Slopping Around the October 2026 Steam Next Fest

Look, honestly it was such a bummer looking at the Next Fest page the first couple of days BUT today we've got lots of recs from friends all across the industry AND we learn which of us can parallel park. So it's not all bad.

Thank you to all the guest who lent their recommendations to the episode! Check out all the cool stuff they work on!!!

• Brendon Bigley: Wavelengths, Into the Aether, Overworld.vg
• Cameron Swingle: Cameron Swingle's Video Game Thingle
• Eric aka MrTheHuman: Short Game, Long Talk, Twitch, The Content Mill
• Amet/goblincat: Kittycat Couture
• Gianni DiCrosta: The Content Mill, Twitch
• Jared: The Worst Community Report
• Matt Horton: In Sequence, Flow State
• Christopher Thomas Plante: The Besties, Post Games

All the games we talked about in the episode:

• AJ's Rec - Off-Score: A game of songs: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1355000/OffScore_A_game_of_songs/
• Funeral for the Sun: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4088360/Funeral_for_the_Sun/
• GRIDHACK: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3053870/GRIDHACK/
• Guns ‘n Goblins: https://store.steampowered.com/app/881940/Guns_n_Goblins/
• Brendon's Rec - Shipminer: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3113690/Ship_Miner/
• Cameron's Rec - Shady Contractor: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5060600/Shady_Contractor/
• Cameron's Rec - Ballistic.exe: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3432980/Ballisticexe/
• Towers of Babble: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4984400/Towers_of_Babble/
• The House Before: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1779750/The_House_Before/
• Pixel Cartographer: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5281980/Pixel_Cartographer/
• Eric and Amet's Rec - Beastfolk Barber: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4093320/Beastfolk_Barber/
• STIP: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3227960/Stip/
• Probably Stolen: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4348910/Probably_Stolen_Cyberpunk_Shopkeeper_Sim/
• Inkblood: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4114100/Inkblood/
• At Fate’s End: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2210150/At_Fates_End/
• Gianni's Rec - Apple Crumble: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4110770/Apple_Crumble/
• Jared's Rec - Draftula: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4598280/Draftula/
• My Arms Are Longer Now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2646170/My_Arms_Are_Longer_Now/
• PITH: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4775660/PITH/
• Muri: Wildwoods: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3284200/Muri_Wildwoods/
• The Regreening: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3419080/The_Regreening/
• Matt's Rec: Cardaire Eternal Aces - https://store.steampowered.com/app/4077320/Cardaire_Eternal_Aces/
• Plante's Rec: Dig! Dig! Dino! - https://store.steampowered.com/app/4642320/Dig_Dig_Dino/
• Springs, Eternal: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3677850/Springs_Eternal/
• Trailblazers Into the March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2671300/Trailblazers_Into_the_March/
• Elyzpon: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4327060/Elzypon/

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Art by Tara Crawford

Theme music by _amaranthine

Additional sounds by Boqeh

Produced and edited by AJ Fillari

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Timecodes:

• (00:00) - Could YOU win a parallel parking competition?
• (02:32) - Welcome to wot.zip
• (03:11) - It's Next Fest.................
• (03:53) - The State of The Fest
• (13:09) - AJ from wotzip!
• (13:32) - Off-Score: A game of songs
• (14:57) - Guest recs coming up!!!
• (16:31) - Funeral for the Sun
• (19:17) - GRIDHACK
• (22:59) - Guns 'n Goblins
• (26:32) - Brendon Bigley from Wavelengths, Into the Aether, and Overworld.vg!
• (26:39) - Shipminer
• (27:07) - Guns 'n Goblins
• (27:43) - Towers of Babble
• (28:36) - Cameron of Cameron Swingle's Video Game Thingle!
• (28:42) - Shady Contractor
• (29:08) - Ballistic.exe
• (30:04) - Towers of Babble
• (35:17) - The House Before
• (38:01) - Pixel Cartographer
• (40:53) - Eric from Short Game, Long Talk and The Content Mill!
• (40:59) - Beastfolk Barber
• (42:08) - Amet/Goblincat from Kittycat Couture and the TWG Discord!
• (42:11) - Beastfolk Barber
• (43:02) - STIP
• (44:57) - Probably Stolen
• (49:54) - Inkblood
• (52:10) - At Fate's End
• (58:33) - Gianni DiCrosta from The Content Mill!
• (58:44) - Apple Crumble
• (59:46) - Jared from The Worst Community Report!
• (59:50) - Draftula
• (01:00:48) - My Arms Are Longer Now
• (01:03:24) - PITH
• (01:06:44) - Muri Wildwoods
• (01:13:01) - Matt Horton from In Sequence and Flow State!
• (01:13:04) - Cardaire Eternal Aces
• (01:13:56) - Chris Plante from Post Games!
• (01:13:59) - Dig! Dig! Dino!
• (01:15:58) - Springs, Eternal
• (01:19:10) - Trailblazer: Into the March
• (01:23:57) - Elyzpon
• (01:27:46) - AJ will talk about their picks at some point! Who can say when?
• (01:28:46) - Thanks for listening!!!!!!!

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What is dotzip?

A show about big games in small packages! Join AJ, Kim, Robin, and Chase every week to talk about short video games, indie tabletop games, and maybe other stuff!
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Visit us online at https://dotzip.online
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Art by Tara Crawford
Music by _amaranthine
Additional sounds by Boqeh
Produced and Edited by AJ Fillari