Steam Next Fest June 2025 (Discussion)

[Zed Clampet]

While the opening ceremony doesn't get underway until 1 eastern time, many developers have decided to beat the rush and activate their demos early.

Free Demos

Demos on Steam

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The first two I'm going to hit in the morning are factory games:

Save 10% on Modulus: Factory Automation on Steam

Build, automate, & optimize production lines across sky islands with real spatial constraints. Every production line is an open-ended puzzle: which operators to use, how to route your belts and how to fit your factory into the landscape. Your solutions, like your factories, are uniquely your own.

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Dawn Apart on Steam

Dawn Apart is a space colony and factory sim with fully destructible environments. Mine, automate, and defend your settlers, or lead a rebellion against the very corporation pulling your strings…

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[Zed Clampet]

I was wrong. The first demo I tried was

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It's not JUST a comedy take on Escape from Tarkov. It's a full-fledged top-down shooter.

I'm always reticent to say I didn't get along well with something because usually that ends up being my own fault, so I should start off by saying that the demo is highly rated by others. However, despite my being pretty familiar with games like this now (see Zombieland 3D USA), I struggled with the controls. I finally gave up when I was looting a body and got a bandage. I had already used bandages, and they do what is expected: heal you a little and stop bleeding. However, when I used this bandage, I started taking damage as though I were bleeding. Given that was the only bandage I currently had, I didn't have any way to stop the bleeding and died. Either that was a bug or something unusual happened that I just didn't understand. Probably it was the latter, I guess, but I wasn't having fun, so I quit rather than starting back at the beginning.

 

[Johnway]

ok currently i have 3 demos download that peaked my interest from first glance


market garden
it seems like a jolly fun time. not sure my machine will run it, but we'll see what its like and perhaps buy it for my next pc.

MARKET GARDEN on Steam

MARKET GARDEN lets you relive the golden era of WW2 shooters, bringing classic, old-school FPS action back to its roots. Experience the epic airborne operation MARKET GARDEN in a game that pays tribute both to the genre’s finest moments and the real historical events.

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Black raven
2.5d retro RPG with some interesting combat. Will test and see.

Black Raven on Steam

Black Raven is a dark 2.5D action-adventure rooted in Slavic Folklore set in 14th-century Eastern-Europe. Play as Ivan, a man consumed by vengeance after a brutal raid shatters his family. Journey through grim landscapes and fight brutal enemies in this dark tale of loss, rage, and resilience.

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parkside: Decade soul manipulation
Deus ex with cruelty squad? only one way to find out...

PARKSIDE: DECAYED SOUL MANIPULATION on Steam

PARKSIDE is an FPS-Immersive Sim that chronicles the future of biomechanical subterfuge and suffering. Shoot, hack, and either save or sour the future of humanity in the dismally attractive and dystopian city of Abbotsford, California in the awful year of 2038. Will you serve the Divine Rod?

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of course there are others. Like Ninja gaiden ragebound. Not going to play it as i think this is a winner.

NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound Demo on Steam

A brand-new side-scrolling entry to the NINJA GAIDEN series from the team behind Blasphemous, NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound redefines the classic platformer saga in a spectacular, thrilling and challenging ninja adventure.

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Will give my updates once i play them...

 

[Zed Clampet]

Raiders of Blackveil Demo on Steam

Join the rebellion against the evil cooperation Blackveil in this action-packed roguelite for 1-3 players. Select your MOBA-like champion, collect RPG-style loot and infiltrate Blackveil’s massive factory. Wreak havoc, and smuggle out loot to get INSANELY powerful!

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I had a blast with this. It's a Hades-like. It is very polished except for telling you the controls, so I had to look at the rebinds for that.

I'm hesitant, without knowing how the whole game is structured, to talk about difficulty, but if it's structured exactly like Hades, then it's too easy. I played for a good while (didn't think to actually track it) and was still on my first run and hadn't come close to dying. If you are going to have to make a bunch of runs, it seems like it would be better if they were shorter and more intense.

 

[Johnway]

Well had a crack at 2 of the demos tonight.

Black raven does have potential. The game feels polished and i can see what they're going for. The combat needs tightening up though. At the moment there's only block and slash and its a bit ropey in places. Could have been slightly longer so we could see more of the mechanics though.

I also played market garden. it does capture the COD SP experience well enough and i did have fun with it. i would however recommend that they implement a lean feature as side stepping out is just asking for trouble in some fights. its a more casual shooter using blocky characters etc. Will keep an eye on this one to see how it shapes up.

 

[dxchase]

Only had time to hop into Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound so far. Decent pixel side scroller. Wil be playing because i am a fan of Ninja Gaiden.

I actually played the demo of Metal Eden. To me, its a mix between MIrrors Edge and Doom. Feels really good and looks pretty good too. Keeping an out of this one too.

METAL EDEN on Steam

An adrenaline-rush sci-fi FPS. A HYPER UNIT ASKA is sent on a suicide mission to rescue citizens' COREs from MOEBIUS, an orbital city turned into a deadly trap. Dive into cybernetic warfare, face the ENGINEERS, and uncover the secrets of METAL EDEN.

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I also like to go into the discussion sections of these demos to see what people are saying prior to and after i play. Mainly to see if people are having a terrible time running it, how long is it etc.

 

[Johnway]

I did see the demo with Neon Inferno once more, but like the ninja gaiden game, i this is a winner (its on my wishlist) so i will skip the demo for now.

Neon Inferno on Steam

NYC 2055: a city beyond salvation. Blast your way through this dense cyberpunk jungle in NEON INFERNO, an explosive fusion of 2D run-and-gun and gallery-shooter, and help the Family dominate its streets!

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[Johnway]

So... i had a go at abstract punk the visuals is what appeared to me. its a college pop art shooter. its a bit of souls like as you can't succeed without collecting ice to level up to progress further. The demo was ok, i LOVED the music as it was catchy and cleverly used. But gameplay? decidedly meh. i sank a solid 45 minutes into it but honestly i came out exhausted and slightly sick of it. As an art curio its fantastic, as a game? meh.

AbstractPunk on Steam

AbstractPunk is a wild, punk, soulslike game featuring unique collage-style graphics. Collect ice from defeated enemies, fight your way through a country engulfed in revolution, and try to find your place in broken future of the year 2004. Use happiness against your enemies. They will be happy.

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[Pifanjr]

I don't remember why I put it on my wishlist, but I saw that Death Howl had a demo available so I gave it a try. It's a pretty solid deckbuilding game with an interesting setting, but it requires a bit too much grinding to get new cards/skills and the gameplay was a bit too shallow for me. It think it should've been easier to change your deck and unlock new skills to prevent the gameplay from becoming stale.

Death Howl on Steam

Journey through the sorrowful spirit world in a soulslike deck builder. Craft cards and claim powerful totems to defeat the woeful spirits lurking in the mystical lands. Unravel the tale of a grieving mother in her desperate attempt to defy death and bring back her son.

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I also played the Overlooting demo, just because the name sounded interesting. It's a fairly simple roguelike about combining different pieces of equipment to stack bonuses to defeat enemies in very simple turn-based combat. It's also pretty shallow, but the game constantly presents new choices so it didn't feel stale and I finished the entire demo.

Overlooting Demo on Steam

Adapt your strategy to a skill tree that changes every run, combine pieces of equipment to form powerful synergies and create a game-changing build capable of defeating the bosses that will try to stop you. In this Inventory Management Roguelike two games never feel the same!

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[Johnway]

I'm looking into interactive fiction/ simulation games atm and so far 2 have peaked my interest:

Creepy support

Service desk for all your horror needs. i think its the ability to mess around on a virtual pc grabs me.

Creepy Support on Steam

Save people from terrible paranormal dangers as a support operator of a secret SCP-like organization! Ask questions, give advice and watch the consequences of your choices... 5+ endings in each story ;-)

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oneway.exe

Another simulation this one gives me broken reality vibes and i'm all for strange and quirky experiences. Vapourwave or synthwave ideally

oneway.exe on Steam

You’re stuck inside an abandoned video game, haunted by its own digital decay. In oneway.exe, uncover the mystery of UNTITLED.exe, its three developers, and the evolving Internet eras that once shaped their friendship.

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lastly i saw another management game, After inc revival.

After Inc: Revival on Steam

Can you rebuild civilisation after a zombie apocalypse? From the creator of Plague Inc. comes a unique blend of strategic simulation, survival city builder and ‘mini 4X’. Build settlements, harvest resources and shape society as you lead Humanity out of the darkness.

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[Zed Clampet]

Carbox on Steam

Drive. Build. Share. Drive and compete in this open-world Sandbox. Build maps with an easy-to-use editor. Share with other players and play unlimited content from the community.

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top down racing with a great track/world editor.

 

[neogunhero]

Finally got around to playing some demos. I need to try some of the ones you guys have recommended, I haven’t seen much of them on the store page, but then again there are literally thousands of demos available.

Dispatch Demo on Steam

Dispatch is a superhero workplace comedy where choices matter. Manage a dysfunctional team of misfit heroes and strategize who to send to emergencies around the city, all while balancing office politics, personal relationships, and your own quest to become a hero.

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Dispatch is a narrative strategy game from some people who worked at Telltale previously. The main gist is that you are a former superhero recruited to become a superhero dispatcher. It is narrative heavy with dialogue choices, then a strategy management sim where you must assign members of your superhero group to go perform tasks around the city. You must select the best members for the job or risk failing it.

I absolutely loved the writing. Roid made me laugh so hard in the bathroom scene. The dialogue flows so smoothly, in the PCG preview article they said if you took the UI elements out you wouldn’t know someone is making dialogues choices, and that is very apparent when playing. There is no awkward pause between dialogue lines, it’s like watching a show. It took about 15-20 mins, so I replayed it again with different dialogue choices and was not disappointed. If you like Telltale games with lots of narrative and minimal gameplay, this could be a game for you. Jesse Pinkman does a great job as Robert Robertson.

As for being a demo, it was done perfectly. It gives you minor backstory of where you are at in the game, sets up the scene, and lets you go into it. It doesn’t spoil everything that happens before the demo portion, just enough info so you’re not totally lost. The presentation of the demo was well made which was nice to see.

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TROLEU is a chaotic first person trolly conductor simulator. Your main goal is to keep all passengers in check and happy. You have to take their payment, give them tickets, prevent them from being a nuisance, and ensure the safety of others. Sometimes you get someone trying to use a fake bus pass and you have to kick them off with the force of a turbine engine. It was really fun to play for about 30 minutes but I’m not sure how the full game would be. There’s lots of different stages and goals to reach, but it would need more variety to keep it engaging for longer. The tutorial demo was the same thing over and over, which was still good for the time being, but not for multiple hours.

 

[neogunhero]

Prologue: Go Wayback! on Steam

Prologue: Go Wayback! is a single-player open-world emergent survival roguelike where every journey is unique. Traverse a new wilderness that is generated for you every time you play. Chart your path, overcome the elements, and write your own story of exploration.

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This is from the creator of PUBG, PlayerUnknown. He no longer works on PUBG, but has a slate of other games coming out soon. The first title, Preface: Undiscovered World, is a tech demo that uses machine learning on your GPU to generate Earth scale game worlds. I didn't play it, but I think that is literally all it is, it generates a world and you can run around in it.

Prologue is a game-focused evolution of that tech demo. Instead of an entire planet, it generates a world roughly 8km x 8km that is also much more detailed (compared to Preface). It is meant to be a survival base building game. I think the idea of randomly generated worlds with great detail is awesome, but from what I played in the demo, it wasn't anything special. It could be because I had some graphics settings turned down, but I don't think that is what the issue was. The world itself felt pretty generic. It looked like any other forest you could find in a video game, but the best comparison to it would be something like Arma or DayZ's forests, which is ironic since PU got his start on a Arma 3 mod.

The gameplay mechanics were nothing special either. Of course, it is still early in development so it's nowhere near as polished as it could be, but from what there is, it has very generic survival/craft mechanics.

It could be a lot better, and perhaps it will evolve to be so, but for now I was left thoroughly unimpressed, yet still interested in it's development. The level of detail is what needs to set this apart because there are lots of games that generate worlds for you (Minecraft, 7 Days to Die, etc.), so for it to generate a fairly generic looking forest does not bode well for it's success. It would need to generate much more believable forests with lots of debris scattered about, add interesting locations like caves and other phenomenal land formations, overall it needs to be a lot better. It does not help that you are not given any controls to configure parameters either, unlike most other games that generate worlds for you.

 

[Frindis]

Now I want to see a Cart Narc game. Huge potential since there is no game with same title on Steam.

Main goal of the game: You are the hero nobody knew they needed and you drive around in a mobility scooter to different malls/stores and convince people to place the cart they used in the right spot. Your mobility scooter has two sirens and a very decent paint job on both sides reading: Cart Narc.

As you progress in the game, you'll be able to upgrade your mobility scooter to a more authoritarian look. You'll also be able to customize your own stickers that you throw on the cars when the drivers try to exit without adhering to the common good.

 

[neogunhero]

Now I want to see a Cart Narc game. Huge potential since there is no game with same title on Steam.

Main goal of the game: You are the hero nobody knew they needed and you drive around in a mobility scooter to different malls/stores and convince people to place the cart they used in the right spot. Your mobility scooter has two sirens and a very decent paint job on both sides reading: Cart Narc.

As you progress in the game, you'll be able to upgrade your mobility scooter to a more authoritarian look. You'll also be able to customize your own stickers that you throw on the cars when the drivers try to exit without adhering to the common good.

There should be a turbo booster upgrade as well. The quicker you can stop someone from leaving their cart in the parking lot, the more points you get. Perhaps a trash picking mini game where you use a grabber tool to pick up trash and go dump it in the dumpster. You can upgrade the grabber to have a longer telescoping neck for hard to reach areas.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Top 10 Next Fest demos

		Name	%	Price	Rating	Release	Follows	Online	Peak
		Vindictus: Defying Fate Demo		Free	46.91%	Jun 2025	—	3,511	40,911
		Wildgate - Open Beta		Free	68.85%	Jun 2025	—	7,662	13,864
		Anvil Empires - Massive Battle Stress Test		Free	—	Jun 2025	—	40	12,014
		Jump Ship Demo		Free	88.43%	Jun 2025	—	2,845	9,843
		PIONER Demo		Free	—	Jun 2025	—	276	9,661
		Grand Emprise 2: Portals Apart Demo		Free	—	Feb 2025	—	5	5,329
		UFL™ Demo		Free	—	Jun 2025	—	668	5,058
		Escape From Duckov Demo		Free	87.42%	Jan 2025	—	2,219	4,320
		Warborne Above Ashes (Demo)		Free	—	May 2025	—	1,171	4,280
		Ratatan Demo		Free	68.64%	Jun 2025	—	460	4,013

 

[Johnway]

ok did play some of the demos last night and here's my thoughts.

oneway.exe

its a game that falls into the creepy pasta genre. The demo didn't give me much to conclude much besides its some sort of walking simulator. I must say that its strong suit is its style and world building that is unsettling but as for the game? meh, hold fire on this one. if you want to see some of its style, try https://onewayteam.neocities.org/ thats their official website. its pretty cool, kinda reminds me of Payday2's homepage.




Creepy support

you play as a new member of creepy support in Russia. You get questions and you have to advise the other person recommended course of action. To ensure you provide the correct decisions, you can ask a limited number of questions before making a final recommendation. The good news is that 97% of the spoof/trolling/non scary type calls are filtered out, so only monster stuff... hopefully.


visually its nothing special (several white boxes with text) and there is a lot of reading. Players are given a manual of lore about various monsters and how to banish them. Incidentally, the Helpbot will chime in with advice. Whilst its not the most entertaining game, i was certainly captivated and fixated by the game. its probably the IT helpdesk / Detective thinking cap talking.

After each week we get a breakdown of the outcome of your advice and you're ranked by the following critieria:

1. You were correct and the matter is resolved (correctly)
2. No one dies.
3. you reached the correct conclusion without undue stress/trauma to the person helping (IE: asking relevant questions and reaching the correct conclusion as quickly as possible).


overall i did ok on my first week, managed to solve 2 cases with a great/excellent outcome. Sadly the 3rd case was a complete disaster because i advised the stuck up ***** to go speak to her friend and try and make peace with the supposed person who put a witch's curse on her. it ended with caller killing female friend stabbing her multiple times. Did the supposed female friend put the curse on her in the first place? was it just an elaborate prank? no idea.


So will i get it? probably not atm, when its really cheap i'll consider it.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Prologue: Go Wayback! on Steam

Prologue: Go Wayback! is a single-player open-world emergent survival roguelike where every journey is unique. Traverse a new wilderness that is generated for you every time you play. Chart your path, overcome the elements, and write your own story of exploration.

store.steampowered.com

The map told me to go somewhere, so I gathered up my supplies and headed out with my compass to find this new location. Unfortunately, there was a snowstorm, and the snow kept accumulating, and if you weren't walking through the woods where most of the snow had been blocked by the trees, the game made you walk excruciatingly slowly. I was trying to jump from boulder to boulder in order to move faster, but then I came across a huge field. I decided they could kiss my booty and that I wasn't walking all the way across that field at a snail's pace, so that's where I ended the demo.

 

[neogunhero]

Prologue: Go Wayback! on Steam

Prologue: Go Wayback! is a single-player open-world emergent survival roguelike where every journey is unique. Traverse a new wilderness that is generated for you every time you play. Chart your path, overcome the elements, and write your own story of exploration.

store.steampowered.com

The map told me to go somewhere, so I gathered up my supplies and headed out with my compass to find this new location. Unfortunately, there was a snowstorm, and the snow kept accumulating, and if you weren't walking through the woods where most of the snow had been blocked by the trees, the game made you walk excruciatingly slowly. I was trying to jump from boulder to boulder in order to move faster, but then I came across a huge field. I decided they could kiss my booty and that I wasn't walking all the way across that field at a snail's pace, so that's where I ended the demo.

I got stuck in what I could only presume was a huge puddle of mud and it made me walk extremely slow as well. The ground was brown and shiny, and it was just beginning to snow so I assumed that's what it was.

 

[Johnway]

just finished playing After inc revival - esstentially a sequel to the game Plague inc, the survivors emerge from their bunkers to live their lives top side. its a fairly light management sim which is relaxing to play i guess. i didn't hate it but i don't think theres enough to keep me playing for long. sure promises of more campaigns etc, but playing the tutorial and first mission gives me a rough idea what to expect.

 

[Zed Clampet]

I don't know. I just can't find anything I want to try this time. Not sure if it's me or the games.

 

[Johnway]

ok i played Parkside decayed soul manipulator and yeah... its like Deus ex with cruelty squad vibes. Which sounds good on paper, but it needs tweaking to make it truly great. ATM, i see flashes of inspiration such as the multiple ways to access a location and complete a mission, discover various items and areas by exploring etc. i think the AI and gameplay elements need some tweaking though as it feels off and visual elements need improving.

Several things i took issue to with this game:

1. There was this strange bug that prevented me to interact with things ( ladders, objects, etc), it sort of comes and goes.

2. The combat with pistols is a bit off. Ok maybe it was perhaps armed guards, but like deus ex, nothing short of a headshot kills enemies properly. Of course it all changes when you have an assualt rifle and then you can go to town and become the terminator, filling targets with lead.

3. The visuals. Some would say its like cruelty squad, i would sometimes argue it was the devs being a cop out. The bit that really wound me up was the first mission where i had to assassinate a target in a well guarded apartment. Although ive been provided a picture of the target, i couldn't find him. When i finally did find him he looked nothing like the photo and could only identify him because i put my cursor over him and that was his name. I'm not sure if there was a reason for that or it was a visual issue. But it annoyed me that it took way longer to find him then i hoped.

Will i get the game? probably not. But i'll wait and see how it shapes up in the future before deciding.

 

[Johnway]

ok 2 more demos played.

First up, Pigface, an FPS shooter that you can go in guns blazing or be methodical and tactically pick targets off etc. had fun, but i found more luck going in guns blazing as once the shooting, groups of people get alerted and going loud is really your only option. Silence weapons will only delay the inevitable (you may get the jump on a couple of the enemies or pick off groups). reasonably fun, you can replay missions opting for different weapons, gameplay tweaks to make it harder (but not necessarily more money atm).

So thoughts? Fun, but i think there could be more to it. maybe have dishonored or deus ex elements but i guess we'll wait and see. Atm the one mission (the farmhouse) is only against crackheads and the AI isn't all that great or smart atm. Will see how it pans out later before deciding to getting or not.

PIGFACE on Steam

You wake up with an explosive headache in a pool of your own blood. You're Exit, a terrible woman whose awful past has finally caught up to her. Fulfill contracts for the people who drilled into your skull — guns-blazing, slow and tactical — it doesn’t matter. They know you’ll do whatever it takes.

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but my game of nextfest? Brutal John 2, a boomer shooter with a wannable Duke nukem in it. set in the future where aliens have taken over the earth via Crypto currency, brutal john and brutal dog go about to save the world. A pretty good shooter, top production values and plenty of tight shooter action. Visually its pretty nice and there is this extra layer of presentation/features like playable arcade machines, bullet time and destructible scenery. Speaking of scenery, there was some pretty good ideas like shooting through a cinema and even down a highway as you hop from one lorry/car to the another whilst security forces chase you down.

i do have a few issues, the main one is perhaps the voice work. it feels like it was done using an AI as its broken and stilted. The scripting is a bit cack in places but i think its intentionally bad. But its pretty dire.

overall i had a lot of fun with it. Will keep my eye on this one.

BRUTAL JOHN 2 on Steam

Join BRUTAL JOHN and BRUTAL DOG in a ultraviolent old-school FPS set in a world overrun by crypto-mining technologies, where it’s up to you to destroy them and reclaim control. Prepare for an adrenaline ride that pays homage to the best shooters of the '90s.

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