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Steam Next Fest is currently underway, and enthusiasts have found numerous entertaining independent titles. However, one stands out for its offbeat concept. Titled Unko Technica, this retro-inspired platformer lets you play a hero that is literally a turd striving to make its way to a restroom. As a fun fact, "Unko" is Japanese for "poop."

Player controls is simple: press a one button to leap. Throughout numerous levels, battle mini-bosses and access a shop to buy outfits for your poop character.

Plan your actions precisely, since one wrong move requires beginning again. Bounce off air pockets to hurl your character higher, traverse disappearing platforms, and activate switches to reveal secret routes. Gather UN-KOINS for buying more difficult stages as things gets crazy.

Visually, the experience boasts neon stages and catchy background music. The simple visual style featuring shifting geometric shapes could recall players of classic titles like Earthbound.

While it's hard to name other games where you control a dung character, gaming frequently featured fecal matter. As an illustration, in Death Stranding, you can craft grenades from character droppings. Games like Palworld and Ark: Survival Evolved utilize dung as fertilizer. Naturally, such content shows up heavily in Obsidian's South Park RPG The Stick of Truth.

Despite its goofy concept, Unko Technica has already garnered significant awards, including taking top honors at Bandai Namco's indie contest in 2023. This trial version is available at present on Steam, with the final release scheduled to launch on computers on November 19.