Steam Next Fest October ’24—Check Out These Cool Demos!
...Before they Go the Way of the Dodo!
October is here! Not just any October—2024’s October! And with it comes a brand-new Steam Next Fest. For the uninitiated and uninformed, Valve’s Steam platform runs a week-long event every couple of months that encourages developers to put out demos of their upcoming masterpieces, groups them all into this one big pot of trials and recommends these demos to just about everyone with a Steam account (quite a few of those!). These are games that may be PC-only or games that are coming to consoles as well, but that doesn’t disqualify the kind of games that I am about to recommend to you, my dear reader.
Steam Next Fest demos may be permanent or temporary, per the event and developer. If something in this list interests you, please give it a go and a Wishlist—that’s a big help for the developer as it also boosts visibility of their game to other players like yourself. And before you think you need a “gaming PC” to play anything in this list, know that if your computer can run YouTube videos at 4K, it’s very likely going to be able to play just about everything in this list. That and, well, if you’re running Windows and a Linux distro (sorry Mac owners, thinking differently only gets you so far).
So, without further ado, check out these demos that I found over a two day’s scrounge—with more to be added over the week. Want to be featured in this list? Give us a holler and I’ll toss your game in, developer! This month’s Steam Next Fest will run until the 21st of October at 10AM PST, so get your game on.
ASCENDANT is a fast-paced, squad-based tactical FPS, where each match is different, with game-changing events and adrenaline-fueled battles. Set in a dynamic biopunk world where everything wants to kill you, battle for the biocores and get out with more than just your dignity.
If you’re itching to go fast and shoot things—give this one a whirl!
Venture together with your friends on an unknown planet. Use color switching, match-3 shooting, and artifact powers to overcome challenges and keep advancing. What lies ahead of you is an adventure filled with wonder, hope, and much more to discover!
POPUCOM is unique as it combines typically 2D perspective puzzles with 3D environments and the opportunity to play with your mates. Check it out during Steam Next Fest!
Garden of Witches is a cute roguelike action game full of danger. Help the protagonist, Sil, as she tries to round up her unruly fellow witches and save the Garden.
This one needs little explanation beyond its visual style and genre descriptor—check out Garden of Witches, coming to PC and mobile down the line!
Run and jump a ragdoll goblin through a hilarious physics sandbox! Explore and collect Power Cogs alone- or with a friend in split screen! Repair Gobland and become Goblin Royalty! There’s no saying what might happen, and no stopping the BIG GOBLIN ENERGY!
You play as a bunch of goblins as they collect cogs—except you’re going to be doing a lot of falling, stretching, and throwing to do the job!
VED is a story-driven, hand-drawn RPG with a unique turn-based combat system and roguelite elements. Set in two different worlds, VED tells the story of Cyrus, a young hero who sets out on a quest to become a master of sword and magic, and save everything he knows from destruction.
VED’s style is gorgeous and blends it with a unique turn-based combat system that is easy to pick up but hard to master! This one is coming soon, so check it out during Steam Next Fest!
KARMA: The Dark World is a first-person cinematic psychological thriller set in a dystopian world where the Leviathan Corporation is omnipresent. The time is 1984, the place is East Germany, and things are not quite what they seem.
KARMA boasts an incredible level of visual fidelity as it explores its creepy rendition of East Germany. I run from horror games, but you’re braver than me to tackle this demo, right?
Lovish is an outrageous 8-bit action-adventure game! Quest with Sir Solomon through a series of bite-sized rooms, as he attempts to free Princess Tsuna, the woman he loves, from the Devil Lord’s clutches!
Lovish will have you do all sorts of minigames to get to the lady that you love! It’s fast-paced rhythm is sure to get your blood pumping.
Help Puzzled Cat use jetpacks, portals, bombs, gum, and more to conquer treacherous platforming stages. Play your own way using save states to explore a world full of challenges and secrets – but can you find the way through? Travel through time and space and reach enlightenment.
Title couldn’t explain itself better. Help this little catgirl get through challenges of all sorts in this 2D puzzle platformer durng this Steam Next Fest!
Congratulations! You just found a ‘one of a kind’ roguelike that combines deck-building card game and auto battle strategy game! Consider unit counters, then create powerful synergy by breaking down the boundaries between the battlefield and cards, then lead your army to victory!
That wasn’t me congratulating you, but Commander Quest would love for you to check out its visually appealing and unique deckbuilding auto-battler real-time strategy take!
Cursebane is a katana-action roguelite where your choices twist your journey. Empower your blade and spells as you seek out those doomed by prophecy and save them from the Curse.
Cursebane is a fast-paced 2D action title that reminds me of the likes of old Ys and Xuan Yuan Sword titles, with a bit of Gaia Online on top. Give it a whirl during Steam Next Fest!
DieselDome: Oil & Blood is an FPS with Movement Shooter and Survivors-Like mechanics. In every run, you will create absurdly powerful builds against hundreds of enemies at a time while facing the judgment of the crowd. It takes place in an original RomanPunk universe.
Oily and explosive! Shooter fans won’t want to miss this one.
Good Kill is an immersive FPS game where players take control of a door gunner in a military helicopter during the Vietnam War. Engage in intense combat across destructible environments, complete missions, and upgrade your helicopter and weapons to dominate the battlefield.
Good Kill has players engage in air-to-ground combat as they bear witness to Nixon and Kissinger’s war crimes!
Explore the vast Evaria Kingdom in this 16-bit JRPG adventure. As the fate of the kingdom hangs in balance, three warriors are tasked with finding the Starlight Relics scattered across the Forest, Mountain, Desert, and Sky Provinces. Collect the four relics in any order in this non-linear retro RPG.
Retro lovers will have to keep on this classic in the making!
You are trapped in the absurd and endless maze of doors that is Purgatory… and it’s time to get out. Each door could hide a mad monster, a mythic weapon, or worst of all… a weirdo!
Things get really weird in this turn-based deckbuilder! This demo is actually a mix between a remaster and a remake of the original, adding lots of new cards, enemies, controller support, and more!
Atomic Owl is a pixel art-based single-player, side-scrolling roguelite that combines fast-paced platforming with dynamic hack-and-slash combat and a variety of weapons, powerups, and a demonic blade. Journey through eight roguelite zones, save your friends, and take up arms against Omega Wing!
Atomic Owl boasts a strong visual style, complete with fun hack ‘n slash combat—give it a whirl!
Explore the dangerous beauty of Legacy: Steel & Sorcery as you race to find lost treasures while battling players and monsters in merciless action combat. But make sure to find your way back to safety before it’s too late—or risk losing it all.
I picked this one not only for its gameplay but also because its overworld distinctly reminds me of Amalur. I can’t say no to a beautiful fantasy setting!
Following Seas is a game about ships and the sea. Transport cargo, fish, and fight the weather in an unforgiving open world. Featuring elements of realistic ship management, you can use the stars to navigate, batten the hatches, and get lost beyond the edges of the map.
Ahhh, a game about delivering things and via sea! I love me some good boating—I think you will, too!
Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter
Janus Institute’s Class of ’89 are trapped and forced to kill eachother ‘for science’, is survival in the cards? KT:OSS is a new murder-mystery adventure game inspired by retro anime, with gameplay ranging from deck-building and tense card battles to classic socialising and puzzle-solving!
Now you might think “well this looks oddly familiar”, and you’d be right! But that shouldn’t stop you from trying this fresh perspective on murder-mystery storytelling, complete with its own unique gameplay mechanics!
A Shelter Full of Cats Demo is a hidden-object game where you help a good-hearted human to find her rescued cats and fix things in her house. Play the first 3 scenes from the full game for free!
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Keep calm and find objects!
Build an industrial empire from scratch in Industry Giant 4.0. Produce goods, build up your industries, construct transportation networks, plan production, manage finances, and navigate global events. Become the next business tycoon and write history!
Find your calling in industry with this city-building management game!
Embark on a brutal journey of survival in a perpetual winter. Hunt and gather resources for building and utilize deep survival mechanics to craft your way through a harsh, unforgiving landscape. Forge alliances or dominate the remnants of humanity in this chilling open world saga.
Outdoors too bloody cold? Well, now you can freeze indoors too with this frozen wasteland action survival title!
Keep an eye on this article! More games will be added over the week.
