15 Best Steam Next Fest Games You Should Try

Steam Next Fest has become our favorite seasonal event on Valve’s games storefront. This dedicated event has helped gamers find intriguing games from studios. And we eagerly look forward to it. As it is with the 2024 Steam Next Fest, we thought of carrying our tradition forward and choosing some of the most intriguing games for the February edition. Whether you like city builders or platformers, we’ve noted our favorite picks and ones you can kickstart the event with. So, without further ado, open Steam, and let’s begin!

1. Pacific Drive

Pacific Drive is an upcoming sci-fi adventure game where you drive a car through the Pacific North exclusion zone. You improve your car, take care of it, and collect mysterious anomalies. Your goal is to survive and solve the mysterious circumstances of the zone.

This has been on top of my anticipated games for 2024, and the demo has only reinvigorated my excitement. This is one of the must-try games in this Steam Next Fest. With the launch only a few weeks away, the developers have finally graced us with a brilliant demo for the upcoming car survival game, so try it out!

2. Children of the Sun

Devolver Digital is known for publishing some of the wackiest games out there, and Children of the Sun feels like a perfect addition to the catalog. In this tactical puzzle shooter, you follow a girl out for revenge against a ruthless cult armed with a single bullet.

You control the bullet across various levels and are tasked with clearing them in the most creative ways possible. Highly replayable, this is another game you shouldn’t miss amidst so many great games in this Steam Next Fest.

3. News Tower

News Tower is the first demo I played when Steam did their first Next Fest. And we never heard anything much about the game after. With the launch game only a few short weeks away, we have finally received another brand-new demo.

News Tower is a tower-builder/management game where you run a newspaper company amidst the 1930s Depression era. You deal with various situations and ensure that news keeps pumping out timely against all the odds.

4. Underspace

Remember the Thomas The Tank Engine mod from Skyrim? The one that gave rise to the famous meme in video games? It seems the creator of that mod decided to make a full-fledged video game.

Enter Underspace, a sandbox Lovecraftian RPG that aims to become the spiritual successor to 2003’s Freelancer. You fly around uncharted space, collect bones of ancient star beasts, and unravel the mysteries of deep space. We’ve tried the demo for a while and were instantly hooked to it. It is another must-try if you are into space sims.

5. Winter Survival

I have an insane hatred for winter. And Winter Survival taps right into that. However, it also mixes survival elements into the game. You play as a stranded hiker in Mount Washington State Park, fighting for survival against the wildlife and harsh environment.

Hunt, forage, and build to keep your sanity intact. Winter survival aims to give a brutal and realistic experience of the situation, ensuring you enjoy a thrilling survival game.

6. Mullet Mad Jack

My love for old-school anime compelled me to try out Mullet Mad Jack. And what an honest decision I’ve taken. This is one of the stylish boomer shooters worth keeping an eye on. Mullet Madjack is a fast-paced FPS where the time is your health.

And the more you kill, the more time you get, resulting in a fast experience. Plus, the game features a stylish art style inspired by old-school anime. So, if you love 2000s action movies and anime, you should download the demo.

7. SUMMERHOUSE

A small building game that tries to encapsulate the feeling of cozy summer days, Summerhouse ensures that you have a relaxing building experience, one that is accessible to everyone. You build a cozy neighborhood in various settings, enjoying the atmosphere.

The game emphasizes coziness. And, being a staunch Boku no Natsuyasumi admirer, I loved this Steam Next Fest demo. It is certainly a game I’ll be keeping an eye on.

8. Backrooms

It seems developers aren’t done with the concept of Backrooms, as many more are trying to release unique experiences in the popular internet genre. Backrooms, as the name suggests, puts you and your friends behind a video camera, exploring creepy backrooms and environments for anomalies.

The game features proximity voice chat and ensures that each dynamic level gives you a unique and immersive experience. So, if you ever wanted to get into a game with an extremely creepy atmosphere, this one is it in the Steam Next Fest 2024.

9. Biomorph

Metroidvanias always experiment with unique experiences, and Biomorph dabbles into that, too. In this game, players explore an interconnected world, controlling an explorer that transforms into monsters they kill.

You do the standard Metroidvania things like solve puzzles, explore the map, and vanquish foes. The goal is to rebuild the city of Brightmoor and take any methods necessary to reach that goal.

10. Lost Twins II

The final game on the list is a cute puzzle adventure game called Lost Twins II. The game is focused on absolute coziness. This is an adventure game where you join Abi and Ben on a journey through cutesy environments back home.

It features simple handcrafted puzzles that are unique and an experience for everyone of every age. Overall, Lost Twins II made me wish there was a Lost Twins one if the demo was this fun.

11. Biogun

We all love dogs. And when your dog’s in danger of extinction because of a virus, some might will take matters into their own hands. Enter, Biogun, a game where you play as Bek-01, a vaccine that gets pumped into a dog to ensure it lives. Play through various hand-drawn levels, and take out the germs and viruses to strengthen the immune system of your dog. Honestly, the concept’s surreal, but I’m all here for it.

12. Corpus Edax

My love for immersive sim always compels me to add at least one entry to my Steam Next Fest lists. For this year, we’ll go with Corpus Edax. It’s a retro-futuristic immersive sim in a world on the brink of a revolution.

How you approach a situation depends on your decisions, and there are multiple approaches to a problem. With Gloomwood and Shadows of Doubt shaping out to become worthy experiences, Corpus Edax is equally worth keeping an eye on.

13. Dread Dawn

Dread Dawn is an open-world zombie survival game in a city under quarantine. Stranded in the city after failing to evacuate, you adapt to your surroundings and survive the harsh conditions of a hostile city. Craft defenses and resources and survive the calamity with other survivors stuck in the city.

14. Star Trucker

Star Trucker is a sci-fi spin on the sim-trucking genre, where you try to become the best space trucker by hauling cargo and trading salvage across space. You get to customize your space-wheeler truck and explore a gigantic map of different delivery points, all in space.

15. Copycat

Copycat is a narrative-driven story where you play as a shelter cat who gets adopted into a household. After a stray copycat steals Dawn’s place in her new home, Dawn gets kicked back to the streets, fending for herself.

It aims to tell a wholesome story of human-pet relations and touches on topics like rejection and the true meaning of home.

And with that, we conclude our Steam Next Fest 2024 demo list. Each of these demos got us excited for the final release. Did you try out a demo that impressed you? Let us know in the comments below.