George Wilson lived on Destruction Island in 1945 with his mother, Bernice Pendleton, and his stepfather, Niles Conrad Pendleton, who joined the Coast Guard after having served in World War II. Though George was just four years old at the time, he has vivid recollections of his time at the station.

There were five tame deer on the island, and they would come up to the kitchen window and beg for cigarettes, which young George dutifully rolled for his parents. During hunting season, one of the coastguardsman took a rifle, walked up to one of the deer, and shot it. Everyone else at the station was dismayed at the brutal killing, but they did enjoy the fresh venison.

Today’s the third day of the recent Steam Next Fest, and I’m having a blast sorting through delicious demos of highly promising (and not-so-promising) games. Here are six titles that deserve to keep an eye on in the future. I’m sure that at least one of them is destined to become the next indie darling, but time will tell.

My focus is primarily on strategy-adjacent genres. Although I’ve played some action games, they didn’t make the cut yet.

also play copy kitty