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Steam Next Fest is back again, which means it's time to dive head-first into hundreds of demos of upcoming PC games. As always, there are a lot of demos so we've made a list of the 10 best Steam Next Fest demos that are worth checking out.
The festival kicked off Monday, October 14th, and is running until Monday, October 21st. That's not a lot of time to rummage through Valve's seemingly endless demo pile, let alone play them. We've whittled that number down for your reading pleasure, but there's still plenty to keep you busy in the festival's last weekend. Each is fantastic in its own right, and we've tried to keep our list as varied as possible too.
10. Loco Motive
Developer: Robust Games
Release date: Q4 2024
If you're a LucasArts nut or just like a witty murder mystery, Loco Motive is a must play. This point-and-click adventure sees you trying to solve the murder of Lady Unterwald, a wealthy heiress who mysteriously dies onboard a luxurious express train. Playing as Lady Unterwald's lawyer, you need to scour each carriage looking for clues and chat with the train's quirky passengers (a personal favorite being Herman Merman – a floundering, pompous detective). The set-up, characters, pixel art, slapstick humor, voice acting, animation – everything is fantastic, but I especially love that you can use the on-train telephone for hints. It's a thoughtful feature for those who are a little stuck and have otherwise been put off by the reputation of how challenging point-and-click puzzle games can be.
9. Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
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Developer: Jump Over The Age
Release date: 2025
The first Citizen Sleeper game was an incredible sci-fi adventure that focused on a discarded cast of interstellar nobodies. This follow-up looks to be everything the first game was – with more fantastic writing, evocative character art, and tension so thick it'll feel like you're gasping for air in a space vacuum. You'll once again be spending your dice to scrounge together money and supplies in the game's ruthless gig economy but a new feature in this sequel is the introduction of contract work. These contracts are high-risk jobs that present new challenges, and you can hire crew mates (with their own dice and skills) to help out. The contract your Sleeper tackles in the demo is a perfect example of how this will play out in the game's full release: it's the perfect combination of nerve-shredding and electrifying.
8. Rift of the NecroDancer
Developer: Brace Yourself Games, Tic Toc Games
Release date: 2024
Keeping up with the best rhythm games is no small feat, but Brace Yourself Games and Tic Toc Games have done exactly that with their upcoming rhythm game Rift of the NecroDancer. Protagonist Cadence is back, and she's still fighting a parade of rift monsters with the power of pulse-pounding music. Using the arrow keys, you need to hit each monster on the beat but each slime, bat, ghost, and ghoul has a unique move set –- bats move lanes, for example, while different colored slimes need multiple hits. With a barrage of monsters marching towards you, remembering each one's behavior and then using the right combination of moves to keep them at bay is exhilarating. And this is all accompanied by some excellent thrashing, electropop music that sounds like it's downed 10 Red Bulls. Together with boss battles and Rhythm Heaven-style mini-games, Rift of the NecroDancer is looking to be an absolute riot.
7. Scarlet Deer Inn
Developer: Atty Games
Release date: TBA
I wanted to check out the demo for Scarlet Deer Inn because I saw on the game's socials that all the character animation and models have been meticulously created with embroidery – which is wild – but beyond that, I fell in love with its steadfast protagonist and creepy mid-demo story twist. Taking place in medieval Europe, you play as Elise, a hardworking mother of two children and owner of her village's local inn. She's strong and willful, a woman who echoes many of the maternal figures from the Studio Ghibli film roster. What at first plays out as Elise doing errands around the town turns into a nightmare as she discovers a bloody sight in an underground dungeon. The demo feels a little rough around the edges (the platforming could be tightened up), but from what I've seen in the demo, Scarlet Deer Inn is definitely one to watch.
6. Great God Grove
Developer: LimboLane
Release date: November 15, 2024
Great God Grove has the coolest game mechanic on this list. Using a megaphone, you can suck up a character's speech bubble and then fire it at someone else to solve puzzles. It's the most bizarre game of telephone I've ever seen, and the setup is just as whacky. You're playing as a mail carrier (complete with cowboy hat and boots) helping deliver messages around a strange island filled with weird characters and even weirder gods. Turns out there's an apocalypse brewing – one that the gods could stop, but they're all currently in a giant spat. You need to suck up and deliver messages in the form of speech bubbles around the island, helping reunite the Gods and try and stop the upcoming calamity. Great God Grove is bursting with personality and thankfully we won't have to wait long to play the entire game as it's out in a couple of weeks.
5. Keep Driving
Developer: YCJY Games
Release date: TBA
A management RPG roguelike road trip is a wild combination of genres, but Keep Driving pulls it all together in a car adventure like no other. Bag packed and fuel tank full, you set off in your old station wagon to a festival on the other side of the country, but this adventure is all about the journey, not the destination. You need to plan your route across a map, work odd jobs to buy supplies, fix up your battered station wagon, and pick up hitchhikers, all in the name of overcoming challenges on the road. There's turn-based 'combat' where you can use your skills to solve whatever roadblock you come up against – whether it be a herd of sheep blocking the road, or being stuck behind a tractor – and together with an indie rock soundtrack (compiled of local Swedish bands), this is one nostalgic road trip.
4. Wormhole
Developer: Pocket Moon Games, ThanaThan
Release date: October 31, 2024
No other demo on this list got me hooked faster than Wormhole, which takes the classic Nokia game Snake and launches it into space. You play as a giant space worm who likes to snack on bite-sized planets, race around the cosmos, and shoot projectiles from its mouth. The presentation is incredible in this demo, there's so much happening on screen – planets exploding, objects hurtling through space, wormholes that transport you to the other side of the screen – it almost feels like a pinball machine, but on hyperspeed. There's a level-up system after each run and during your playthrough, you can gobble up spaceships for extra resources and perks. It's a fun, frenetic arcade game with mesmerizing 1-bit visuals and catchy chiptune music.
3. Is This Game Trying to Kill Me?
Developer: Stately Snail
Release date: November 13, 2024
A short but fun demo, Is This Game Trying to Kill Me? is a first-person horror escape room adventure that, yes, is trying to kill you. You wake up in an old cabin and quickly find out you're trapped in there with only skeletons for friends, but it's not long until a cackling phantom appears and forces you to play a video game on a computer in the center of the room. As you begin to play the game, your actions in the game will affect the shack you're in and vice versa. Clues can appear on the wall in blood, a strange owl clock on the wall could hide a secret code, and a mysterious button in the room might help you with an in-game puzzle. It's a fantastic blend of Inscription and Pony Island. As I said, the demo is short, but its smart puzzle design surprised me, and I can't wait to play the whole thing when it's out next month.
2. Sorry We're Closed
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Developer: à la mode games
Release date: November 14, 2024
Another demo with a nearly-here release date, Sorry We're Closed is a survival horror game with effortless style and iconic fashion. It's basically Paradise Killer meets Resident Evil. Dressed in her fluffy pink jacket and leather mini skirt, Michelle finds herself in a strange subway station and discovers that she can open her 'third eye' and see the demon realm. Switching from third person to first person when you fire your Hellhound pistol, you need to fight monsters lurking around every corner while attempting to escape the station. It's not quite clear what direction the story will take from the demo, but it's safe to say that when Sorry We're Closed releases next month, it'll be one of the most stylish games of 2024.
1. Wilmot Works It Out
Developer: Hollow Ponds, Richard Hogg
Release date: October 23, 2024
Ending our list is a laid-back puzzler from the creators of Wilmot's Warehouse. Wilmot Works It Out sees our little square friend take a well-deserved break from the stresses of warehouse logistics to relax at home with jigsaw puzzles. Playing as Wilmot, you'll get postal deliveries to your house that include jigsaw puzzles, and you're tasked with putting the pieces together to create pretty artwork and then hanging it on the wall when you're done. Puzzle box deliveries will come with multiple pieces from different pictures though, so you'll need to sort through and organize the pieces as you go. This is a cozy puzzle game with zero time pressures and zero challenge. Just laid-back jigsaws with a lovely, soothing soundtrack.
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