I played almost 40 Steam Next Fest Demos. Here are my Impressions

Antal Bokor
Mar 3
13 min read

I usually don’t do much sampling with Steam Next Fest. I do the odd article here and there, focusing on this demo or that. But this year, I decided to go all in and play as many demos as I could. I think I may have bit off a little more than I could chew—because between my upcoming coverage, the Marathon server slam, the fact I was sick most of the week, and my cat Mr. Worf demanding my attention, I felt like I was drowning in demos for a long time.

My original goal was to play until each demo’s completion, but some of these don’t really end in a reasonable amount of time. After spending several hours in the Vampire Crawlers demo (purely for fun) fueled entirely by back-to-back cups of coffee from my AeroPress, I realized I needed to put a hard limit on this exercise.

You’ll notice that some of these games I have more to say about than others, but I tried to keep the rapid-fire ones as short and digestible as possible.

Fallen Tear: The Ascension

Developer: Winter Crew
Release Date: March 17, 2026

Great-looking hand-drawn 2D animation, though it feels like it needs a few more frames for a smoother look. Still, it has a wicked style that makes me feel like I’m watching Saturday morning cartoons. If there was an old joke about a Mario game made by EA having excessive narration and options front-loaded, this is that. It has a distinct Monster Hunter feel in the demo and a very heavy JRPG UI and aesthetic, which is exactly what the developer intended. The combat is tight, and the art makes this an absolute gem.

Underkeep

Developer: Rake in Grass
Release Date: TBA

These types of 90s-style dungeon crawlers seem to be popping up everywhere lately, despite losing mainstream popularity while I was still a kid. Underkeep does it incredibly well, combining nostalgic grid-based movement with clean tactical, turn-based combat. The four-party system allows for an interesting blend of characters, and it strips out the old-school frustrations while keeping the heart of the genre intact.

Voidling Bound

Developer: Hatchery Games
Release Date: June 9, 2026

Think sci-fi Pokémon. The graphics are decent and very stylized. At first, you have very little direction to go on—it kind of looks like the haunted spaceman in a horror movie. But it quickly opens up into a third-person shooter where different alien animals act as different weapons and abilities. There's lots of shooting purple globules, and it's very fun. I really like the concept, especially the heavy monster-taming vibe with branching evolutions and gene-splicing.

Scott Pilgrim EX

Developer: Tribute Games
Release Date: March 3, 2026

A brand new entry in the franchise that serves as a very good beat ‘em up with lots and lots of video game nods. It’s simple, stylish, and effective, capturing that same chaotic energy as the original game but introducing a brand-new storyline and expanded movesets.

Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War!

Developer: Auroch Digital
Release Date: March 16, 2026

Hot on the heels of Helldivers 2 and Starship Troopers: Extermination, this one goes in a completely different direction. It’s a retro-inspired FPS packed with bugs–but like, intentionally. It's clearly trying to get in on that current Helldivers energy, but I don’t hate it for that. It feels like it’s trying to be a Build Engine (ish) game, which is a weird but charming stylistic choice—sprites and polygons mixed together in a way that works surprisingly well.

EverRail

Developer: Icebird Studios
Release Date: Q2 2026

Snowpiercer, the game—sort of. It's a ridiculously cool sci-fi premise where you drive a train through a frozen wasteland and shoot a glider from it to scout ahead. Oof, but this one is rough right now. If this is what they’re putting forward as a demo, I’d be wary of committing money or time to it just yet. Dropping you immediately into janky combat in a survival game isn't the best sign. Still, things can improve, and the core concepts—like maintaining the train engine while fighting off the cold—are so damn cool that I really want to love it.

Replaced

Developer: Sad Cat Studios
Release Date: April 14, 2026

I wasn’t sure why this game had the hype it does, but I get it now. It has an exciting, gritty low-poly world. Something about the movement reminds me of stop-motion animation, or the low-frame style of the Spider-Verse movies. The combat took a second to get used to, but it’s surprisingly good and weighty. The world building is also top notch. Definitely excited for this one.

Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes

Developer: Alt Shift
Release Date: Q2 2026

Really captures the feeling of the TV show, especially the tense, desperate survival of the first season. It trades heavily on tactical decisions that need to be made under high-pressure battle conditions as you command a Gunstar attempting to rejoin the Galactica. It feels incredibly accurate to the source material.

Super Meat Boy 3D

Developer: Team Meat / Sluggerfly
Release Date: Q1 2026

Am I the only one potentially excited for this? There is something slightly off-putting about the visuals—maybe because they’re so glossy in Unreal Engine 5. It has the trademark tight jumping, but it feels like Meat Boy almost floats a little too easily compared to the snap of the 2D original. Still, it's one to watch.

Serpent’s Gaze

Developer: Feeble Minds
Release Date: 2026

An interesting take on a soulslike with a lot of fascinating ideas. It’s a bit janky right now, but it has excellent art direction and a clear vision. The demo features an enemy called the Plainshifter, which moves like a literal visual glitch—unlike any enemy I’ve ever faced in a game. Very cool design. It's heading into Early Access, so this demo is just a fraction of its potential.

Dungeons of Dusk

Developer: 68k Studios (New Blood Interactive)
Release Date: 2026

Dusk was great, so I was looking forward to this. Surprisingly, it was the weakest of the dungeon crawlers I played this week. It leans heavily into environmental interactions, but I’m not a fan of the art direction, even if it does intentionally mimic that muddy 90s CD-ROM aesthetic. I wanted to like this one more, but it just didn’t click. I’ll give it another shot when there's more to play.

Dinoblade

Developer: Team Spino LLC
Release Date: Q3 2026

Like a fever dream. Who wouldn’t want to be a cool dinosaur wielding a giant blade in soulslike combat? Unfortunately, from what I played, it just isn’t ready for public consumption. I dig the idea and hope the vision reaches its full potential, but I walked away from this demo rethinking my priorities.

CD-ROM

Developer: monoclelord
Release Date: Q1 2026

A look into 90s-era computing, but not really. This is exactly the type of hidden mystery puzzle game I like to solve. You dig through files to unlock clues, utilizing steganography to peel back layers of a larger mystery that make up the "CD-ROM."

Darkhaven

Developer: Moonbeast Productions
Release Date: TBA

An ARPG featuring deformable terrain. I’m not entirely sure what the point of that is in this genre yet. You could argue it’s an extension of what Diablo 1 and 2 attempted with procedural generation, but so far, it’s a bit of a letdown. It’s very early in development, and with its Kickstarter up in the air, it’s hard to say if it will ever cross the finish line.

Hordes of Fate

Developer: Spitfire Interactive
Release Date: Q2 2026

Based on the Hand of Fate franchise. It essentially feels like a Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor clone, mixing the deck-building lore of the original series with the auto-shooter craze. It’s pretty effective, and reminds me a lot of Deep Rock Galactic Survivor. I’m definitely into this one.

Cursed Words

Developer: Buried Things
Release Date: 2026

A roguelike word game in the vein of Balatro? Fuck yes.

While it didn’t grab me as hard as Balatro during my very first demo run, neither did Balatro on my first few playthroughs. It starts out feeling like a simple game of spelling where you form words from adjacent tiles to score points, but between rounds, you spend coins on Stamps and Stickers to completely break the rules of the game with synergies and multipliers. It feels like it might be missing just a tiny bit of visual pizazz right now, but it’s an incredibly solid showing and something I’ll definitely be playing.

John Carpenter's Toxic Commando

Developer: Saber Interactive
Release Date: March 12, 2026

Playing this feels like stepping right into an 80s B-movie, which works entirely in its favor thematically.

The car is a huge part of the gameplay, which is surprising—it feels like Spintires meets World War Z. You aren't just driving from point A to point B; you have to manage the vehicle, bring ammo, scrounge for fuel, and hold off literal hordes of mutated monsters. It’s a combination I can absolutely get behind.

Clockwork Ambrosia

Developer: Realmsoft
Release Date: April 2026

A decently made Metroidvania where your default weapon is a customizable firearm. The movement feels a little sticky, but it’s not terrible. It heavily reminds me of a GBA-era Metroidvania in both look and feel. Excited to get my hands on the full version once it's tightened up.

Deadhaus Sonata

Developer: Apocalypse Studios
Release Date: 2026

An early look at Denis Dyack’s latest game. Playing as a badass vampire is cool, and it heavily uses its Legacy of Kain lineage as a selling point. It's so early in development that I’m not entirely sure what to make of it, and I'm guessing the PS2-era aesthetic isn't entirely on purpose yet. I'm hesitantly excited, though I’d honestly rather have an Eternal Darkness sequel.

SpaceCraft

Developer: Shiro Games
Release Date: Q2 2026

Space meets crafting. Get it? I think I’ve been spoiled by Elite Dangerous and its realistic scale, because everything here feels unrealistically small with very short distances between objects. I felt completely thrown into the deep end; it was the only demo where I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Maybe I was just slap-happy by this point, but I quickly moved on.

Moomintroll: Winter's Warmth

Developer: Hyper Games
Release Date: April 27, 2026

Features a beautiful art style like a storybook, because it is based on one: it's an official adaptation of Tove Jansson's beloved Moomin IP. It makes me feel nostalgic, despite not having any specific childhood connection to the franchise that I can recall. It's a gorgeous, cozy adventure game from the same team that made Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley.

Don’t Panic! It is just Turbulence

Developer: Harmonia Games
Release Date: TBA

I love Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, and this aims for similar asymmetrical co-op gameplay. One person is air traffic control, the other is the pilot, and together you solve puzzles to land safely. Great concept, but the execution is lacking right now. Still, there’s room for improvement, so I’m tentatively waiting for this title.

Runt

Developer: Grimtaste Studios
Release Date: 2026

In Runt, I was met with a content warning right at the start, making me wonder what spiciness was inside. It's dark, surreal, and compelling. You have to click on specific parts of the screen (like a buckle or a hand) to close your inventory, which makes the UI a little annoying. But the tone is fantastic—"5 days" written in entrails, a promise to fulfill, and then a hard cut to the title screen like high cinema.

Armatus

Developer: Counterplay Games
Release Date: 2026

I’m some cool armored dude that is some sort of holy avenger carving a path through demons. Reminds me of Hellgate: London—remember that game? The combat is fast and relies heavily on a fluid dash to navigate encounters, letting you adapt your build on the fly while blasting hellbats. It’s actually incredibly fun and seems very compelling. Definitely looking forward to this.

Atmosfar

Developer: Apog Labs
Release Date: TBA

I dig the aesthetic, and I really like the scrap-collecting animations. Great title drop, too. However, the rest of the demo felt disjointed, like a bunch of disparate mechanics smacked into one game. Also, the main theme music goes from serviceable to a beacon of annoyance very quickly.

Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss

Developer: Big Bad Wolf
Release Date: April 16, 2026

I like a good Eldritch horror romp, and setting it on a derelict station at the bottom of the sea is a cool move. The reliance on AI and technology themes is interesting. However, I felt like I spent more time watching the demo than playing it. I feel like there’s a story at an epic scale here, but the demo didn’t really show us that.

Nox Mortalis

Developer: Gemezl
Release Date: TBA

They absolutely nailed the retro survival horror look they were going for. I kept my pixelation settings cranked up.

Outbound

Developer: Square Glade Games
Release Date: TBA

I saw a few articles pop up around Outbound, so I decided to try it out for myself. It’s a cozy game that lets you experience a digitized version of the outdoors. You drive around in an electric camper van, pick up trash, craft materials, and clear paths to keep exploring.

Galactic Vault

Developer: MeepMeep Games
Release Date: TBA

A fucking fantastic first-person shooter roguelite. Usually, these don’t feel great to play, but this is so good. You dive into tech vaults and get to customize your guns with endless upgrade combinations—like under-barrel launchers and crazy fire modes—after every single room. Too bad the levels and room layouts are a bit repetitive right now, but the gunplay carries it.

Subliminal

Developer: Accidental Studios
Release Date: TBA

A very realistic-looking Unreal Engine 5 game. It leans heavily into the Backrooms and liminal space aesthetic, dropping you into fragmented, decaying memories. The core mechanic involves grabbing and manipulating light fixtures to solve perspective-based puzzles to escape whatever entity is stalking you. The lighting tech is genuinely bleeding-edge.

60 Seconds! Souper Scavenger

Developer: Robot Gentleman
Release Date: TBA

A very weird endless runner spin-off set in the 60 Seconds! universe. You’re in a post-apocalypse trying to run, jump, and gather cans of soup to stock your shelter. I can see the attempt at dark humor. The gameplay isn’t the best right out of the gate, but I can see it getting more fun and chaotic as you unlock more power-ups and meet more enemies on your runs.

RIG Riot

Developer: Sage Boatman
Release Date: TBA

I really wanted to like this game, but the demo was a mess. It’s basically Armored Core meets Risk of Rain 2, where you snap together a mech from thousands of permanent parts to fight off waves of enemies. The customization sounds deep, but it's just not executed very well in gameplay yet. I’ll definitely be checking on it moving forward, but the demo made me want to stay away.

Driving Rogue

Developer: Gravity Works
Release Date: TBA

A neon-drenched roguelike car racer. It seemed like a great concept on paper—you hit the shop after races to unlock cards and mods to build your car for the longest streak possible. But it’s really just not that great in execution. Fake speed effects and a cheap-sounding soundtrack do nothing but make me want to park this racer for good.

Seth

Developer: Chaotic Games
Release Date: TBA

Another roguelike FPS, but this time blending sci-fi with Egyptian mythology. You play as Seth, and Anubis won’t let you die because they need your help kicking ass. Not a bad arrangement, and the gameplay is just okay. It features a neat risk/reward mechanic where you have to tear souls from enemies to replenish your shield. It definitely has a lot of attitude and style, reminding me a bit of Hades in its character interactions. Unfortunately, this one also suffers from incredibly uninteresting levels. Pity.

Drill and Delve

Developer: noOne
Release Date: TBA

Wow, I was really excited for this one. It's a survival game where you’re a miner trapped underground and have to drill your way out through a fully destructible 3D voxel terrain while managing your oxygen. Sadly, the actual digging mechanic is so bad it sours the whole thing instantly. This one needs some major work before I’d be willing to spend serious time in it. What a shame.

Distant Shore: BRETAGNE

Developer: DISTANT SHORE
Release Date: TBA

An interesting magnetic mechanic drives this whole experience. There is something about the environment and the presentation that makes everything seem surreal. I saw some comparisons to Portal, but with the fluid momentum, it’s much more like The Talos Principle meets Mirror's Edge. I’m actually really excited for this one. It has some great physics-based puzzles where you use magnetic gauntlets to bend, break, and repel metal obstacles, and the parkour movement feels fantastic.

Dosa Divas

Developer: Outerloop Games
Release Date: TBA

I love the art style, and the addition of mechs is always a plus. Cooking Mama? Holy shit, I don’t even know what’s happening anymore in the absolute best way. You play as two sisters fighting an evil fast-food empire using an ancient spirit-mech named Goddess. It blends satisfying cooking rhythm minigames with spicy turn-based combat, where every attack is based on "flavor profiles" (salty, sweet, spicy) that you use to break enemy defenses. Holy cow, this is fun.

Vampire Crawlers

Developer: poncle / Nosebleed Interactive
Release Date: 2026

If you were wondering what everyone was playing while the Marathon server test was going on, my answer is Vampire Crawlers.

I lost a terrifying amount of time playing this demo. Holy crap, it is addictive. Poncle has taken the snowballing, dopamine-hit formula of Vampire Survivors and translated it into a turn-based, first-person dungeon crawler. It loses some of the mindless simplicity of walking around a 2D plane, but what it replaces it with is pure genius.

Instead of an auto-shooter, Vampire Crawlers adds deckbuilding in a way I never would have thought of. You enter the dungeon with a hand of cards based on your chosen Crawler—characters with different base stats and playstyles. The brilliance lies in chaining massive damage multipliers by playing cards in ascending mana in order to wipe out rows of enemies before they can advance on your grid. With added roguelite elements and an absurd amount of unlocks, I had to physically force myself to close the demo.

This might not be the best game for those who want more Vampire: Survivors, because it strays so far from that game’s gameplay.

You can wishlist these and watch them as they develop - that's what we'll be doing.