Few other showcases provide as much of a spotlight for upcoming projects from indie developers as Valve's tri-annual Steam Next Fest. Typically taking place in February, June, and October, these showcases provide hundreds of demos of upcoming titles for fans to download and try out in hopes of bringing more attention and traffic to each title's Steam product page. The February showcase earlier this year brought more than 1300 demos into the hands of Steam users, with several of the February Fest's highlights having released to critical acclaim since.
The June Steam Next Fest traditionally coincides with the Northern Hemisphere summer showcases from developers and larger events like E3 and Summer Game Fest, meaning it's not one to miss for PC gamers looking to discover their next favorite indie title. This year's summer Steam Next Fest is no exception, with over 1000 demos available to experience and plenty of incredible first glimpses of upcoming titles for the back half of 2023. Already there are several titles that have garnered significant praise and attention from their Next Fest showings, including the great perspective-shifting puzzler Viewfinder and the narrative-driven cooking game Venba, but there are dozens of other, lesser-known titles that also deserve attention alongside a Wishlist add.
Essential Demos to Play During the Steam Next Fest
- Venba (Visai Games)
- Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios)
- Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew (Mimimi Games)
- Death Must Die (Realm Archive)
- MythForce (Beamdog)
- En Garde! (Fireplace Games)
- Eternights (Studio Sai)
- Lords of Exile (Squidbit Works)
- Mega City Police (Undreamed Games)
- Station to Station (Galaxy Grove)
- Ebenezer and the Invisible World (Orbit Studio, Play on Words)
- Blackout Protocol (Ocean Drive Studio)
- Fortune's Run (Team Fortune)
- Beyond Sunset (Metacorp)
- Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Many of the demos from the current Steam Next Fest are new slices of gameplay for titles that have already received one demo, while others are the first hands-on experiences players have had with the games. Notably, The Messenger creators Sabotage Studio's Sea of Stars is getting a chunky demo just several weeks ahead of its planned August launch and is shaping up to be one of the best retro-inspired RPGs in years. Another standout is from established developers Mimimi Games (who already proved their penchant for great stealth games with Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun) and their upcoming pirate-themed stealth title Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew. Fans of swashbuckling pirates, stealth, or both should absolutely not miss this demo during the Steam Next Fest.
Venba's brief demo promises a fun Cooking Mama-inspired game mixed with a heartwarming visual novel and was one of the more enjoyable experiences that also happens to be releasing very soon. Fans of Roguelikes are eating well during the Steam Next Fest, with dozens of new titles in the subgenre on offer and plenty of them very strong initial showings. Two of the better Roguelikes that are playable during the Steam Next Fest are Death Must Die! and MythForce. Death Must Die! takes the addictive survivors formula from Vampire Survivors and melds it with Supergiant's Hades and an art style reminiscent of Dark Souls. MythForce, meanwhile, is a first-person arena Roguelike with an incredible Saturday morning cartoon art style and plenty of humor.
Speaking of Dark Souls, fans of Rocksteady's Arkham trilogy and FromSoftware's Souls series should absolutely make sure to download and play the demo for En Garde! Maybe the most fun that can be had with any demo on offer, En Garde! positions the setting and swashbuckling of an Alexandre Dumas novel and tosses in Batman: Arkham Asylum's free-flow combat and environmental traversal to great results. If anyone has ever wanted to play a video game version of the duel scene from The Princess Bride, En Garde! makes that dream a reality. The Steam Next Fest began June 19 and lasts until June 26, so make sure to experience some of the excellent new titles on offer and wishlist them to help out the developers.
Venba releases July 31 for PC and Nintendo Switch.