Steam Next Fest is the saviour of the bored. The redemptor of hope in the gaming industry. If you’re ever struggling for something new to play,Next Festwill undoubtedly offer up a bunch of free demos that will pique your interest. After tasting a little of this demo tapas, I can guarantee you’ll believe in video games again.
Fromcreative indiesto newUbisoftefforts, Steam Next Fest June 2025 is no different. But it’s also the event’s most political yet. There’s a whole section of the store dedicated to political game demos, and plenty of games outside that section which focus onqueer stories,anti-capitalist themes, or morepersonal political strugglesagainst societal and familial expectations.
I’m here once again to give you the rundown of my favourite games – both political and not – but with a caveat. There are a lot of great demos for games you’ve probably already heard of on offer this week. I urge you to try out the demos for Unbeatable, Mina the Hollower, Hotel Barcelona, Baby Steps, and Monument Valley 3, but I’m going to focus on smaller, less known games in this list. Without further ado, let the recommendations commence.
Wander Stars
This interactive anime is beautifully presented, and has the mechanics to back it up. Turn-based fights force you to combine adjectives and verbs to create souped-up attacks. Do you choose a Super Kick or a Wide Kick? A Fire Punch may target this opponent’s weakness, but it will take a couple of turns to recharge.
There’s surprising depth to this vocabulary-based combat, including the fact that you may leave enemies with a few HP remaining to recruit them as cheerleaders for the remainder of the chapter.
Play the Wander Stars demo here.
Holstin
Pixel art isn’t the usual style for survival horror games, but Holstin isn’t your usual survival horror game. Mostly played from an isometric perspective, it zooms into an over the shoulder angle as soon as you aim your pistol. The first game from Polish developer Sonka, if you’re into Resident Evil, exploding limbs, or a general sense of unease, then Holstin is the game for you.
Play the Holstin demo here.
Byte
You’re Jonathon, a realtor. Dracula’s realtor. Yes, the most famous vampire in literature wants to move to New York, and you’re tasked with aiding him. A modern-day adaptation of the classic Stoker tale, developer James Martini promises to engage with themes of queerness and technology, bringing the Count into the internet age.
Combining visual novel-esque storytelling with grid-based battles against PC passwords and Obra Dinn-style dither-punk art direction, this surreal blend of 3D art and blurred FMV footage is a curio that will sink its fangs into you and refuse to let go.
Play the Byte demo here.
Elevator Music
Ben review a Next Fest demo without referencing Lucas Pope challenge: impossible. Unfortunately for my need to break free from constant Pope comparisons but fortunately for the game itself, Elevator Music is a bureaucracy simulator in the same vein as Papers, Please. Except you’re not a customs official, you’re one of those guys who runs an elevator in a hotel. The mechanisms are crunchy and tactile, every passenger request a puzzle to be solved. Elevator Music promises political intrigue and ‘80s espionage in the full release, and I’ll be taking this ride all the way up.
Play the Elevator Music demo here.
Recyclicis another Papers Please-like about working in a recycling plant, andMinistry of Truth: 1984is a Ukrainian take on the classic Orwell novel with similar mechanics.
The Prisoning: Fletcher’s Quest
Trapped in the mind of a burned-out game dev after a psychology experiment gone wrong, this quirky platformer blends absurd humour with a timely commentary on the state of the industry. Great music, fun platforming, and witty fourth wall-breaking dialogue make this a must-play.
Play the The Prisoning: Fletcher’s Quest demo here.
Pigface
NorcomeetsI Am Your Beastin this grungy first-person brutaliser. A bloke rings you on a flip phone to tell you that he’s implanted an explosive microchip in your skull, and you must do as he says (mostly, kill, maim, and otherwise assault strangers who’ve been paid to kill you) or else he’ll activate it. Like a first-person Hotline Miami, Pigface offers high-octane fights and some of the most satisfying gunfeel you’ll experience this year.
Play the Pigface demo here.
Consume Me
If Wario aimed his crosshairs at diet culture, this would be the result. My colleague Tessa Kaur will publish a more personal and detailed look at the demo later this week, but this vibrant, minigame-filled title is a must-play.
Protagonist Jenny is trying to lose weight. But she’s got to balance her Tetrisified eating habits with hitting the gym, doing her chores, and studying to become a doctor. The juxtaposition of hilarious minigames and a cartoonish artstyle with a serious message and the stress of trying to manage your multiplying tasks, Consume Me is the highlight of Steam Next Fest this year.
Play the Comsume Me demo here.
Morbid Metal
It feels weird to put a Ubisoft game on this list, but Morbid Metal really is that good. I hadn’t heard of it before its Next Fest appearance, but it’s exactly the sort of game big studios should be making, if you ask me. Futuristic robots hacking-and-slashing their way through feudal Japan will sell most people on the game, but the combat is delicate and complex, relying on a series of lightning-fast dodges and balletic combos in order to slay your foes and emerge victorious. The roguelike trappings don’t get too much of a showing in the demo, but I liked what I saw.
Play the Morbid Metal demo here.
Caput Mortum
I often wonder what it’s like when my wife plays video games. When she very occasionally picks up a controller (or, more accurately, I thrust one into her hands), she has to study it every time she needs the A button. What’s an LT? Caput Mortum made me realise how she feels: unnerved.
Forget everything you knew about first-person controls. Caput Mortum subverts expectations at every turn. Whether it’s your right thumbstick controlling the protagonist’s hand or the lift in the mysterious tower taking you down instead of up, this is an interesting, unsettling game that uses decades of muscle memory against you.
Play the Caput Mortum demo here.
Rue Valley
What if Disco Elysium was a time loop game set in a mysterious American valley? Rue Valley is what. An introspective narrative RPG that takes clear inspiration from Studio ZA/UM’s masterpiece but doesn’t ever feel derivative, I can already tell that each playthrough will be completely different thanks to the dialogue options available based on your character’s personality and mental state. There’s a supernatural edge to Rue Valley, but I’m mostly here for the introspection.
