Over the previous few years, Steam’s Next Fest has grow to be a invaluable showcase of upcoming video games, notably from indie builders. It contains free demos from taking part video games, livestreams, and interviews with builders that may assist shed a lightweight on video games made by passionate folks.
Next Fest has usually featured video games from indie.io, a publishing platform that works with builders of all styles and sizes. The newest Next Fest simply landed in the present day, will final till June 16, and has 25 totally different titles from indie.io — essentially the most video games the platform has ever had in one Next Fest. You’ll be able to see the complete lineup on this page, and there’s somewhat one thing for each sort of gamer, together with old-school co-op RPGs, rhythm-driven brawlers, spellcrafting roguelites, cozy farming sims, and get together video games.
There’s rather a lot to decide on from, however we picked what we predict are the six standouts of the group that every one have playable demos and in addition present the wide selection of choices on supply:
Shrine’s Legacy
A transparent throwback to the SNES period of 16-bit video games, Shrine’s Legacy is an motion RPG that follows a pair of heroes on a quest to save lots of the world of Ardemia. You’ll want to search out eight elemental magic gems to revive the fabled Sword of the Shrine and use its energy to conquer the evil pressure that threatens the world. The demo lets you play a fairly sizable chunk of the sport, with two cities, two dungeons, and three boss battles. You’ll get a glimpse on the character-driven story and a way of the sport’s tone, with some goofy moments and dramatic twists combined in. You’ll be able to play it in sofa co-op the place you every management one of many characters, or play it solo and have the sport management the second character.
Troublemaker 2: Beyond Dream
Troublemaker 2 is an open-world action-comedy beat-em-up sport, which isn’t a mix of hyphenated phrases you see fairly often. It’s the sequel to 2023’s Troublemaker and follows the Parakacuk gang from the unique and a band referred to as Past Dream by way of town of South Jayakarta. The demo drops you into town in the center of the sport with free roam unlocked, so that you’ll have entry to the entire metropolis. You’ll be able to stroll round city getting in avenue brawls, discover some aspect jobs to finish for the native populace, or simply chill on the music studio, the place you possibly can play rhythm-based minigames. The demo has a complete of 12 aspect quests and minigames (one in all which turns you right into a cow, so that ought to provide you with an concept of the tone).
Don’t Die, Collect Loot
Gotta love a sport whose title just about spells it out, proper? Don’t Die, Gather Loot is an arcade roguelite RPG the place you mow by way of enemies in chaotic bullet-hell fight and collect loot. When you’re the kind of one that finds it oddly satisfying watching your EXP bar refill, then that is the sport for you. Actually, you could have three bars to look at refill: your EXP, ability factors, and analysis factors. The demo enables you to play as one in all three courses: the Adventurer, Arcanist, and Beastmaster, every with their very own ability timber and kit, and all with overpowered skills to benefit from. Whichever class you select, you’ll sort out the Infinite Nightmare mode, a unending problem the place the one aim is to final so long as attainable and collect as a lot loot as you possibly can. Good your construct and compete for a spot on the worldwide leaderboard. When you play the demo throughout Next Fest, you possibly can face off with the unique superboss Alethia and procure distinctive gadgets that received’t be out there another time, so don’t miss out.
(*6*)
Mythrealm
Mythrealm is a single-player third-person fantasy RPG the place you play because the adventurer Alaris, who has been summoned to this world by a mysterious magic. Demons have brought about the wizards of Zelanar to vanish, placing the world in peril. You’ll want to make use of your wit, ability, and weapons to defeat the demons, rescue the wizards, and save the world. Alaris will begin as a novice adventurer, however as she grows, you possibly can select whether or not to information her down the trail of a melee warrior, archer, or mage. You’ll additionally must make the most of leaping and platforming to navigate treacherous environments and discover hidden gadgets. The demo enables you to discover the primary degree of Mythrealm, the place a legendary warhammer is hidden. Can you discover it?
Aris Arcanum
On this Victorian-era, spellcraft-focused roguelite, you might be Clyde, a scholar who was on a path to turning into chief of the grand library of Aris. However now, an alien entity that was sealed throughout the library has twisted the minds of the opposite students, and the library is going through spoil. You need to dive into its now-corrupted halls, defeat those that have been as soon as your fellow students, and face cosmic horrors on the trail to cleaning the library. On every run, you’ll craft new spells that may result in a wide range of totally different builds, encouraging you to check totally different prospects to search out your favorites. The demo presents a have a look at an early construct of Aris Arcanum, supplying you with a style of the gameplay and narrative construction. You’ll additionally have the ability to tackle an early aspect quest and face off towards a boss encounter, and there’s all the time extra to experiment with on subsequent runs.
Heroes of Mount Dragon
Heroes of Mount Dragon is a side-scrolling brawler developed by RuniQ, a Canadian indie studio largely made up of former workers of Activision, Beenox, and Ubisoft. You’ll select from one in all eight heroes, every of whom can rework into highly effective dragons and lay waste to the battlefield. You’ll be able to play solo or workforce up with three buddies in sofa co-op or on-line, and also you’ll must handle your hero’s distinctive skills, dragon transformations, and highly effective upgrades to make it by way of. You too can compete towards your pals for supremacy, and you need to use devious curses to disrupt them — electrify them, shrink them, or flip their controls. Within the demo, you’ll have entry to 4 of the eight heroes and might discover half of the sport’s first kingdom (there shall be a complete of 4 kingdoms in the ultimate sport).