Steam’s latest batch of experimental demos is about to vanish, from a narrative cooking gem by Visai Games to horror curiosities and cozy puzzlers-here are 12 short, strange, and surprising tastes you should queue up before the festival clock runs out.
It can be overwhelming to navigate the sheer number of demos available, but it’s worth digging through the lists. You’re sure to find something that catches your eye, and there’s no limit to how many games you can install and play. We’ve curated a list of 12 games that we are excited for, but it’s not even close to a complete list of promising games featured in the latest Steam Next Fest.
Venba
Venba offers a heartfelt narrative cooking game where players recreate South Indian family recipes amid personal stories of immigration and memory. Guide protagonist Venba through kitchen challenges that blend precise mechanics with emotional depth from Visai Games. This demo captures the game’s quiet power, perfect for Steam Next Fest explorers seeking cultural resonance.
Venba, from Visai Games, is a narrative cooking game set in the 1980s after an Indian mother moves to Canada with her family. The game centers around cooking puzzles that will restore lost family members and unravel a “story about family, love, [and] loss.” Venba‘s release date is set for July 31.
Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To
Spirit Swap mixes match-3 puzzles with lofi beats that pulse to your moves. Clear colorful spirits on a grid to build chill tracks layer by layer. The demo lets you experiment with rhythms and combos in short sessions perfect for Steam Next Fest.
From developer Soft Not Weak, Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To is a puzzle game with a queer, witchy twist. The narrative swirls around the match-three gameplay and lo-fi music. There are dating sim elements, a story, and even a room to decorate. Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To is expected out in 2023.
Goodbye Volcano High
Goodbye Volcano High delivers a poignant queer coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of an asteroid-bound apocalypse. Players guide Fang, a non-binary velociraptor navigating band drama, family tensions, and first love in their final high school weeks. This narrative adventure blends sharp dialogue, expressive visuals, and an emo soundtrack into an emotional rollercoaster that lingers long after the credits roll.
KO_OP’s Goodbye Volcano High just won the video game prize at the 2023 Tribeca Festival, and now you can play its demo via Steam Next Fest. Goodbye Volcano High is described as a “cinematic narrative adventure” where you play as Fang, a student in their last year of high school. It looks moody, sweet, and sincere. Goodbye Volcano High is out Aug. 29.
Viewfinder
Viewfinder turns perception into a puzzle mechanic, letting you reshape reality by placing photos into the environment to alter your surroundings. Every snapshot changes the path ahead, creating a layered experience of exploration and creativity. Its blend of perspective tricks and environmental storytelling makes it one of the most inventive demos to try before the festival wraps up.
Viewfinder is a game about perception and perspective, using photographs to alter an already trippy world. From Sad Owl Studios and publisher Thunderful Publishing, Viewfinder is an innovative game where you’ll use photos to solve puzzles and open up the world. Viewfinder is slated for release on July 18.
Laika: Aged Through Blood
In Laika: Aged Through Blood, players ride through a post-apocalyptic wasteland as a coyote mother seeking vengeance and redemption. The hand-painted visuals and physics-driven motorbike combat create a brutal yet emotional side-scrolling experience. Each encounter demands precision, and every victory feels personal, pushing the story’s themes of survival and sacrifice to the forefront.
Developer Brainwash Gang describes Laika: Aged Through Blood as a “western-inspired motovania set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.” To that I say: Yes! The beautiful stylized world has a “mother coyote warrior” riding a motorbike and taking on a “endless path of vengeance to take back what her people lost.” Laika: Aged Through Blood is listed as coming soon.
Stellaris Nexus
Stellaris Nexus condenses the grand 4X space strategy formula into fast-paced matches that last under an hour, keeping the spirit of Stellaris intact while removing its longest grinds. Players manage diplomacy, exploration, and conflict in a shared galaxy, competing for dominance through clever alliances and bold decisions. Its multiplayer focus and streamlined systems make it ideal for players who want strategic tension without the time commitment of a full-length campaign.
4X games are known for being long, letting you play for hours (and days and weeks). That’s great and all, but sometimes a contained experience is nice. That’s where 4X game Stellaris Nexus comes in. The sci-fi strategy game is designed to be played in an hour, condensing everything you love about 4X games into a short, pointed, and almost board game-like experience. There’s no release date just yet.
Sticky Business
In Visai Games’ narrative cooking sim, you play as a mother using recipes to connect with her daughter across memories and generations. The demo blends storytelling with interactive cooking sequences that feel personal and heartfelt, where each ingredient tells part of the family’s story. Its hand-painted art and tender writing make it one of the most touching experiences in the festival lineup.
If you’ve ever wanted to try building a small, creative business, then Sticky Business is for you. The cute, cozy game from Spellgarden Games is a small-business sim built around making stickers. You’ll design, sell, and then pack up orders as you navigate running a cute little shop. Sticky Business is expected out in 2023.
Saltsea Chronicles
Saltsea Chronicles offers an imaginative narrative adventure set across island communities that rise and fall with the tides. Players guide a crew through branching stories filled with mystery, culture, and heartfelt moments. Each decision shapes how the group relates to one another and what truths surface about their fragmented archipelago, giving this seafaring tale a quiet emotional pull.
From the creator of Mutazione, Die Gute Fabrik’s Saltsea Chronicles is set on the high seas in a “post-flood world.” There’s plenty to explore on the saltsea and lots of people to meet as you make your way through ruins of the old world. Plus, there are cats!Saltsea Chronicles is coming in 2023.
Cart Life
Cart Life rebuilds the mundane grind of ordinary life into a series of small, meaningful choices. Players manage time, income, and personal relationships while running a modest street vending business. Its grey-toned visuals and grounded storytelling highlight the quiet pressures of survival, making every decision feel human and real.
Cart Life is back thanks to a partnership between developer Richard Hofmeier and AdHoc Studio. The acclaimed game disappeared from stores years ago, but it has returned – first as a demo in Steam Next Fest – so players can explore the lives of three street vendors once again. Cart Life is expected to be released in 2023.
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes – Definitive Edition
The definitive edition of Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes refines the beloved puzzle-RPG hybrid with sharper visuals, smoother performance, and quality-of-life updates. Its blend of tactical match-three combat and strategic RPG progression feels as engaging as ever, rewarding smart planning and positioning. The demo offers a taste of the refreshed campaign and multiplayer battle mode, giving both longtime fans and newcomers a chance to experience its satisfying tactical depth.
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes – Definitive Edition has it all: puzzle, strategy, and role-playing game elements. The game was first released in 2009 by Capybara Games, and the definitive edition arriving July 20 combines the original game with its DLC, new character art, and “many quality-of-life improvements and an expanded, fully reworked and re-balanced online mode.”
Fortune’s Run
Fortune’s Run puts players in charge of a galactic smuggling operation, balancing high-stakes cargo hauls with sudden betrayals from clients and cops. Quick choices shape alliances and escapes across procedurally generated space routes, where one wrong turn means losing your ship or worse. This roguelite racer from Visai Games mixes tense piloting with narrative branches that keep runs fresh and punishing.
Team Fortune’s Fortune’s Run has a classic first-person-shooter feel with a twist – it’s got a fighting game system. You’ll punch and slash your way through the gritty world while mastering different combos and special moves. Fortune’s Run is out on Sept. 1.
Americas Tower Simulator
Americas Tower Simulator challenges players to balance ambition and precision as they construct towering skyscrapers across bustling cityscapes. The demo introduces detailed management mechanics, from budgeting materials to optimizing worker schedules, all while contending with shifting weather and safety concerns. Its crisp visuals and steady pacing create a satisfying rhythm between planning and execution, making each completed floor feel like a true accomplishment.
Americas Tower Simulator puts you in the seat of an air traffic controller, clearing planes for takeoff and guiding them to their gates. You’ll quickly be spinning multiple plates as you transmit severe weather data, clear the runway of birds, and respond to emergency landings. The immersion is made complete by the game’s use of voice recognition. You’ll have to learn a little jargon, but it’s worth it for the magic of directing planes around the airport with nothing but your voice. Americas Tower Simulator lands sometime in 2023.
Which of these demos offer replayability and branching endings
Venba stands out among the listed demos for offering branching paths through its dialogue choices and recipe interpretations, encouraging replays to unlock different family story outcomes. Strategy titles like Solasta II, Nordhold, and Machine Mind provide replayability via procedural elements, multiple builds, and variable scenarios rather than full branching endings.
Demos with Branching Endings
Venba is the primary demo here with meaningful narrative branches tied to player decisions in conversations and puzzles, leading to varied emotional resolutions. Do No Harm incorporates ethical choices that alter medical case outcomes, suggesting multiple endings in its demo segment. Others like He is Coming or As We Descend focus more on roguelike randomization than explicit narrative branches.
High Replayability Picks
Roguelikes and sims dominate replay value without traditional endings:
| Demo | Replay Features |
|---|---|
| Solasta II | Tactical builds, party comps |
| Machine Mind | Resource strategies, defenses |
| Nordhold | Defense layouts, waves |
| He is Coming | Procedural runs, survival |
| As We Descend | Dungeon variance, roguelike loops |
| Drop Duchy | Base designs, procedural gens |
Cozy options like Powerwash Simulator 2 rely on levels and co-op rather than branches, while city builders (City Tales, Rise of Industry 2) offer sandbox experimentation. Roadcraft emphasizes skill-based driving challenges over narrative depth.
Which demos include multiple endings or branching paths
Venba and Do No Harm from the listed demos feature branching paths or multiple endings through player choices in narratives and decisions. Others emphasize procedural replayability over explicit narrative branches.
Confirmed Branching Demos
Venba offers branching dialogues and recipe choices that lead to varied family story resolutions, encouraging replays for different emotional outcomes. Do No Harm includes ethical medical decisions altering case results, hinting at multiple endings even in demo form.
Limited or Absent Branching
Strategy and roguelike demos like Solasta II, Machine Mind, Nordhold, He is Coming, and As We Descend rely on procedural generation, builds, and runs for replay value without true narrative branches or endings. Cozy sims (Powerwash Simulator 2) and builders (City Tales, Rise of Industry 2, Drop Duchy) focus on sandbox play or levels, while Roadcraft prioritizes skill challenges.
