Next Fest Is Live: New Demo Update Out Now

Steam Next Fest is live, and so is a new update for the Escape the Flood! demo.

You wash ashore on a procedurally generated island. The ocean keeps climbing. You have about thirty minutes to gather, craft and build something that floats before the ground runs out. Play solo, or bring up to three friends, and find out who the captain is willing to leave behind.

What's new in this update

This update makes it easier to find people to play with, and it brings weather and trees you can chop down. Building is smoother and there are three new languages.

New

• Open lobbies: Join Lobby now lists public lobbies from around the world, lowest ping first. Pick one, or press Quick join to jump into a good match.
• Hosts can set their lobby to Public or Unlisted. The game remembers your last choice.
• Weather: clouds come and go, rain sets in after dark, and everyone in your game sees the same sky.
• Trees and boulders are now resources. Chop trees for Logs and break boulders for Stone. Each swing costs stamina.
• Chopped trees fall over. Watch out, a falling tree hurts anyone it lands on.
• Items on the ground now shine softly, so they are easier to spot on sand and grass.
• Picking an item up now makes a sound. When your Inventory is full, the game tells you.
• New languages: Spanish, French and Portuguese.
• The island picker shows real pictures of each island.
• The end of a run has a star button to add the game to your Wishlist.
• Further out, the world has more to see as you go.

Improved

• Placing a boat is simpler: it goes where you look, from the beach or from the water. The ghost now shows through the water, so you always see where it lands.
• New lighting with crisper, darker shadows. Leaves now sit in the shade too.
• Palms, bushes and distant trees match the rest of the island's look.
• The hotbar and HUD bars have a lighter glass look, and menus sit on a clean black backdrop.
• Tutorial tips stay on screen longer, so you have time to read them.
• Swimming arms slide out of view when you look up at the sky.
• Numbers use your language's decimal separator.

Fixed

• The game is more stable on Windows when you switch out of fullscreen.
• Joining by room code now finds friends in other regions too.
• If a join fails, the dialog tells you why instead of waiting on "Connecting".
• The run summary, the lobby and the local network list always show the right island.
• Returning to the lobby keeps the host's island choice.
• Distant trees draw cleanly from every angle.
• All trees now block your path as they should.
• A loading tip now explains reviving correctly.
• Changing a key binding now names the hotbar slot it freed.
• The flood now covers even the highest peak by the end, so no hilltop stays dry for good.

Tell us where it breaks

We are a team of two, and Next Fest is where we find out what works and what doesn't. Is the water too fast? Does gathering get boring? Does co-op hold up with your group? Every bug report and every complaint helps.

Join our Discord to drop feedback, ask questions and follow development!

Early Access in November

If you like what you play, add Escape the Flood! to your wishlist. It really helps a small team like ours, and you'll get notified the moment Early Access goes live.

~ Platuro and Orys