Mini open worlds are my jam, so Steam Next Fest's most charming demo goes to this chill sim about a witch in a Zelda: Wind Waker-style world

Mika and the Witch's Mountain combines open-world platforming and sandbox puzzle elements for a very charming demo during Steam Next Fest.

Starting off on the titular Witch's Mountain is all well and good for aspiring witch Mika, but she's quickly booted (quite literally) down the mountain by her mentor. Mika's broom might be broken, but her spirits are intact, and she's more determined than ever to reach the pinnacle of the mountain and prove herself a worthy witch along the way. 

It's a lovely little setup, and Mika and the Witch's Mountain has the aesthetics to match. There's a bubbly, poppy soundtrack undercutting the entire adventure, and everything looks like it's been rendered straight out of a child's imagination - people, landscapes, and all. That's a compliment, by the way, to say that Mika and the Witch's Mountain has an almost picture-book-like quality about it.

In fact, Mika and the Witch's Mountain leans very heavily into this being a game played from a kid's perspective. Since Mika is a kid, she obviously doesn't understand conversation etiquette, which makes for an amusing moment where she wants to know the salary for a delivery job before she's even agreed to it. Capitalism hasn't plundered Mika's soul just yet.

Mika's adventure is sandbox-y by nature, which might surprise you given its looks. When you're tasked to catch a fish just outside of the port, for example, you can pick up a glass jar and hook it to the back of your new broom. Then you can fly just low enough that the jar punctures the water's surface where a fish is chilling, and bam, you've caught yourself one fish.

The adventure game really plays up this side of the, well, adventure, for Mika. Everything sort of feels very low-stakes and chill, which is a nice change in pace from games that make you feel like the world is crumbling around you. Sometimes lower stakes can let you better know characters on a friendlier level, when they're not literally fighting for their lives.

I wouldn't be surprised if you've already heard of Mika and the Witch's Mountain. The indie smashed through its Kickstarter goal in under 24 hours, right around this time last year, and shortly after that, audiences managed to raise over $1 million towards Mika's adventure, even though the developers originally asked for just $40,000. That's a great indicator of just how many people can't wait to play it.

Read up on our upcoming indie games guide for a look ahead at all the other smaller games you need to keep an eye on over the coming year.