Dune and Ghibli collide in Steam Next Fest’s strangest strategy game, where you drive steampunk war-crabs across an interplanetary Austro-Hungarian empire

 Ten minutes into the demo for Sand, and I’m wrestling with about six different controls on the roof of an armored two-storey shack. Stomping about an alien desert on four mechanised feet while the engine behind me belches smoke into the air, piloting a mobile base this big is more art than science. I wince as I try to parallel park it into the dock for a city outpost, hearing the screech of metal scraping on granite as I pull too close to the pier. I play demos from the Steam Next Fest to relax, not be reminded of my first driving test.

Regardless, Sand remains one of the most popular and wishlisted multiplayer games currently flying the Next Fest flag, and the highest under the “basebuilding” tag at time of writing. The pitch is a strong one: design your own “Trampler,” a giant mobile, four-legged steampunk house to march around a desert world, battling other such waddling fortresses for precious resources. In combat it’s reminiscent of Sea of Thieves or Guns of Icarus, with four players rushing around above and below deck in a mad panic. Depending on what needs doing you might be driving this behemoth, repairing damage, aiming a giant turret, rushing around with supplies or just navigating with a map in one hand and a pair of binoculars in the other.

Alternatively, you could always just try to board the enemy vessel. With several flavours of firearm to pick from, there’s merit in boldly swashbuckling your way onto the deck and blasting anybody who objects, or skulking undetected into the hold and making off with several crates of loot before the owners realise what’s missing.

Now, Sand’s demo is self-confessedly pretty vestigial, effectively testing that the multiplayer component even works before they start filling the world with planned gameplay elements like PVE, NPC quests and more nuanced systems. Consequently cities are unpopulated, so right now those testing the demo are simply getting an abandoned wasteland that serves as an arena for PVP – but hey, that can still give you a strong flavour of what to expect. I’ve always liked games with a focus on manually steering around some giant contraption, whether it’s the futuristic starships of Elite Dangerous or the creaking sailships of Assassin’s Creed 4, and Sand does scratch that itch, appropriately enough.

Sand currently has no planned release date, but it’s definitely one worth keeping an eye on, as even the basic bones available in the demo seem pretty promising right now – and it gives me a chance to work out the particulars of steering before it’s properly out. You can tell which Trampler is mine – it’s the one with the red “L” plates hanging off the back.

For something a little more robust while we wait for Sand, here’s our list of the best strategy games you can play right now.