10 Best Steam Next Fest Demos Worth Trying (2025)

Steam Next Fest is an important celebration of all the smaller, upcoming games that all come with a free demo to give you a taste of what the full experience will be like. I wrote about the previous fest a few months ago and now it's time to check out the latest batch of games.

That said, these demos have to wow me to get here, either with fun gameplay, a unique aspect to them or just being cool style-wise. All of these are just my own opinions, though, so you really should dive into Next Fest and get a taste for all these demos yourself.

11 Honorable Mentions

I neglected to do one of these last time, but this time I've played way more than 10 great games, so I feel it's only fair to shout some that just barely didn't make the list.

• Spilled! is a fun, relaxing time where you clean up Goop with a boat with some unique gameplay, mostly tainted by its controls, which feel cumbersome and make it hard to recommend unless you dig the concept.
• Pako Caravan is a silly, very short demo where you create a game of snake using a tough-to-control vehicle to navigate around a floating parking lot. It's silly, chaotic, and would be especially fun with more to sink your teeth into.
• Void Sols is like a minimalist, top-down souls-like, that isn't doing anything super unique or cool, but it's still a fun time to slash through other triangles, wait for openings, and dart around those cramped hallways.
• Gem Venture is a pretty simplistic 2D platformer that is very clearly inspired by Super Mario World and Super Paper Mario and is a nice blend of those two games with quite a bit of polish. Not the most notable game, but fun nonetheless.
• Symphonia looks beautiful but is nonetheless a pretty simplistic platformer where you bounce off stuff and fling yourself through levels, and the demo is incredibly short. Still worth a shot, though.
• Ballionare is a fun pinball roguelike where you create the board from the random selection of objects you're given, and while it's quite a simplistic game, it can be a ton of fun.
• While Waiting is a silly game about waiting for certain events to transpire, or becoming impatient and deciding to cause chaos instead of letting it be. It's pretty funny, but is more just about the gags than any actual gameplay.
• Slime Voyage is a silly, fun platformer that's all about clinging to walls and jumping around as a big, bouncy slime, then interacting with quirky characters in a corporate hellscape. It's very fun, though simplistic, and worth a shot.
• Sultan's Game is one I feel just a bit too stupid to understand. It's like a choose-your-own-adventure book, but done within the bounds of a card game, and if nothing else it's really neat to read all the dialogue from your choices.
• Radio The Universe isn't technically a part of October's Next Fest, but I figured I'd give it a shoutout for still being an incredibly good atmospheric horror game that you'll only find as a Steam demo currently, and saying anything else would be a disservice to the magic of this game.

10 Luma Island

A Perfected Farming Formula.

While the oversaturation of farming games where you do a ton of manual labor in the Indie space might have led some people to immediately dismiss this one, Luma Island seems committed to providing a cohesive and fun experience like how Stardew was too with a bit of Fantasy Life mixed in, and the demo having a ton of content to dig into as well.

For one, you've got infinite inventory space, just because upgrading your inventory can be annoying, then you've also got super polished animations, an adorable high-res PS1 style aesthetic, and a general lack of annoyances that make this an ultimately very relaxing, fun take on the formula Harvest Moon started.

9 TemTem: Swarm

A Very Tasty Hodge Podge.

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In terms of Vampire Survivors-esque bullet heaven games where you just auto-battle and move around, I've never really been impressed by any, but TemTem: Swarm sought to change that for once. It's another game in this genre, but you get a ton of RPG mechanics melded into the game that heavily improves it.

On top of having a Pokemon-style creature collection, you've got skill trees, EXP, upgrades and desperation moves at your whim, and they all add to the game to make it infinitely more interesting than just moving around and watching stuff happen. It's still a game in a genre I'm not a fan of, but it's a good one nonetheless.

8 Windblown

Isometric Combat Roguelites Never Felt So Familiar.

Windblown is an awesome top-down combat-focused roguelite, and though it's extremely similar to a certain game in the same genre, it's still great if you're looking for more gamessimilar to Hades. It's got multiple fun characters, unique upgrades and a bunch of different weapons.

The ability to switch weapons constantly mid-run and being able to gain some decent elevation with your dash are the main things setting this game apart from all the other Hades-inspired games, on top of the great OST and charming visuals. Give it a go if you're feeling up for some classic Roguelite combat.

7 Beastieball

Served Incredibly Well.

Beastieball is something special. It's like a mix of Pokemon and Paper Mario, but instead of just fighting like usual, you use Volleyball mechanics to turn the tides of each fight with careful planning and strategy, and utilizing your various Beasties to the best of your abilities.

It's not perfect, given it's got quite the confusing and overwhelming battle system at first, but once you've gotten used to it, it becomes fun and the lovely hand-drawn visuals and music by Celeste's Lena Raine are just the lovely cherry on top of a great sundae.

6 Star Vaders

Tactical Nuke Incoming.

Star Vaders is like if you mashed up all the best top-down strategy games and made them feel like a turn-based shoot-em-up with roguelike progression, and it's incredibly cool. It feels super satisfying to quite literally play your cards right to ensure you hit every enemy and don't end up doomed.

It's got some issues, sure, namely the progression feeling like it's either too easy or impossibly difficult, but more often than not the gameplay loop is fun enough that I don't even mind. It's a great strategy game, a fun roguelike deck-builder and an easy recommendation, especially since the demo has a ton of content.

5 RAM: Random Access Mayhem

Swapping Parts.

If you're a fan of top-down roguelites where you tear into things with various weapons, RAM is up your alley. On top of being a solid randomized shmup, it lets you swap into four different enemy types, all with incredibly cool, unique movesets.

You've got a simplistic grappler that lets you tear into things, a simple shooter that looks kinda like Mithrix, a flame-throwing trash can, and a super fast bomber, all of which feel fun. I'm putting this one up here especially because it feels like it'll be awesome to play the full release, having a massive bevy of vessels would go crazy.

4 Rift of the NecroDancer

Chaotic Dungeon Dancing.

If you're looking for a Rhythm game to knock your socks off, then Rift of the Necrodancer is the best vague sequel you could ask for. Unlike its dungeon-crawling predecessor, Rift has you beating up skeletons and slimes by hitting arrows to the beat, with each unique enemy doing something new.

It has a massive variety of enemy types, which makes it a difficult game, even on the easier difficulties. Once you've learned and mastered all the patterns and mechanics, it becomes one of the most satisfying games ever, and it's an easy recommendation if you're looking for a challenging rhythm game.

3 AntonBlast

Fast, Chaotic and Frantic Gameplay.

If you're a big fan of Pizza Tower's fast-paced, Wario Land-inspired gameplay, and just wish there were a few more explosions, then AntonBlast is the perfect game for you. It's another Wario-inspired platformer, but even more chaotic and super fun.

It's got light exploration elements but is mostly about running through a ton of obstacles, gaining a bunch of score, and avoiding the obstacles as you speed through everything faster than a bullet. It's great and easy to recommend to anyone wanting an awesome 2D platformer.

2 KilaFlow

Speedy Action Platforming.

KilaFlow is an incredibly fun, fast-paced, and super skill-intensive Sonic-style 3D platformer. It's got the aesthetic of looking into a web page from the 90s/2000s mashed together with a bunch of cool old technology, and it's just an entertaining game.

It's especially fun to try and get better times in each level, as this game has a ton of great movement tech that makes all your moves flow into each other and makes every run through a level feel immensely satisfying. It's highly recommended and a lovely game all around.

1 Rivals of Aether 2

An Inspired Sequel.

Though it's been available to its Kickstarter backersfor several months at this point, the demo for Rivals of Aether 2 is one you can squeeze hundreds of hours of content out of by the fact it's a Smash Bros. Style platform fighter that does everything right and is way better than every other non-Smash plat-fighter out there.

It's in 3D as opposed to the first game, and it feels awesome to play, having wonderful additions like Getup Specials, Pummel Specials and zero nerfs to Maypul. It's one to give a shot if you're a Smash fan, and easily one of the best in the genre, even better than Smash Ultimate in some places.