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When it rains, it tends to pour and, if you’re a video gamer right now, you’re probably feeling the pinch just a little.
Not only is October relatively stacked full of the hottest new titles, including the latest in the storied Pokemon franchise, as well as Sucker Punch’s sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yotei, but we’ve also just had PAX Australia with all of the fun, friendly faces, and fire alarms. So hearing that a Steam Next Fest had just kicked off was perturbing news to a tired boy.
However, we shouldn’t complain as our cup runneth over. Instead, I say we embrace all of the wonderful games to come, be they big, small, or otherwise. So here are twenty of the Steam Next Fest demos that you should play right now, before the event runs its course after a week.
REANIMAL
The creators of Little Nightmares and Little Nightmares II have returned to take you on a darker, more terrifying journey than ever before. In this horror adventure game, a brother and sister go through hell to rescue their missing friends and escape the island that they used to call home.
Click here to install the demo.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion
A cosmic battle awaits. Choose between fifteen Marvel heroes in this frenetic action beat ‘em up to fight against the deadly Annihilation Wave threatening the galaxy. From New York City to the depths of the Negative Zone, the future of the Marvel Universe will be fought for across the stars.
Click here to install the demo.
Skate Story
Ollie, kickflip, and grind your way through the ash and smoke of the Underworld as you take on a seemingly impossible quest. Skate fast to destroy demons and save other tortured souls on your journey from fragile beginner to a hardened skater.
Click here to install the demo.
Tears of Metal
Tears of Metal is a medieval hack-and-slash co-op roguelike. Carve through hordes of enemies to reclaim your island with the help of your formidable Scottish battalion. As you advance deeper into the trenches, uncover more about the mysterious Dragon Meteor and the treacherous enemy invasion.
Click here to install the demo.
Bubsy 4D
The infamous, wise-cracking bobcat has returned to 3D in a new platforming adventure. Bubsy is back with new challenges, new moves, and even more purrsonality. Run, jump, glide, and roll across alien planets, battle robotic sheep, and collect tons and tons of yarn. What could possibly go wrong?
Click here to install the demo.
Final Sentence
Final Sentence is a battle royale typing game. Together with other players, you find yourself in a hangar, with a typewriter in front of you and a revolver loaded with a single bullet at your temple. Every mistake can be fatal. Only one will remain.
Click here to install the demo.
Industria II
Industria II is a narrative first-person shooter adventure about a woman stranded in a parallel dimension. Explore, scavenge and fight your way through a mysterious boreal landscape consumed by an ever-hungry artificial intelligence to find a way home.
Click here to install the demo.
Anno 117: Pax Romana
Shape the Roman Empire in this genre-defining strategic builder game. Build cities while expanding your influence through Roman provinces. Govern using economic prowess, diplomatic skills, or military might.
Click here to install the demo.
Cairn
Reach a summit never climbed before in this survival-climber from the creators of Furi and Haven. Climb anywhere and plan your route carefully, managing pitons and resources to survive unforgiving Mount Kami. Discover what Aava is willing to sacrifice to achieve the ascent of a lifetime.
Click here to install the demo.
Crisol: Theater of Idols
Crisol: Theater of Idols is a first-person horror/action game set in Hispania, a twisted version of Spain. Play as Gabriel, a soldier who uses blood as both weapon and lifeline. Explore the cursed island of Tormentosa, uncover dark secrets, and battle horrifying enemies.
Click here to install the demo.
Lumines Arise
A mind-blowing, fiendishly addictive reinvention of the puzzle classic Lumines from the creators of Tetris Effect: Connected, where sound pulses through your body, mind, and every block you place, triggering dazzling visuals synched to the driving beat of an infectious, eclectic soundtrack.
Click here to install the demo.
Sleep Awake
In the last known city on Earth, people are disappearing in their sleep. Those who remain exist in a crisis of reckless experiments to keep awake. Navigate depraved death cults, otherworldly forces, and the ever-present horror of The HUSH, to save yourself and those who rely upon you.
Click here to install the demo.
Thrasher
THRASHER is an award-winning arcade odyssey and audiovisual experience. Guide a magnificent space eel, elegantly swooping and thrashing it through mesmerizing alien worlds in the ultimate race for survival.
Click here to install the demo.
A Fox Tale
A challenging precision platformer with evolving pixel art environments, tight mechanics and instant retries. Join Eva’s journey to uncover if she is the last of her kind.
Click here to install the demo.
Key Fairy
A hand-drawn, pacifist, folkloric, bullet-hell. Grapple and dance around monsters to collect their shattered stars, weave your way through twisting paths, encounter strange folk, uncover ancient magic, and evade forgotten gods in this frenetic 2D action-adventure.
Click here to install the demo.
Loop//Error
Alone in the dead of night, you find yourself sent on a simple errand to check on a quiet gas station on the outskirts of town. But nothing here feels right. You can’t outrun this place. It wants you. And it will keep you.
Click here to install the demo.
Call of the Golden Valley
Your friend is missing in the Australian outback and you must find her. Search the Internet for clues, solve mysterious puzzles and uncover the conspiracy of the vanishing hikers of Golden Valley.
Click here to install the demo.
Lap of the Gods
When the sun shines on the Lap of the Gods, it is blood red. And when it rains, the sky sobs. Explore a strange world populated by even stranger beings in this story-driven adventure as Marion attempts to undo a mistake on a universal level, before everything she has ever known becomes Undone.
Click here to install the demo.
The Dungeon Experience
The Dungeon Experience is a comedy first-person adventure about a low-level mudcrab chasing his dream of helping you experience the true bliss of Financial Freedom*.
