Few other showcases provide as much of a spotlight for upcoming projects from indie developers as Valve’s tri-annualSteam 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 ofthe February Fest’s highlightshaving 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 greatperspective-shifting puzzlerViewfinderand the narrative-driven cooking gameVenba, but there are dozens of other, lesser-known titles that also deserve attention alongside a Wishlist add.
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Essential Demos to Play During the Steam Next Fest
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 MessengercreatorsSabotage Studio’sSea of Starsis 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 withShadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun) and their upcomingpirate-themed stealth titleShadow 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 funCooking 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 areDeath Must Die!andMythForce.Death Must Die!takes the addictive survivorsformula fromVampire Survivorsand melds it with Supergiant’sHadesand an art style reminiscent ofDark Souls.MythForce, meanwhile, is a first-person arena Roguelike with an incredible Saturday morning cartoon art style and plenty of humor.
Speaking ofDark Souls, fans of Rocksteady’sArkhamtrilogy and FromSoftware’sSoulsseries should absolutely make sure to download and play the demo forEn 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 inBatman: Arkham Asylum’s free-flow combatand environmental traversal to great results. If anyone has ever wanted to play a video game version of the duel scene fromThe 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.
Venbareleases July 31 for PC and Nintendo Switch.
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