The Steam Deck vent fume fanclub, the search for an Exit 8-like, and Sokoban-style void wandering (Now Gaming)  

Now Gaming is a weekly digest column that provides an overview of what the Japanese Automaton writers have been playing recently. This is the translated version of the January 7, 2024 edition. 

An Exit 8-like game…or not? 

by. Taijiro Yamanaka 

This week, I was searching for an Exit 8-style game to play, and somebody recommended GRIEF to me. It’s a short horror walking simulator set in a hospital corridor that’s about 20 meters long. Opening the door at the end of the corridor, you will find yourself in yet another corridor that is the same as the previous one. Regardless of how many doors you open or how far you walk, the same corridor will always appear. You must find a way to escape this loop.  

I want to avoid giving too much away, but the game isn’t really like The Exit 8. The gameplay was not about determining if an anomaly had appeared or not. GRIEF was also released before The Exit 8, so it could not have been influenced by it. However, to clear GRIEF, you do have to notice “an anomaly” and discover certain “circumstances” relating to it. Once you have done this, you will gradually discover more about your surroundings as you advance down the long corridor… GRIEF can be played for free or for a donation of your choice on PC (itch.io). 

The mystery of the Void 

by. Keiichi Yokoyama 

This week, I’ve been playing “Void Stranger.” This is a Sokoban-style adventure game where you must progress through a mysterious space by completing puzzles. Each level has a descending staircase, which is the goal. You can move rocks and tiles in order to reach the staircase and clear the level. In between the numerous puzzles, the game gradually tells you a fragmented story, revealing why the main character is stuck inside this void. Many of the puzzles are difficult to solve on the first attempt, mainly because the number of elements in each puzzle increases as you progress. There are also many easy stages, but the large number of levels overall means that you’ll be faced with tricky puzzles quite often.  

I was interested in this title for a while, but I put off playing it because I didn’t feel like tackling a Sokoban-style game. However, once I started playing, I found the story to be surprisingly engaging. It is hard to tell from the screenshots, but the story is well-presented (albeit in fragments) and makes you want to find out what happens next. The game also features mysterious wall paintings and gimmicks that are not directly related to game progression. There were moments when I spent a lot of time touching things in the game because their movement bothered me. I still have a long way to go before I finish Void Stranger, but I think the mysterious world is sure to keep players entertained until the end.  

Void Stranger is available on PC (Steam). 

A game for when you want to calm down 

by. Ayuo Kawase 

I tackled various games at the end of 2023 on my Steam Deck (OLED version). The OLED version’s display is more vivid, and the battery life is better, but the basic specs are the same. You can play heavier games on it but the fans get noisy. There are some games on the Nintendo Switch that make the fans whir, but this is nothing compared to what happens with the Steam Deck – games like Starfield and Cyberpunk 2077 are very taxing for the Deck, causing the fans to spin like crazy. In my boredom while waiting for games to load, I get the urge to smell the air coming out of the vents. I’ve come to understand both the players asking Valve if it is ok to smell their Steam Deck vents, as well as Valve’s response that you shouldn’t do it. I would also not recommend that you do this! 

Naturally, all portable PCs have fans that spin faster when running intensive games. ROG Ally and Legion Go also tend to have this problem. I personally like the smell of the Steam Deck. Maybe that’s because I smell it all the time, though I have tried to stop myself lately. I’m currently playing COCOON. It’s an interesting and relaxing puzzle game that is easy for the system to run, so I didn’t notice any fan noise. After all, games that were released on the Nintendo Switch tend to run smoothly on the Steam Deck, perhaps thanks to the optimization of the lower layers. 

COCOON is available on PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch, as well as PS4/PS5 and Xbox One/Series X/Series S 

Written by. Verity Townsend based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2024-01-07 16:42 JST)