Ah, didn't see you there! ...You need the time? Sure, yeah! It's INDIE DEMO O'CLOCK, BABY. How do you do, fellow Glizzards? This week, the Glizzy storefront officially opened, offering batches of high-quality indie titles for you to enjoy right now. ...Some inside baseball: Shaun's doing a write-up on all the Glizzy fixings as we speak. I'll be sure to drop the link here when it's ready! Now, let's dive into some indie demos! Today, I played demos for Bubsy 4D and Little Tree Kingdom (and I refuse to argue about whether Bubsy is technically indie or not -- shaddap). If you're here for Bubsy, you'll have to read about Little Tree Kingdom first because I'm not leading with him. I want LTK to receive the respect it deserves because--

The 'Little Tree Kingdom' Demo Reveals A Tense Roguelike Deckbuilder That Tricks You With Its Cutesy Visuals

Little Tree Kingdom, developed by Web Global Gaming and Bumi Studio, presents itself as being so simple. The story: gnomes are happy, gnomes are separated by a flood, gnomes are sad. One gnome finds a cool MacGuffin to reunite gnomekind. Easy. You're told to choose a Mayor -- each with unique Dreams and varied starting decks -- and you're off to the races. To win a run, you must achieve your Mayor's dreams. I kicked my first real run off with Yohana, a peace-loving gnome who wants to protect a decently sized population while respecting the earth's pure essence. You know, Lorax shit. I had 20 days to make it happen, which would be a breeze because I failed the tutorial and refused to try it again out of pure spite. As one does, naturally!

In the demo, Yohana's deck prioritized homes and extended stems and roots, as you'll have the option of building your kingdom above and below. Flower cards appeared to add Happiness to my citizenry, and Leaves created opportunities to hasten my ascension with Welfare boosts ("Welfare" encompasses all your core stats, basically). Remember that tutorial I refused to play to the end? Well, when enemies eventually showed up, Yohana and I had a problem. BIG problems. Because we were focused on happy little friends and had zero defenses when the Phantomlings appeared, attempting to destroy our hard work. Worse, we were broke as hell. I kept panic-spending on houses and flowers to boost my Population and Safety -- thinking our fellow gnomes would outnumber and run through our enemies. Turns out nobody feels safe without DEDICATED BATTLE BUILDINGS AND UNITS.

Live By Peace, Survive By Peace (With A Hint Of Violence)

Our saving grace? The shopkeeper who sells you new cards to add to your deck every few days. And if you'll remember, we. Had. No. Money. Nada. Zilch. Goose Egg. Effectively, we should be fucked. However, my common sense and roguelike deckbuilder sensibilities kicked in with a clutch Mayor level-up ability and an Angel Statue that took us way too long to build because I was dead-set on all the wrong things. But we stopped the bleeding, earned money, bought battle units, and somehow, some way, we achieved Yohana's dreams on Day 19 by the skin of our teeth. Phew.

Little Tree Kingdom has heart, deck diversity, and what you want the most from your deckbuilder: challenging, satisfying gameplay. The lesson you'll need to learn fast, though, is that your Mayor's Dreams are great and all, but it takes balancing all your Welfare and resources to complete a successful run. I applaud you, Little Tree Kingdom, for giving me a story to tell and a game to play as soon as it releases!

I Regret To Report The 'Bubsy 4D' Demo Is Objectively Amazing

I'm not a perfect person. I'm susceptible to the odd, vitriolic gamer take. Now, I try not to publicize when I have a clear-cut bias against something or detest a gaming experience. To me, it makes more sense to celebrate gaming's wins than stand among the crowd and cheerfully throw tomatoes at a "bad" game. I'll be honest and fair; I hate Bubsy. But I don't hate the orange bastard for the reasons most of the internet does. I hate Bubsy on principle. Why, after so many misguided, critically maligned attempts, does BUBSY of all 3D platforming mascots get the chance to rise from the grave and shine? Banjo-Kazooie? Apparently, not on the bobcat's level. I went into the Bubsy 4D demo ready to hate it, to be entirely justified in my petty vendetta against its existence. Then, it proved me wrong and hyped me up for the full game.

I'm so sorry, internet. I've betrayed you. Bubsy 4D is, with full sincerity, an amazing 3D platformer based on the demo alone. It's visually appealing, it's funny, and I believe the platforming sings in a way that'll get me barred from every credible games journalist circle out there. Here it goes. ...Bubsy 4D makes me think of Super Mario 64 with all its movement options. I almost wish I were kidding. Bubsy has so many ways to get where he needs to go that it defies belief. Gliding, double- and triple-jumps, crouch jumping, pouncing -- you name it. There's a mechanic where if you pounce off a button, your "moves" reset, continuing your mid-air shenanigans for longer. Bubsy 4D has the audacity in spades... ...and the demo changed my mind about the entire game.

From Mid To Comeback Kid: The 'Bubsy 4D' Tale

The development team, Fabraz, knew exactly how to bring Bubsy back. From the moment you boot up the game, it's obvious the developers perfectly read the room. Bubsy is trying so hard to be cool, and everyone hates him. "Yeah, yeah, we know y'all hate him. But here's how we're going to make you fall in love with him." Bubsy wants to be left alone, but the call to adventure beckons. He wants his extended family to respect him, only for them to shut him down. It just works! It makes Bubsy charming rather than endlessly irritating while still retaining his silliness. There are other character- and gameplay-related surprises, but you know me. I encourage you to discover these nuances yourself.

I was wrong, Atari. Maybe this goddamn cat will, against all odds, be the face of a 2026 sleeper hit when the full game comes out... ...oh, tomorrow!