Ten Steam Next Fest Demos You Can't Miss

Steam Next Fest is live till the second of March, with some of the most interesting new games showing their stuff and taking feedback. I've got ten picks I've played, and they're all worth you taking the time for.

Denshattack

Developer: Undercoders

A ramen train locked to the tracks means you're effectively playing a rhythm game here - chaining together jumps, drifts around corners, track switches and dashes to get to the end of the line. There's a great energy to this, charming visuals and good beats, but it's trading the choice of direction in a Tony Hawk with a breakneck pace that demands a lot. 

Titanium Court

Developer: AP Thompson

A match 3 game, but an impeccably presented and written one that's also telling a fascinating fantasy Shakespearean narrative. Except it's *actually* a strategy game about building up resources via matching, while keeping the map’s terrain to your advantage as you prepare for a strategy game battle. I cannot stress how much this is my bullshit, and I expect it to be the next Blue Prince or Balatro in terms of acclaim. 

Windrose

Developer: Windrose Crew

Every next fest needs a survival game to break out, and this one is compelling. Set in a fantastical version of the age of piracy, this has pretty much everything you could want from a crafting/building/sailing game, with some satisfying co-op options too. The combat leans towards the action/souls trends, but it ends up working really well as the world opens up with ship boarding and travel. 

Cargo Hunters

Developer: Order Of Meta

Considering the Marathon Server Slam is running right now, what about a stylish single-player extraction game? This is surprisingly solid. Missions unfold as you make your way through a robot-filled wasteland, scavenging for gear, parts and weapons. But the trick here is a very cool system where you upgrade yourself by disassembling your foes, but you are nearly guaranteed to attract more threats as you angle grind them to bits.

Airframe Ultra

Developer: Videocult

What if Wipeout was grungy as hell, and also races were interspersed with fist fights and gunplay? This is a frantic hoverbike racer that is excellent in full motion, but would likely really sing with a bunch of friends in a private server. Because smacking your friend in the face with a grabbed street sign as you boost past them is way better than doing it to a stranger. 

Calx

Developer: True Colors

Gorgeous action platformer with a very shaded aesthetic. Seemed a straightforward, but pretty, action game and then I reached the first boss, and it started launching bullet hell attacks. And then I got access to a metroid prime style scanning system, and the experience kept unfolding. This one seems to have way more depth than I gave it credit for, so very keen to see the final result. 

Ardenfall

Developer: Spellcast Studios

What if Morrowind, but indie, and intentionally lo-fi? Everything you'd expect to be here is here, from combat to dialogue to character creation, even down to very familiar-seeming menus. But two things stand out. First, familiarity means this is immediately comfortable to play, like slipping on an old coat. Secondly, the setting is fresh and (while a little unpolished) delightful to explore. 

Tabletop Tavern

Developer: TJ

A Total War/tabletop strategy game that is also a roguelite campaign game. This is interesting, small-scale fights where the loss (or gain) of a single unit via the decisions you make can have long-term consequences. Initially, I was a little concerned at how “simple” the combat and tactics seemed. But with long-term thinking as the core, and battles that eventually became fairly challenging based on unit match-ups and terrain effects, I think this has real potential to be a great bite-sized strategy game. 

inKonbini

Developer: Nagai Industries

It's 1993, and you're helping run your auntie's convenience store in Japan, following the lives of the customers, staff and store alike. Mostly, this means stocking shelves and chatting with customers through their various problems and questions, which pairs with some lovely lo-fi music for a serene experience.

Cicadamata

Developer: flowergarden

If you want the absurdly cool visuals of Marathon but don't want to try an extraction shooter, Cicadamata is your shooter. This is sick in terms of presentation, a fever dream of visuals, movement and shooting that wants you to get as high a score as possible in as fast a time as possible.