The Steam Next Fest is a perfect time to find hidden gems. However, with over 900 demos available and highlighted in that, it’s impossible to experience them all. You will most likely find a new favourite upcoming game. As AAA usually dominates the headlines, I wanted to find some new games to look forward to that are not backed by major publishers. I found some incredible titles, some potential gems, and some undercooked duds. Here are my thoughts on 25 demos from the Steam Next Fest. Note, some of the more highly-anticipated titles like Dark and Darker and Shadows of Doubt.

VoidTrain
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1159690/Voidtrain/
Voidtrain is a crafting/survival game that aims to mix things up a bit by the fact that your base is pretty much always in motion. Your train is always on the tracks going through the void as you float your way through the ether, gathering resources, learning new blueprints and upgrading your train to hold more tools as well as defend from whatever dangers may come.
The demo itself is pretty short but it lays a great foundation with an interesting narrative, some humourous moments with the main character’s animation and a whole lot of mystery. Just as the game demo ends, you’re met with a screenshot that highlights that this game won’t be just a resource-collecting title for very long.

Dust and Neon
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1296450/Dust__Neon/
Dust and Neon puts a little loot spin in your Western shooter. The most reductive way to describe Dust and Neon would be if you took a strategic and slower approach to Borderlands, all through an isometric perspective. For top-down roguelike shooter fans out there, the biggest difference you’re likely to notice from other games of its ilk is the pacing.
If you approach a few crates or a trailer, your character will automatically take cover behind it. Your Most humanoid enemies will likely do the same leading to a tense face-off, waiting to see who is the first one to peak and put themselves in danger. But don’t expect every enemy to do this as the odd one will try to charge and flank keeping you on your toes. The Borderlands comparison comes in its vibe and constant supply of guns!
Dust and Neon is now available

Meatgrinder
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1968710/MEATGRINDER/
Meatgrinder is bonkers! In the beginning seconds, it may seem like this is ClusterTruck with a retro 90s shooter aesthetic but following those seconds, it all goes off the fucking rails. Imagine a proper boomer shooter from the 90s with dozens of enemies and bullets flying everywhere with the levels requiring you to jump from truck to truck making it to the front of the convoy.
The thing is though, it takes the Jason Statham Cranked approach by requiring you to keep moving as fast as possible to keep your heart rate up. This is the only way to get your health back and things pick up incredibly quickly. To help give you an edge, the game provides a generous slow-motion bar to not only recoup some of the lost health and get a handle on things but also pull off some awesome-looking series of skills. The game is a bink janky and buggy in its demo state but it’ll be interesting to see where they can go with it. If it remains the same throughout, I don’t think the gimmick alone can carry it.

Repo Man
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1065740/REPO_MAN/
Oh, Repo Man. A game with an aesthetic that immediately jumped out to me. With its classic architecture infused with a futuristic flair, Repo Man had my attention upon starting it up but very quickly, things began to sour and only got worse from there.
First off, the game is not nearly optimised enough. On the opening tram section, the game consistently stuttered and featured massive pop-in and frame drops that detracted from what still is a stunning-looking game. As a Repo Man, your task is to collect debts and it’s done uniquely. All conversations will put you into what is essentially a card battler as you try to make the opponent feel certain emotions toward you, depending on what your desired result is.
The issue really that lies here is that the game just wasn’t ready to be demoed. Its performance was shoddy, textures even on a character’s head would pop in and out from just a few feet away and the game soft-locked pretty quickly. Everything is still well away from being in a presentable way because if they truly do have a vision for the entire game, I want to see it. I just don’t have high hopes that will ever see this game in a finished state if they felt this demo was OK to be consumed.
Tower Survivors
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2142630/Tower_Survivors/
A cute pixel take on the ever-growing popularity of the auto-shooter. Tower Survivors brings a couple of its unique approaches to the genre by allowing you to use the coins you pick up immediately to dop allies in the form of archers, mages, knights, and a wall for defence. You must hold out in 5-minute intervals while ever-increasing waves of enemies descend up on you.
What makes these games truly stand out are the items and buffs you may receive upon levelling up and it is here where Tower Survivors stumbles. You can call in a cat companion who will leap at enemies and when its HP hits 0, it doesn’t die so much as it enters a cooldown period. The other options upon levelling up though are quite bland with the standard extra damage, more health, coins, and some status effects.
The old-school fantasy aesthetic and music add a layer of uniqueness and would bring me back for more. I just hope the variables are much more impressive next time around.

Slopecrashers
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1619580/Slopecrashers/
Honestly, Slopecrashers may be the biggest surprise in the Steam Next Fest. It collects the best bit of casual kart-inspired racers and puts them on the slopes. It’s what would happen if you got Mario Kart and mashed it together with SSX Tricky.
None of that would matter if it wasn’t fun to control and skiing games have a tumultuous history with wrestling controls. Thankfully, Slopecrashers handles this incredibly well. Don’t expect it to be the best feeling game on the white powder but expect a smooth and responsive control system.
Let’s not overlook that your character selections are just straight-up different animals and their mode of transportation goes from anything like your traditional snowboard to pans, river dingeys and much more.
Charming, fun, and excited to see a lot more. Slopecrashers is one to watch out for if you love racing with a lot of wackiness on the side.

Remedium Sentinels
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2244480/REMEDIUM_Sentinels/
Remedium Sentinels is a conflicting one for me. The developers, Sobaka Studio have created some interesting but flawed games in the past like 9 Monkeys of Shaolin and Redeemer and it feels like Remedium Sentinels is falling into that same camp.
A wave-based autoshooter, Remedium’s 3D approach to the genre definitely stands out. Very quickly, you will start to feel overwhelmed by a small map. The weapons and abilities on show though can lead to some opportunities where you can go on the front foot. However, it’s too easy to get caught on the environment meaning deaths can come due to cheap frustration. Its combining weapons mechanic may bring for some really interesting scenarios and if it’s something that has your attention, it launches into Steam Early Access on February 28th.

Ravenbound
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1307660/Ravenbound/
Ravenbound might just be the surprise hit of the year. From the moment of getting control, it just oozes potential. Ravenbound is an open-world action rogue-lite. Despite the over-indulgent genre descriptor, it tells the picture pretty well. You are provided with a beautiful open world to explore, complete quests, take down enemies and strengthen your character.
While on paper it acts as a traditional rogue-lite as you explore the level, finding secrets, and awesome new gear and enemy encounters, it’s presented to you in a stunning and vast open world. Already, I was impressed by just how good this game looks and runs. This is seen most clearly in how you make your way around the massive open world. You can make your travels by foot but nothing compares to turning into an actual raven and soaring into the air. The controls and visuals on display are breathtaking. Combining that with a really enticing gameplay loop and you might have one of the sleeper hits of the entire year. Put this one on your radar.
RetroWave 84
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2120300/Retrowave_84/
Visually, Retrowave 84 unapologetically aims to capture that neon-soaked world featured in some 1980s action movies. In a video game space, you may be closer to comparing it to Far Cry Blood Dragon. Gameplay aims to capture that fast and precise shooting from similar boomer shooters. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t interest me despite my love for both boomer shooters and all things neon and synthy.
The level design is incredibly generic and was unfortunately forgetful as soon as I stopped playing it.

Dad By the Sword
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1355160/Dad_by_the_Sword/
Dad by the Sword is a first-person sword-fighting game that aims to take the precision of something like Chivalry and add it to a dungeon-crawling roguelite with a unique aesthetic. On the offensive, the direction you walk as you start your swing will dictate the direction you swing. It takes a few encounters to get the hang of but once you do, you can already start to see how this approach with a couple of other mechanics can result in a fun flow to the combat.
The defensive side of combat is slightly different and will be the real test of your skills, especially with the tight and unforgiven window for parrying. However, with a powerful kick, plenty of environmental hazards, and bizarre enemies to face, each room can feel like an entirely new puzzle in itself.
The dynamic swordplay though is the highlight and is something to keep an eye on as more is known about it over the coming months

Arcrunner
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1575830/ArcRunner/
I’m torn on Arcrunner. Aesthetically, it is stunning. The neon and rain-drenched streets set a beautiful backdrop for its roguelite shooter. The variety on show was decent in the demo but as the game will feature four distinct areas, we could only see one in the demo. I would love to see the levels themselves have a bit more variety in their layout as most of them were corridor-style maps with two small rooms off to the side that may feature a side objective.
Unfortunately, for a game of this type, the gunplay feels too sluggish and slow as it stands. With the preciseness required too, its imperfect accuracy also leads to frustration. Despite this, I enjoyed playing with it and am still interested in seeing more.

Driftwood
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2223700/Driftwood/
Driftwood might have been one of the cutest games of the Steam Next Fest. It’s a simple premise in which you take the control of a sloth named Eddy as he takes his longboard down winding countryside roads, avoiding vehicles and sending leaves into the air in an updraft. These are two ways you can increase your score. Other actions like jumps and drifts further add to your score. And it’s not subsequent actions that increase your multiplier but the speed at which you travel. It’s an excellent risk-reward style while still keeping that chill factor on frankly stunning landscapes
City of Beats
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1470390/City_of_Beats/
Top-down roguelite on the tops of buildings in a synth cyberpunk setting.
While the game attacks to the beat, you do not need to keep timing like other games. Instead, you can hold down the primary attack and your gun will shoot to the beat
Enemies all shoot to the beat but less frequently meaning you can technically telegraph their attacks. This doesn’t necessarily make it easier as enemies can swarm and almost fall into bullet hell territory. The only frustrating thing about this is that most of the levels are simply too small and can feel like you’re going to inevitably get hit and that it being in a run-based game, can be a deterrent.

Atomic Picnic
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1903560/Atomic_Picnic/
Atomic Picnic feels more like a proof of concept rather than a full demo. The visuals do the job and the gunplay is honestly super smooth and ready to go. However, everything from balancing and abilities needs to be worked on completely. There is no difficulty curve, instead, enemies just keep coming, no matter how many players are in the match. Playing solo, you just simply get outnumbered after 90 seconds and you just can’t kill the enemies quick enough before, even more, have spawned on the map so it becomes a game of kiting and perseverance. However, you will eventually fall as the numbers just get too much. I’m interested in this once they add a real structure to it but as it stands it’s simply proof of concept.

System Shock
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/482400/System_Shock/
System Shock is a remaster of a game that was released in 1994. Despite launching nearly 30 years ago, the immersion here is still one of the best around. The interactivity, atmosphere, and even combat all feel deliberate and impressive. System Shock still is one of the best immersive sims around.
So throw in some nice new visuals, and some modern sensibilities and what you’ve got is easily one of the best games that will release this year. If you know nothing about this series and its place in video game history, I recommend you look into it and then get ready to play this game come March.
I just wanted to keep exploring the space station, taking in every inch and learning everything I could. But I stopped knowing how soon this one is to release and might be my favourite game since Prey in 2017.
Erra Exordium
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1224030/Erra_Exordium/
Erra Exordium is a game I need more time to ruminate with. On the surface, the art, structure, and world grabs your attention. But the gameplay is simply just fine. It’s a balance in which I don’t know which way the full game will fall on. Will the world and story be good enough to keep you invested? The slower gameplay is fine but nothing about that hasn’t been seen before. There are some interesting puzzles in the demo but the slow movement made it feel just a little laborious. It could have caught me at the wrong time but I was fine with putting this one down.

Route 66 Sim
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1435900/Route_66_Simulator/
While we all laughed about how ridiculous sim games have become, there’s something almost relaxing about them. Games like Farming Simulator have sold millions of copies and if one thing has come from them is that the mundane can be fun, once the game works.
Unfortunately, Route 66 has some ways to go before it hits that fun threshold. While the thought of taking on the infamous route from across the pond may seem like a unique challenge, the execution here is far from it.
The “simulator” part is quite arcadey as everything just automatically does the job if you click in the right place. Your goal of course is to go from the beginning to the end of that road. Along the way, you can explore abandoned houses, vehicles and more for scraps and car parts to replace your broken ones. You may also earn extra money by taking on some tasks and deliveries. It might provide something but nothing stood out in my time with it.
Famer’s Father: Save the Innocence
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1905980/Farmers_Father_Save_the_Innocence/
Set a year after an unnamed war begins, you are a father of a young child and it is your task to keep the child and your wife safe in these very harsh and difficult times. Not only do you need to fight the occupied enemy but also battle the elements.
That may all sound intriguing and heavy, but very quickly you realise that this is just another survival open-world game. What makes it even harder to swallow is that it’s a very sluggish one at that. Everything tries to feel methodical but instead just comes across as laborious and unintuitive. There are already dozens of games in this genre that will likely scratch an itch for you already, no need to wait for this one. The added responsibility needed to protect your family just becomes a resource situation as the wife and child stand there waiting for you to do everything.

Dreadful River
Dreadful River is a delightful little roguelite that sees you and your squad gently float down a river, going from one location to the next. As you move down the river, you will come across archers on the banks, spearmen in boats and a whole load of resources to chase down the current. As you collect resources, you can then use that to hire more fighters, strengthen your raft, sell what you picked up along the way and prepare for your next journey down the river.
Control of combat is largely automatic but you can choose to get your team to focus on specific enemies. It’s relaxing, tactical, and visually appealing.
The Lost Bloodline
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2128320/The_Lost_Bloodline/
Oh boy, this one. If you thought the Forspoken dialogue was out of place, let me introduce to you The Lost Bloodline. It’s like someone thought the attitude of Dante from DMC Devil May Cry in 2013 would be an excellent fit for a high-fantasy setting and decided to have them look like they’re cosplaying Senua from Senua’s Sacrifice. It’s not.
The protagonist stands out like a crotch chop at church. It’s a tonal mess the incredibly unlikable protagonist is not even fun to play as. It quickly becomes a chore that was round around every edge imaginable. Probably the only game I played during this that felt like I actually wasted time.

Monster’s Domain
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1442450/Monsters_Domain/
Monster’s Domain is a first-person roguelite that sees you either fight alone or bring fallen enemies back to life to fight by your side. It’s an interesting premise that has tons of potential which can be seen when playing through it. As you take down enemies, you can loot their corpses, open loot chests, and increase your damage and armour.
However, with a dedicated resource, you can resurrect fallen enemies. You can then also give them the same weapons and armour you’ve picked up from the level to improve their stats. It already brings up many interesting ideas on how to approach it. It also makes me question just how much of a micromanagement bore it could become. Was fun to play and excited to see more.
Junkienator
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2080700/Junkienator/
Junkienator is another one of those games with a bizarre and unusual tone. You are tasked with cleaning an office once all the workers have left but there is more to this than it seems. A deep story is at play.
Built around the core gameplay loop of cleaning an office but things seem different from the off as strange black balls bounce around the office space, adding to the dirt. The obtuse puzzles add a layer to the standard “clean [x]” gameplay loop but unsure whether it could hold my attention for my than an hour or two.

Raining Blood
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2147530/Raining_Blood_Hellfire/
Basically a top-down pixel art COD Zombies clone.
You start on the map in a small room with a basic pistol. As you take down enemies, you earn points which can use to do a variety of things from opening doors and creating shortcuts to buying new weapons and more as you progress.
A novel take on the massively popular offshoot of the long-running franchise that just feels a bit too anaemic. With the nature of it being top-down, you are likely to back into newly spawned enemies and when you mix that with a roguelite health system in which your character can only take three hits with no regenerating health, it becomes cheap and frustrating.
Horde Hunters
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2178560/Horde_Hunters/
The thing that makes this one stand out from all the others is the clever inclusion of simple but always engaging missions and points of interest on the map. Some areas feature resources like XP, gold, food and more that replenish after a certain period while others ask you to complete simple missions like rescue missions which, if succeeded, will be added to your attack power like farmers and dogs. There are also locations on the map which will add buffs to your character once they stay inside the area or even a few areas like the tower which will offer a helping handing while shooting arrows at their nearest enemies. Some of the items you pick up will be abilities or food which you can activate whenever you want to keep things always engaging for this genre.
While there is a demo, the game is currently in Early Access and might be worth spending some time with it.

Cybertown
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1535520/CyberTown/
Cybertown brings the interesting premise of bringing a city-builder to the Cyberpunk aesthetic. From my short time with it though, there’s nothing inherently unique about it other than how it looks. There are no cyberpunk=specific aspects to the city building. Everything looks pretty cool with its neon-soaked landscapes but the core game becomes the standard gathering of resources and minerals by mining while maintaining a good balance while increasing profits. There is an air pollution part to make it feel a bit more “cyberpunk” due to it’s traditions but air pollution has been done before in these games. I like the look but nothing made it seems any different to all the other city-builders out there. I would love to see a tech race, augmentation shops, trying to stop uprisings as well as the capitalistic urge to take advantage of the poor.
25 Demos from the Steam Next Fest 2023