The Nerdy Type

Like most people, I spend a lot of time in and out of demos during Steam Next Fest events. Some demos stand out to me more than others for a variety of reasons, good or bad. One of those that will stay lodged in my memory from October Next Fest 2025 is Ultimate Grandma Simulator. 

Ultimate Grandma Simulator, developed by developers Circo and PlumPointTwo, is described as a ‘walking simulator’. While that’s true on a base level, it’s true in the same way that Baby Steps is also a walking simulator. Both are rage games at their very core, frustrating and lovable in equal measure, and Ultimate Grandma Simulator seems to take things even further into the stress zone than Baby Steps ever managed to. 

Remember to breathe

Honestly, going into Ultimate Grandma Simulator, I was expecting a quirky and fun time, but then I was told that I would manually be controlling each leg using a different button and promptly managed to crack my geriatric hip on the door frame of my bedroom, likely smashing it and putting myself in surgery. 

I quickly got used to this mechanic, though. I mean, I’ve played hours of Baby Steps since it was released last month, and this isn’t my first rodeo when it comes to this wildly specific sub-genre. I managed to get out of the bedroom and even managed to get downstairs without falling over again, only to be thwarted in my adventure by an overly enthusiastic Rumba. Still, I persevered and fought my way toward the key that would grant me my freedom from the house, celebrating when I got my first sniff of fresh air.

The celebration came to an end very quickly when I realized I would now have to control each sniff manually. 

If you’ve played Baby Steps, you’ll know that controlling each leg manually is a bit of a hardship, especially if you’re distracted or navigating uneven terrain. Now imagine that, but you’re also in charge of when you breathe, and if you forget to breathe, you keel over unconscious and end up back at the last checkpoint you managed to cross. At least there are checkpoints this time around, I suppose. 

What happened to ‘respect your elders’?

I’ve always been taught that efforts should be made to respect one’s elders, within reason, and it’s a concept that seems to have been thrown out the window in Ultimate Grandma Simulator. As Granny ventures forth on her adventure, she is confronted by a myriad of people who seem to either completely ignore her presence or otherwise strive to make her life just a little bit harder and the world around her harder to navigate. 

Whether it’s people running up and down the stairs without even considering standing aside for Granny to make her descent, or the dog owners who seem to think that leashes and training aren’t necessary, everybody seems intent on becoming something of a challenge in their own right. And all of that’s without even considering the world itself, which is the ultimate challenge. 

There are set to be 10 different levels to navigate in the full game, even including a possibly zombie-infested elementary school (how the hell do we even get to that point?), but the level that’s available in the demo certainly packs a punch in terms of difficulty. It almost feels like a baptism of fire in a sense, especially considering how juxtaposed the difficulty could be for some when compared to the cute art style.

Genuinely charming

Despite the moments of frustration that can occur when you least expect them, usually when you fall over and crack your hip on the floor or nearby vertical surface, Ultimate Grandma Simulator holds a certain amount of charm. The demo serves as a good introduction to the mechanics and offers a glimpse of what to expect, but it’s those whacky levels in the full game that hold all the promise for me. 

It’s one thing to navigate and breathe in times of peace, but navigating through a zombie horde while remembering to breathe is sure to be an incredibly chaotic experience that’s just as fun as it is stressful. I can’t wait for the full game, and I’ll be battling my way through the demo in the meantime to get my practice in. 

There’s no release date for Ultimate Grandma Simulator in its entirety yet, but there’s a demo available as part of Steam Next Fest right now. If you enjoyed Baby Steps, you’ll love this, and if you haven’t played it, then Ultimate Grandma Simulator might just end up being a gateway drug into foddian walking simulators.