Steam Next Fest: February 2024 Edition has started, and during its duration we will highlight a few of the thousands of demos you can try.
Because it can be a little overwhelming, each day we’ll help you navigate the sea of demos with a list focusing on everything from cutting-edge technology to diamonds in the rough. Who knows: you might discover your next obsession, or, demo a game so many you need therapy.
Steam Next Fest: February 2024 Edition runs until February 12, and in addition to demos, many developers are hosting live streams to discuss their upcoming releases. Chats with developers will also continue during this time.
If you want to explore dungeons, check out the demo for Dungeonborne, a first-person PvPvE game where you can adventure alone or join forces with companions to find treasure, fight monsters, and more. You can adventure through the corridors of Crusoe’s Castle alone or with up to two allies to take on the multi-level Sinner’s End. You can play as a Warrior, Priest, Rogue, Juggernaut, Pyromancer, Cold Warlock or Death Knight, with a 3v3 arena in development.
Weird Gardening – Story Trailer
If you haven’t tried Weird Gardening yet, you’re doing yourself a disservice. The game is a very cool (in our opinion) mystery puzzle game that takes over a plant shop in Undermere. Surrounded by witch-infested forests and rugged mountains, this mysterious town is populated by a colorful cast of citizens who come to your shop. You’ll need to venture into the dark woods in search of new plants, using your encyclopedia and clues to learn more about the strange plants you encounter. By identifying each plant, you’ll be able to use their effects to influence the story. As you progress through the game, you’ll learn about a mystery that dates back hundreds of years, you can chat with the pack, you can join a cult, and you can pet your cat. It’s been out for a while, but better late than never!
The storm is coming…
Fans of real-time strategy should check out Frost Giant Studios’ Stormgate. Set in a science fantasy universe, you will command mechas to defend the Earth, or play the bad guy and invade the Earth with Hellfire. It features an evolving campaign where you can team up for 3P co-op against the AI, compete 1v1 or 3v3, or play in the editor.
“Homeworld 3: War Game” – Demo Announcement
Homeworld 3 will be released on March 8th, and Blackbird Interactive wants you to give it a preview. You can take on the challenge alone or with friends and play in three-player co-op mode, which blends Homeworld’s RTS gameplay with roguelike elements. Collect powerful artifacts to give your ships more power, speed, and weapons to rise through the ranks and unlock new fleets and power-ups.
Unlimited play time!Try our demo during Steam Next Fest – Soulmask Game Episode 02
Campfire Studios has released a 40-hour demo of Soulmask, a sandbox survival game in which after escaping a deadly ritual, you discover a mysterious mask that holds the power to change the world you once knew knowledge. As the “last man standing” you will start with nothing and need to face the harsh challenges of nature to survive, gather followers, and build your tribe.
Survivorman VR: The Descent – Official Trailer Released
If you’re a Les Stroud fan like us and have a supported VR headset, you should give the demo of Survivorman VR: The Descent a try. A realistic survival simulator set in the Canadian Arctic, you are the sole survivor of a helicopter crash in the icy mountains, barely surviving. You’ll need to use your skills, wits, and creativity to fight against natural disasters and save your own life before you freeze to death or worse. Across six levels, you’ll face challenges such as crafting snowshoes, traversing glacier crevasses, building hunting traps, scaling cliffs, and keeping the fire burning while following the river in search of potential rescue – just be careful of the polar bears.
Backpack Combat – Early Access Announcement Trailer
Want to try a PvP inventory management auto-battle game? Then check out the early access game Backpack Combat. In it, you’ll buy and craft powerful items and put them into your backpack. The smarter you place your items, the better you stand against other players’ real-life builds. Items come in different shapes, sizes, prices, and rarities, and you can combine them into more powerful gear. You can brew potions, craft legendary weapons or hatch a dragon.
Pacific Avenue | Story Trailer
This is a demo of a first-person driving survival game called Pacific Drive. As you drive through the Pacific Northwest, you’ll face supernatural dangers as you traverse the Olympic Restricted Area and encounter unique challenges each time you enter. You’ll need to scavenge to survive, craft new gear, and configure your vehicle the way you want.
Lightyear Frontier – Healthy Snacks: The Game Awards Edition Trailer
You should put Lightyear Frontier on your playlist, a relaxing and colorful open-world farming game set on a planet at the edge of the galaxy. Use your mech to build a home on a distant planet with up to three friends, create a sustainable alien farm, grow alien crops, and explore the wilderness.
Dawn of Fear Steam Trailer
Zombie fans may want to check out Dawn of Fear, an open-world zombie survival game set in a quarantined city. You play as a student who was left behind after missing the evacuation convoy. Together with your classmates and other survivors, you defend the school, survive and wait for rescue.
Godsworn – Early Access Release Date Trailer
Godsworn will launch in Early Access on March 28th, so you can experience this mythical RTS game now. An epic fantasy retelling of the Northern Crusades, in which pagan gods and their tribes clash with Crusaders and Celestial armies. You’ll choose a divine hero, gather worshipers and mythical creatures, and defeat your enemies.
Caretaker: Infinite – Release Date Trailer
Set to launch in the first quarter of this year, Gatekeeper is a fast-paced rogue-lite game that lets you embark on a journey to find the stolen Heart of the Universe and fight your way through hordes of enemies, either solo or cooperatively with friends. Fight your way through robotic enemies. There are several playable characters with unique abilities, tons of skill sets, a totem system, over 100 game-changing collectibles, and dozens of unique planets, enemies, and bosses.
SYNERGY – Demo Trailer | A Moebius-inspired city builder
Synergy is a cool-looking, cell-shaded city-building game where humans must survive in a strange and hostile world. In the game, you’ll build a city while respecting the ecosystem, and analyze plants and other natural elements to fill your knowledge book. This book will come in handy as it is an essential guide to acquiring resources, keeping citizens safe, optimizing cities, and promoting survival and prosperity while maintaining harmony with the surrounding nature.
Dream Paradise – Trailer Revealed
Want to restore the balance of magic by saving fantasy creatures from extinction? Then you should watch “Dream Paradise”. The task of this management sandbox game is to build a sanctuary to welcome and protect fantastic creatures and explore unique areas while gathering neighboring populations to your cause and restoring creatures in their natural environment.
Knights Within – Steam Next Fest Demo Trailer
Indecision Labs has provided a demo for its upcoming game Knights Within. It’s a 1-3 player hybrid third-person shooter and melee hack-and-slash game with roguelite elements. After creating your custom loadout, you’ll navigate procedurally generated levels using randomized power-ups to survive endless waves of enemies.
Next Festival Demo | Thrive: The Heavy Lie of the Crown
Our final demo highlight today is Thrive: Heavy Lies the Crown, a complex city-building game where the fate of your kingdom depends on your every decision. To create a prosperous kingdom, you will assign tasks to your subjects, gather resources, construct buildings, explore the wilderness, and secure your kingdom’s reputation through trade or conquering enemies in real-time strategy battles. As a ruler, you need to choose the path of mercy or tyranny – both have their advantages – and make the right decisions, as they will have long-term consequences for your rule.You can play alone or with friends in this medieval land
We’ll be back tomorrow with more great content from Steam Next Fest.