Demos we’re looking forward to at Steam Next Fest – Part 2

#SteamNextFest is now just around the corner, and we’ve been watching new demos being announced every day – so much good stuff! We can’t mention them all, but as we did in Part I of the series, we’ve picked out 10 of our favorites this week. 

Check them out, wishlist those you like, and play those that already have demos out! Let us know in the comments what you think! We’ll do at least one more of these posts as more games out themselves.

Today was also a big day for us – announcing our free live play tournament running concurrently with NextFest. No more of that here, though: check out the post. On with the demos! 

Here they are (in no particular order). Those games that have a demo that is already live called out as such. Enjoy!

• Spiritfall: a rougelite, 2D platformer with hectic combat. A seemingly expansive combat system with upgrades and some nice-looking flow to the gameplay.  

• Deceive Inc.: Yes! Another believer in Heists as the next wave of great games! Deceive is an online multiplayer heist FPS with great-looking visuals, characters, and action. It could definitely be a spiritual sibling to our own Mafia Pigs (despite the different approaches!). We love you already and can’t wait to play!

• King of the Castle: a social storytelling game with you as the beleaguered king who needs votes from his/her council (presumably, you can be a Queen as well?). This looks like it has devious humor and a very party-board game feel. AmongUs look out!

• DE-EXIT Eternal Matters: from Sandbloom studios in Barcelona, this game is a deep, rich puzzle platformer. Cool dialogue and story are woven into a complex and colorful world.

• Ghostland Yard: a very fluid and cool-looking 2D platformer with a squishy hero. The music also has that Pachinko parlor feel that will probably keep you up well past bedtime. The demo is already available! 

• Bzzzt: Pixelart junkies can get their fix with this platformer. It looks fantastic with a neon retro look. Straight out of 90s Tokyo. The demo is already available. 

• Erra Exordium: a 2D action adventure with a dieselpunk asthetic. Pretty dark, but very pretty in the art and atmosphere department. The Demo is already available!

• Return: following on from Erra’s dark aesthetic, this goes even darker and zooms you many hundreds of years into the future. A dystopian side-scrolling RPG with some very cool (and dark) visuals!

• Project Electric Sheep: this could either be a meme game or thought-provoking. The game is generated via a backend integration with ChatGPT for story generation and will create mini-worlds for you to explore. We think there’s a lot of potential for AI in games. Not sure if this is “it” though!

• Gripper: to finish up, Gripper is a very slick-looking high-octane racer-combat game with a distinct anime feel. There’s also a storyline woven in for good measure. The demo is already available! 

Any other games we should be shouting out? Ping us on social media, and we’ll try to include them in the next round! We’ll also be streaming some demo play on Twitch – so follow us there!