Antipaint (PC) Demo Part of Steam Next Fest

With Steam’s Next Fest showcasing tons of demos from February 5th to February 12th, I found it prudent to take a step back from the slog of reviewing a recent polarizing title and check out a bite-sized offering of things that have been on my wishlist. At the very top of that list is Antipaint, a bullet heaven roguelite that takes place on a painting canvas as you brush away your enemies.

With nothing but a brief trailer beforehand that presented just a few seconds of the artistic gameplay, a two-level demo is ready for download on Steam. In Antipaint, you are given the choice of the color palette of your attacks. Once an enemy is quelled, they will splatter the canvas with one of those colors. You can also pick between flicking paint droplets or rolling over baddies with a paintbrush as your primary attacks.

Also equipped is an area-of-effect secondary attack that you can use your built-up energy with, particularly effective against the demo’s bosses, which are based on famous paintings like the Mona Lisa. I found it a decent challenge but only took one hit my entire first run, at the very end against the second boss. With a wealth of power-ups such as more droplets being fired or having a laser-beam buddy, there’s plenty of depth to expound upon in even this short demo.

I can see Antipaint really taking off when it’s ready for release later in 2024. The demo offering for Next Fest runs like a dream and even with a modest offering of content, it’s clear there’s a lot more planned for release. With vibrant displays matching some succinct gameplay, it’s worth a download for a half hour of fun. From a seemingly one-man dev team, this is an impressive first title that I will be surely purchasing on day one.