple blogging platforms!
Don't forget to hit the Subscribe and/or Follow buttons to know when there's more!

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ARTIST SHOUT-OUT
The Monday, Mar. 31st, and 703rd, Artist Shout-Out goes to Дарья Трошкина!
Check them out here!

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CAUSE OF THE MONTH
The theme for April is ADtistic (ADHD + Autistic) Awareness Month, so, the causes of the month are ADDitude and The Color of Autism.
For more details, click here!

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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Welcome Gamers!
2:14 - Artist Shout-Out
4:18 - A Word/Announcement
7:04 - Demos' Intro
9:43 - Atlas Wept
42:58 - LEILA
1:05:26 - Winter Burrow
1:45:48 - Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall
1:46:53 - Artist Shout-Out/Picking Another Demo
1:48:10 - When The Past Was Around
2:00:34 - Demos Line Up
2:05:28 - Artist Shout-Out
2:06:19 - Thank You/Links
2:08:55 - Rendezvous Point Bookshop Plug
2:10:13 - Up Next: Dex, Part 4 (Shit happened, so didn't happen.)
2:11:55 - Farewell

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• Pilot: CrossCode, Dumpy & Bumpy, Ynglet, Zero Ranger
• Part 2: A Dance of Fire and Ice, 2064: Read Only Memories, Death and Taxes, Underhero
• Part 3: TEKKEN 8, Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition, Secrets of Grindea, Forspoken
• Part 4: Death's Hangover, Fae Farm, Fate/Samurai Remnant, Mini Settlers
• Part 5: All-Star Fruit Racing, Indivisible, SaGa Emerald Beyond, Visions of Mana
• Part 6: Glorious Companions, Tales of Arise, Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge, Cozy Island
• Part 7: The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, Cursebane, Dex, The Lady Puppet
• Part 8: Detroit: Become Human, Little Goody Two Shoes, Luma Island, Tinkerlands
• Part 9: Backpack Battles, Glaciered, Ratopia, Slime Rancher
• Part 10: Captain Contraption's Chocolate Factory, Maid Cafe on Electric Street, Neon Noodles, Tiny Glade
• Part 11: Critter Café, Grimoire Groves, Pixel Cafe, Wizdom Academy
• Part 12: AdventureBarStory, Bone's Cafe, DELTARUNE, Mudborne
• Part 13: Food Truck Simulator, Magical Bakery, Magical Delicacy, Seaside Cafe Rush Hour
• Part 14: Chef's Tail, Espresso Tycoon, Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo, Tavern Talk
• Part 15: Chicken Journey, FANTASIAN Neo Dimension, Terra Memoria, Until Then
• Part 16: Cornucopia®, Hipster Café, Let's Café, Spells & Secrets
• Part 17: Doloc Town, Feed the Cups, Manitas Kitchen, Mushroom Picnic Party, Rift of the NecroDancer
• Part 18: Meadgard: Beer and Plunder, BOKURA: planet, Teeny Tiny Town, Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos
• Part 19: Dungeons of Hinterberg, The Mildew Children, Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island, Yaoling: Mythical Journey
• Part 20: AI LIMIT, Harmony's Odyssey, Last Time I Saw You, Whiskers & Wizardry
• Part 21: Constance, Dragoon Ascension, Kara Fantasy, Welcome to Elderfield
• Part 22: Crowncity, Dungeon Alchemist, Parliament of Hell 1796, Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars
• Part 23: The Bear - A Story from the World of Gra, Crime or Punishment, The Star Named EOS, There's No Monsters, Emblems: Sunless Vow
• Part 24: Angeline Era, ctrl.alt.DEAL, Find-o'-Lantern, Imperiums: Greek Wars
  
• Part 25: Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee, Lord Ambermaze, Night Dessert, Through the Nightmares
  
• Part 27: ATRI -My Dear Moments-, Kimochii Classroom, Tea for Sana, VORON
• Part 28: Tuesday, April 15th
• Part 29: Tuesday, April 22nd
• Part 30: Tuesday, April 29th

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MORE INFO & TO SUPPORT

- About MonriaTitans | WGS
- Rendezvous Point Bookshop
- Artist Shout-Outs Criteria
- The Titans' Discord
- Throne Wishlist
- #SubOffTwitch
- YouTube
- Rumble
- Odysee
- Twitch
- Steam

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Originally published to https://opinionsandtruth.wordpress.com on April 7, 2025.