It’s that time of year again, everyone; festival season is upon us. Geoff Fest has come and gone, and all the hype-addled gamers have emerged from their homes, stumbling bleary-eyed into the hazy summer sun, heeding the call of the great outdoors. And sure, you could spend time outside at a music festival this summer, but Steam Next Fest has started, and the great indoors is just right here, you know? Because why waste time filling your ear holes with music when you could fill all your holes with glorious game demos? That’s just inefficient.
In the spirit of efficiency, here’s a no-nonsense (all-nonsense) list of cool things and weird stuff you should check out, so the only finger you’ll need to lift is your mouse clicking one. I’ve also stuck a few recent non-Next Fest demos in the list because you can’t stop me.
Tight time trials on tiny rally tracks all set inside…well, the title gives it away really. A great feeling drift-to-boost mechanic, wonderfully bouncy physics, and feel-good vibes make chasing faster times on the leaderboard an absolute joy. Surely the most fun you’ll have in a parking garage this year. If not, I absolutely want to hear about it.
Impossibly stylish FPS revenge thriller from the makers of one of 2023’s best games. For those who wished for a first-person Hotline Miami or thought Neon White needed more headshots, well, it turns out you were on to something. If you missed the brilliant El Passo, Elsewhere, don’t make the same mistake twice. Strange Scaffold are one of the most exciting devs in the business, and this is one of the best demos you’ll play this Next Fest, with a bullet.
There’s no mistaking where Aero GPX draws its inspiration, but of the many indie projects aiming to capture F-Zero’s magic, the combination of accessible pick-up-and-play simplicity and high-skill ceiling manoeuvring found here feels like it could be the closest attempt yet. If you’re suffering from withdrawal from the absence of Nintendo’s classic series, or anti-grav racing games in general, this will keep the shakes at bay.
I must admit, I wasn’t very taken with the multi-directional shooting gameplay in this action platformer (it’s just okay, I think), but holy hell, you have to see this thing move! The incredibly striking art design, cinematic presentation, and spirited voice performances make this more than worth checking out. If the gameplay can be tightened up a bit before launch, this could be special.
Another violent death is only ever an instant restart away in this attractively ugly Hotline Miami-like from Japanese hip-hop group turned game devs, Don Yasa Crew, who have also provided the soundtrack. The distinctive music gives a familiar dish a unique flavour, as does the slow-motion parry-focused gameplay and the trippy Japanese mythology-inspired story.
This Scottish folklore-inspired action adventure, lovingly built from hand-crafted models and painstakingly brought to life with stop-motion animation, is more art as games than games as art. But I was instantly won over by its combination of arresting visuals, beautiful folksy soundtrack, and surprisingly poetic dialogue, making for an experience that feels truly original and greater than the sum of its distinctive parts. One of the absolute standouts of Next Fest.
A fusion of sci-fi murder mystery visual novel and Phoenix Wright-inspired gameplay, that reimagines its cross-examinations as high-stakes poker matches where making smart decisions earns you chips, allowing you to bet big on a smoking-gun evidence drop. The witty, hard-boiled dialogue needs an editor, but the flashy Danganronpa-esque anime art style completes a stylish package. Play this one blind; there’s a killer twist that you’re better off not knowing.
Is this the strangest retro revival of all time? WayForward has taken the classic 1982 Atari shooter, Yars Revenge, and reimagined it as a side-scrolling adventure platformer with visual novel elements, following a group of young hackers investigating a corporate conspiracy. So yes, it’s up there. I can’t quite explain why I had a good time with this; it’s definitely a bit rubbish, but it’s very light-hearted, looks and sounds nice, is well-polished, and extremely earnest. The throwback hacking mini-game is fun too.
If you happen to be into the highly specific combination of listening to ear-bleeding metal while dancing around a surrealist rendition of an oil refinery, then, hey, who am I to judge? Norco devs, Geography of Robots, share your unique tastes, and they have you covered with this atmospheric standalone taster for their next game, which doubles as an elaborate promo piece for doom metal band Thou’s upcoming album. Look, just play it, okay?
Alruna and the Necro-Industrialists
There are a lot of great-looking Metroidvania demos, but this one stands out as being a little different with its narrow aspect ratio, claustrophobic platforming, incredible pounding chip-tunes, and weirdly intense dialogue, making for a slightly odd experience that doesn’t play, look, or sound quite like anything else.
A charming old-school Zelda-esque adventure from the developers of the excellent Curse Crackers and Prodigal that treats its entire world like one long puzzle-filled dungeon. Colourgrave have carved out a successful little niche with these brilliant Game Boy homages, and they’ve found their true home in your hands on the Steam Deck. It’s out next month too.
Hiding dead bodies, stacking up boxes, leaning around corners, silenced pistols, and an unbelievably convoluted UI—this game replicates the immersive sim experience down to a tee, at least for the stealthily inclined. Enemies are a little too eagle-eyed, and the nightmarishly complex controls need work, but this thing scratches a very specific itch. The Xcom-like base management strategy layer makes for a cool and unusual wrapper.
Play one in-game week of this upcoming Persona-like RPG with a familiar calendar-based structure with an intriguing horror-tinged narrative, and dialogue that won’t make you cringe yourself inside out. The mix of 3D visuals and densely detailed pixel art is stunning, and an interesting grid-based tactical combat system that prioritises space management sets it apart from its inspiration.
This simple high-speed time trial racer is a relaxing flow-state inducer with a dream-like aesthetic that’s all about clean lines, pastel hues, and airy electronic beats. Lovely.
If you have somehow not reinstalled 2015’s underrated Mad Max after watching Furiosa, this immensely fun little car-combat game will take up far less of your time (and storage space). It’s very early in development, but the core gameplay is solid (the car physics feel perfect), and it has the best explosions you’ll see all year. The devs have ambitious plans for this one, but the demo’s available now, and you really should witness it.
PARKSIDE: DECAYED SOUL MANIPULATION
An ambitious low-tech dystopian sci-fi immersive sim with a commendable focus on player choice and consequence, both in its flexible gameplay systems and sandboxy level design, where no mid-mission saves means rolling with the emergent punches. Climbing to a rooftop to stealthily take out my first target through the window of his apartment was supremely satisfying, but the clumsy shootout during my botched extraction didn’t feel quite as elegant. Thankfully, expanded stealth options are a priority for future development.
A follow-up to one of the best stage-based 2D platformers of recent years. This is classic sequel-making that expands on the original in all the right ways, and some that you might not expect, with a second playable character that wields the signature grapple in one hand and a machine pistol in the other. It’s as silly as it sounds, but it’s tremendous fun and feels great to play, with every button press having a wonderfull, almost tactile response.
The sensation of burning long, screeching power slides to an infectious high-tempo soundtrack under Sega-blue skies in this neo-super scaler racer is, simply, pure digital dopamine. One of the great video game mechanics done perfectly—what more do you need?
The award for moodiest vibes goes to this retro-inspired base-defence game, a vector graphics mash-up of classic arcade shooters like Galaxian, Asteroids, and Missile Command, with an awesome Vangelis-style soundtrack—all long, lazy synth notes. Feels like playing a Vectrex in Blade Runner, which is exactly as cool as it sounds.
Analogue Noise 
Leave a comment