Who doesn’t love a free game? But what if that free game came with the promise of more “game” in the future? Yeah, I’ve described demos, and there’s no better place to find them than the Steam Next Fest.
For this February 2025 edition, we’ve selected the most fun, innovative, and exciting demos you can play right now. Some of the games you’ll see are pretty much a complete product, while others are rough but promising. Of course, it’s impossible to list every good demo on Steam in a single article. So you bet we’ll bring you more demo highlights, but there’s always Steam’s dedicated Next Fest recommendation page, as well.
Solasta 2
Finally, an RPG where you can’t talk to everyone! And even when you can, you don’t really have a say in what your party says. These predetermined conversations go straight to the point which is, 🌜predictably, who I have to kill and why I shouldn’t feel bad about it.
Sure, that’s not entirely fair. There are some interesting conversations in the demo, but the interactivity is closer to Mass Effect than Baldur’s Gate. If you’re going to like Solasta 2 it will be thanks to the tactical combat and🎃 faithful adaptation of the D&D 2024 ruleset, so it makes sense for the demo to focus on varied combat scenarios instead of deep conversations.
Monaco 2
Twelve years ago, the original Monaco shook the world of goofy co-op game enthusiasts and slightly underwhelmed ♌everyone else. In 2025, its sequel promises to do exactly the same. While🤪 going through the few story levels available on your lonesome is not exactly fun, it does paint a picture of the finished game, and it’s not half bad.
Gone is the top-down perspective, replaced by a wide third-person camer𓄧a. However, one click is all that separates you from the classic blueprint look of the original, now dedicated to planning your next move with the team. will be accessible unti𝓡l March 3.
Despelote
If you can stomach the abrupt transitions and early ending, the Despelote demo is pretty much a full game. It’s 2001 and Ecuador might win the Soccer World Cup. As a 🐟result, everyone is suddenly obsessed with soccer. You’re a kid, and you’re no exception.
As the game’s Steam page puts it, is a soccer game about people. More than anyone else, it seems to be a game about its creators, or some version of them. Footage of old soccer games is mixed with a 3D environment reminiscent of Obra Dinn, and black and white scrib�🙈�bles replace moving, speaking characters. Neat!
Deliver At All Costs
Feeling nostalgic about the top-down racing genre that is no more? isn’t exactly a racing game, and it’s not really top-down either, but it scratches the same itch and then some. This humorous romp successfully mixes Fallout-style spoofs of mid-century America and the innate comedy of trying to drive without causing chaos in Grand Theft Auto.
Make a living delivering shady goods for shady clients and try not to make too much of a mess – unless you think it’s funny, in which case you should definitely make a mess. Use your engineering degree to mod your vehicles and… wait, why are yo🐠u out of a job again?
Yokai Landlord: Monster Mystery!
Yokai Landlord markets itself as a digital version of the classic card game Werewolf, played against a number of conniving digital opponents. In reality, is less Gnosia and more Ace Attorney, even if it doesn’t ﷽have quite the style of either of those.
Unlike a real (or simulated) game of Werewolf, the objective is to identify which of your quirky tenants are actually yokai, which will kill everyone in the building if their plans go undisturbed. As the landlord, it’s🧸 up to you to gently ask them to vacate the apartment before the end of the month, but only once you can demonstrate that they really are a monster in disguise.
Beholder: Conductor
The fourth entry in the dystopic landlord simulator series really shakes things up by putting you in the role of a train conductor. Will you sell out your friends when they become enemies of the state? Of course you will. But wi💝ll you make sure their chairs are comfortable before locking them in their cabin?
Since this is only a demo, it’s hard to tell how much story variation there is in this allegedly story-focused gameও. If the rest of the series is any indication, one thing is clear. You better like being the amoral tool of the state.
Killer Chat! – Expanded Edition
Killer Chat is already out, but the Expanded Edition is not, anꦑd there sure is a lot to expand on. After all, while the original edition is impressive, it was developed in a single month for an Itch.io game jam. The Expanded Edition has a lot of work to do, from adding characters and ro꧋utes to making the game space more interactive. But enough about expansions, what’s this IRC-looking Discord server of a game about?
is a chill, funny adventure game that would belong in a list of cozy demos if it wasn’t for all the serial killers. You take the role of an aspiring crime fiction writer who, ignoring the cry of their antivirus, finds themselves in the not-Discord service of a handful of serial killers dying to chat with you. As they 𝓡put it, there’s totally a lack of community in the serial killing space.
Type-NOISE: Shonen Shojo
Type-NOISE knows what makes a great game: escaping from a weird room only to be locked into another room with two to four anime teenagers. This visual novel/point-and-click hybrid about being stuck in places might feel familiar if you’ve ever played through the Zero Escape series. If that’s you, I’m happy to report that the is neat.
If the idea of playing a level of Myst on easy mode and then reading a visual novel for two hours doesn’t entice you, the Danganronpa-lite art style and weird sci-fi story might. You and your friends’ memories have been erased, and it see𒈔ms like it might have been your choice. Not that you𒁃 would remember, but why would this ugly-cute flying demon lie to you?
Angeline Era
I’m not sure if the was updated for the current Steam Next Fest or if the game is “participating” in the celebration mostly in spirit. Either way, this is one of the best demos of the year. Angeline Era is a retro action RPG that plays like nothing else but feels💖 like it could hav꧑e come out on the Nintendo 64.
The first “Bumpslash” type game, Angeline Era is a game of ingenious exploration and deceptively simple combat. How simple? For the most part, this game only uses one button and an analog stick, banking on its clever level design to make each encoun๊ter interesting. And it works every time.
Kill The Music
Vampire Survivor with a rhythm game twist, what more could you want? Perhaps an esoteric grunge presentation, a great selection of music, and menus so stylish they could give Persona a run for its money? Why, might be the game for you, and I, for one, can’t wait for it. T💎he demo, on the other hand, you could do without.
Don’t get me wrong, what little of Kill The Music you can try for yourself is all those things, but it also commits the cardinal sin of rhythm games: it’s janky. The relatively quick combat scenarios all have different soundtracks and modifiers, and some combinations of those completely throw off the inner metronome of the game. It’s hard to keep the time when “🏅the time” is completely unrelated to the song you’re ཧlistening to.
Published: Feb 25, 2025 08:02 am