HomeFeatures
Our 9 favourite demos from the summer Steam Next FestTry them
Try them
Image credit:Akupara Games
Image credit:Akupara Games
This week, we’re highlighting the best demos you can play duringSteam Next Fest, which starts June 10th. We’re calling thisWishlisted, in partnership with Eurogamer and VG247.
Excuse me, sorry, pardon me, can I just, thank you, ah, sorry, thanks… Phew, made it.Steam Next Festis pretty crowded, eh? As if the unholy swarm of trailers and game announcements fromSummer Game Festwas not enough, this week the fearful megalords at Valve decided to drop their regular cavalcade of coming-soons onto their megastore. The beautiful (and terrifying) thing about Next Fest, of course, is the overwhelming number of demos that come out during the event. A small herd of video games are standing on my toes as we speak. But that’s okay, we are expert curators. Here’s a handy list of our nine favourite demos of the lot.
Tactical Breach Wizards
Tactical Breach Wizards: Release Date TrailerWatch on YouTube
Tactical Breach Wizards: Release Date Trailer
A magical SWAT team bust down doors and blast bad folk in this confined tactics game from Suspicious Developments. At the end of a fight in this funny tacticianesque turn-taker, you are awarded with a score for speed, efficiency, and number of “defenestrations”, which should tell you everything you need to know. The healer on your team is a necromancer, so to heal her squad mates properly, she may first have to kill them. “It’d take a serious hex to stop me diving into the full game when it releases,” said Nic when hetried the demo for the window-breaking Into The Breach-like. He won’t have to wait too long - it’sout August 22nd.
Download thedefenestrating demo on Steam.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn | Steam Next Fest Demo TrailerWatch on YouTube
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn | Steam Next Fest Demo Trailer
A soulslike that challenges all the other soulslikes to pistols at dawn (I stole this joke from one of our commenters, who may demand satisfaction). Flintlock sees you explore a world where twisted gods have been unleashed and must be taken down. You can triple-jump from the opening chapters and curse lads with a magical fennec fox sidekick. The demo is quite buggy (not reassuring for a game due out next month) but when it works it is stylish, curious, bright, and inventive. Thecreature design is a particular treat.
Powder your musketvia the Steam page.
Disco Samurai
Disco Samurai - Official Gameplay Trailer | Guerrilla Collective 2024Watch on YouTube
Disco Samurai - Official Gameplay Trailer | Guerrilla Collective 2024
Dance and dice inthe demo on Steam.
Spilled!
Spilled! Steam Demo Trailer (Demo OUT NOW!)Watch on YouTube
Spilled! Steam Demo Trailer (Demo OUT NOW!)
Well, oil be damned. Spilled (I’m not writing that exclam, it’s quiet time) is one of them there cosy games about relaxing and having a satisfying clean-up. You drift around in a pleasant boat filtering black puddles of gunk out of the water. You’ll also be herding plastic flotsam back to your recycling HQ and rinsing harmful goo off the rocks above the waterline with a big splooshy hose. Yes, you can upgrade your boat to make the job easier but “the pleasure is very much found in the cleaning itself, rather than the rewards,” says James, who enjoyed hisboaty break at sea.
De-gunkthe demo on Steam.
Sorry We’re Closed
Sorry We’re Closed | Horror Game Awards TrailerWatch on YouTube
Sorry We’re Closed | Horror Game Awards Trailer
Scream throughthe dream on Steam.
Tiny Glade
Tiny Glade - Gameplay Trailer | Wholesome Snack: The Game Awards EditionWatch on YouTube
Tiny Glade - Gameplay Trailer | Wholesome Snack: The Game Awards Edition
InTiny Gladeyou start with a grassy patch of countryside and end with a cosy castle. Its simple diorama-building lies somewhere between the zen-like rearranging ofQuiet As A Stoneand the pleasant seaside brickery ofTownscaper. A lot of the toughest decisions are made for you as you drag stonework walls and wooden fences around with sigh-inducing ease, the game inserting piles of wood, pitchforks, and even bird’s nests into the nooks and crannies of your bucolic fortress. “Managed to quieten my brain for a few precious hours,” said Kiera when she madethe witch’s cottage of her dreams.
Bewitch yourself inthe demo on Steam.
Enotria: The Last Song
Enotria: The Last Song - Gameplay Trailer I Wishlist NowWatch on YouTube
Enotria: The Last Song - Gameplay Trailer I Wishlist Now
Two soulslikes on the list? Don’t be absurd. We don’t need TWO soulslikes. Oh, this one’s Italian? And everyone wears a creepy mask that determines their purpose for their entire life? Well, I suppose, why not. Si, per favore. The combat does look beefy, with lots of slow, charged attacks I bet will have to be extremely well-timed. And there’s no block button, I’m told. That alone will get the souls sickos lining up to salivate through the window. I’ll let Edwin take you throughthe finer details. He’s part Italian, I think. Always talking about Rococo this and Baroque that. Can’t get the guy to stop.
Lademo è su Steam.
Faceminer
FACEMINER - DEMO LAUNCH TRAILERWatch on YouTube
FACEMINER - DEMO LAUNCH TRAILER
This one, too, ison Steam.
Lost and Found Co
Lost and Found Co. Wholesome Direct 2024 Trailer!Watch on YouTube
Lost and Found Co. Wholesome Direct 2024 Trailer!
You are a duck. Excuse me, youwerea duck. Until some dressy goddess turned you into a human because she needs an intern for her “magical startup dedicated to finding lost items”. Let the hidden object hunt commence, as you click and maybe cluck your way through stages of packed teahouses, crowded cabaret clubs, and floral countryside scenes. Graham is the resident Hidden Objectifier at RPS. “I appreciate that there’s a story to pull you through each scene too,” he said when hefirst spotted it at the Wholesome Direct, his eyes full of a fierce and slightly concerning focus. He must be looking for a lost cat.
Find the demohiding on Steam.
