A guide to the best demos of Steam Next Fest

As a passionate Steam user, I’m thrilled to kick off the initial Next Fest of 2025! Over the course of this exciting week, we’ll be granted access to hundreds of fresh demos for games that could vanish just as quickly as they appeared. With such a vast array of options, it can be challenging to prioritize where to invest our precious gaming hours. To help you navigate this rich landscape, I’ve put together a brief rundown of some of the most anticipated demos that should definitely be on your radar for this week!

Steam Next Fest demos that should be on your radar this week

Today, two significant events highlighted indie games, with demos available now for Steam Next Fest. The Annapurna Interactive showcase unveiled nine games, four of which have demos accessible immediately. Meanwhile, the ID@Xbox showcase presented twenty-one games destined for Game Pass, and several of them offer demos on Steam as well. Last week, I shared details about five demos available over the weekend; even if you missed those games, I suggest giving them a try. In summary, there are numerous compelling demos to explore, so perhaps a few of them pique your interest enough to invest some time.

In this article, I will make an effort to classify these demonstrations into distinct categories for your convenience. This means that if you’re curious about a specific type of game, you can quickly navigate to that category using the table of contents provided further down. Please note that I have not played all these demos, so there might be some inaccuracies. However, this should still help you in finding what you’re looking for more efficiently!

Rogue-likes & Rogue-lites

Currently, one of the favored genres among indie games is roguelikes. Characterized by their difficulty level, random elements from procedural generation, and the need for multiple attempts to achieve the goal, examples include Balthyro, Hades, and Spelunky. If you’re intrigued by this type of demo, here are some suggestions that might appeal to you, with the genre potentially expanding into other categories as well:

Strategy & Tactics

If you’re seeking engaging, strategic games that stimulate your mind, look no further! This week’s Steam Next Fest has an impressive array of real-time strategy, turn-based strategy, and tactical demos to explore.

Action & Adventure

Occasionally, they might overlap, but often they remain distinct. The classification isn’t always straightforward, but each demo generally leans more towards action or adventure.

Empyreal: A complex, challenging, action RPG. Venture inside an unexplored Monolith on a far-flung planet to solve its mysteries.
Skin Deep: Save a spaceship that’s been boarded by pirates in this immersive FPS with an odd sense of humor. Avoid detection and creatively take out your enemies without bringing the whole crew down on yourself.
Rusty Rabbit: Play as a mech-pilot rabbit in this side-scrolling action platformer. Customize your tools, face off against bosses.
Demon Tides: Explore the open seas with an eclectic cast of characters in this expressive 3D platforming adventure. Explore, solve puzzles, upgrade your gear, and uncover the kingdom’s dark secrets.
Chainstaff: This brutal action platformer has a uniquely retro style and an incredible weapon that can do it all. But you can only wield it if you’re at least half alien.
Shotgun Cop Man: Go to hell and arrest Satan. That is your mission for this ridiculous action platformer from the makers of My Friend Pedro where you jump by firing guns.
Post Trauma: Explore a twisted reality and do what you can to survive this modern-day survival horror game. Solve puzzles, utilize stealth, and fight for your life.
The Cecil: The Journey Begins: Your dream vacation has turned into a nightmare. Explore the dark haunted hotel to save your partner before it’s too late.

Narrative

Games with a significant focus on storytelling, guiding you through a plotline, offering multiple dialogue choices, or even ones centered around conversing with various characters.

Wanderstop: From the writer of the subversive game The Stanley Parable, comes a narrative focused game about running a café. But that might not be all this game has to offer.
Wax Heads: Talk to quirky customers and manage a struggling record store in this cozy-punk narrative sim. Explore a hand-crafted record selection or just hang out. No worries.
Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3: Another demo from Strange Scaffold (I Am Your Beast). This unexpected narrative game is described as a “match-3 survival horror comedy RPG metroidvania” and I think there’s nothing other than playing the demo that will make that make sense.
Koira: Save a puppy in this heartwarming hand-drawn adventure published by Don’t Nod. Explore, solve puzzles, and avoid hunters in this stylized world.
Blue Prince: Explore the many rooms of a mysterious, atmospheric mansion. Create a path of rooms as you progress through each puzzle and try to find the mysterious 46th room.
The Electrifying Incident: This short and enjoyable puzzle game has you solving puzzles with your grappling hook and avoiding electrocution. Can be completed in fifteen minutes!
Tempopo: Described as “a psychedelic soundscape in the sky…” this game combines 3D puzzles with rhythm mechanics as you do your best to rescue musical flowers.

Horror

As a horror game enthusiast, you’ll find that the selection is rather limited, but let me clarify: I’m referring to those explicitly labeled as horror games. However, it’s essential to note that several other demos in this collection incorporate elements of horror as well.

Empyreal: A complex, challenging, action RPG. Venture inside an unexplored Monolith on a far-flung planet to solve its mysteries.
Skin Deep: Save a spaceship that’s been boarded by pirates in this immersive FPS with an odd sense of humor. Avoid detection and creatively take out your enemies without bringing the whole crew down on yourself.
Rusty Rabbit: Play as a mech-pilot rabbit in this side-scrolling action platformer. Customize your tools, face off against bosses.
Demon Tides: Explore the open seas with an eclectic cast of characters in this expressive 3D platforming adventure. Explore, solve puzzles, upgrade your gear, and uncover the kingdom’s dark secrets.
Chainstaff: This brutal action platformer has a uniquely retro style and an incredible weapon that can do it all. But you can only wield it if you’re at least half alien.
Shotgun Cop Man: Go to hell and arrest Satan. That is your mission for this ridiculous action platformer from the makers of My Friend Pedro where you jump by firing guns.
Post Trauma: Explore a twisted reality and do what you can to survive this modern-day survival horror game. Solve puzzles, utilize stealth, and fight for your life.
The Cecil: The Journey Begins: Your dream vacation has turned into a nightmare. Explore the dark haunted hotel to save your partner before it’s too late.

Puzzle

Occasionally, it’s delightful to unwind with an engaging puzzle game, which often reveals hidden cognitive facets within us that are quite gratifying. Fortunately, this year’s Next Fest offers some fantastic choices, and many other games incorporate puzzles as well.

Wanderstop: From the writer of the subversive game The Stanley Parable, comes a narrative focused game about running a café. But that might not be all this game has to offer.
Wax Heads: Talk to quirky customers and manage a struggling record store in this cozy-punk narrative sim. Explore a hand-crafted record selection or just hang out. No worries.
Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3: Another demo from Strange Scaffold (I Am Your Beast). This unexpected narrative game is described as a “match-3 survival horror comedy RPG metroidvania” and I think there’s nothing other than playing the demo that will make that make sense.
Koira: Save a puppy in this heartwarming hand-drawn adventure published by Don’t Nod. Explore, solve puzzles, and avoid hunters in this stylized world.
Blue Prince: Explore the many rooms of a mysterious, atmospheric mansion. Create a path of rooms as you progress through each puzzle and try to find the mysterious 46th room.
The Electrifying Incident: This short and enjoyable puzzle game has you solving puzzles with your grappling hook and avoiding electrocution. Can be completed in fifteen minutes!
Tempopo: Described as “a psychedelic soundscape in the sky…” this game combines 3D puzzles with rhythm mechanics as you do your best to rescue musical flowers.

Casual & Exploration

In this genre, numerous games allow players to unwind, offering brief periods of excitement such as bike races or beetle battles. However, they mainly focus on discovering distinct environments, encouraging leisurely play, and reminding us to unwind.

Conclusion

I hope you find something intriguing from this extensive collection of demos. Remember, Steam Next Fest concludes on March 3rd, so don’t miss out while they’re available! Some of these demos might persist afterwards, but it’s uncertain which ones. I’ll be updating the list throughout the week as I discover more appealing demos, so feel free to revisit this list over the coming days!

2025-02-25 10:02