Steam Next Fest: The Ten Best Games To Check Out (2024)

Anyone got deja vu? I feel like it was only last week that I wrote about the last Steam Next Fest, and now there’s another one. It truly never stops. So I dived into the deep pool of indie demos once more to tell you what to check out.

Seeing as we’re just four months out from the last SNF (that’s the acronym all the cool kids use for Steam Next Fest, right?), I’ll quickly mention some games that I’ve already written about that are featured in the festival. Political detective photography game Mexico, 1921, A Deep Slumber has a demo, as does funny, fantasy XCOM-like Tactical Breach Wizards. A demo for Hollywood Animal, which my colleague Andrew King directed last week, is also available, as is a new demo for Tavern Talk. Phew. Now the new stuff.

Parcel Corps

Parcel Corps channels Jet Set Radio, Rollerdrome, and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, but offers better handling (or should I say package handling?) than any of the above. With its great cycling mechanics, intense time limits on delivery missions, and a cynical take on the gig economy, it’s well worth checking out. Pressing RT to skid your BMX is one of the most satisfying mechanics I used this week.

With absurd characters (the wine merchant has a wine bottle for a head), and a bustling open world that is immensely fun to wallride through, the Parcel Corps demo hints at lots more depth in the full release.

I Am Your Beast

Strange Scaffold doesn’t miss. I Am Your Beast is a speedrunning FPS – think Neon White meets Goldeneye – with one of the best narrative tutorials I’ve ever played. Every bullet is vital, every kick brainbustingly visceral, every menu click punctuated by a gunshot.

From perching on tree branches to throwing an unloaded pistol at a soldier’s head, I Am Your Beast is Hitman on speed, and the times being posted by players from the demo alone are mind-boggling. You’ll be able to beat my time, but I’m not sure anyone will beat the sub-14 second run that’s doing the rounds on social media.

Mythwrecked

There’s an interesting premise to Mythwrecked, a cosy game which sees you shipwrecked on a magical island. The demo is a little slow and backtracky, but the gentle soundtrack and beautiful colour palettes show a lot of potential.

You’ll get whiplash going from I Am Your Beast’s punchy, narrative-heavy tutorial to this traditional, slower-paced affair, but that’s the point. Nothing happens quickly on Ambrosia Island, and for some people, that’s just the ticket.

Dungeons and Degenerate Gamblers

Ladies and gentlenerds, we have our first Balatro-like. Based on Blackjack rather than Poker, Dungeons and Degenerate Gamblers uses the suits as difficulty settings and deals you plenty of unusual cards with abilities to rival Balatro’s Jokers.

There’s more narrative here than in the game it riffs off: you start by decking out against pub goers, but soon graduate to giant basem*nt rats and Decromancers, with decks and playstyles suited to their archetypes.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn

Flintlock takes a lot of inspiration from Dark Souls – Reputation is a souls system, there are checkpoints instead of bonfires, etc. – but the gameplay and combat are so smooth that it feels more like an Assassin’s Creed game. Billed as a Souls-lite, the fluid movement, double jumps, and godly powers bestowed upon protagonist Nor by a little fox thing make combat satisfying and traversal even better.

Fight the undead and kill Gods in this fantastical trench war. And if the original setting isn’t enough to pull you in, check out the demo to get a feel for the combat at least.

Closer the Distance

Closer the Distance is a hauntingly beautiful game about an unexpected bereavement in a small coastal village. You play as Connie, sister to the recently deceased Angela, who occasionally appears to haunt you. Not in a scary way, but as a means of finding out what happened.

Sitting somewhere between a point-and-click adventure and The Sims, Closer the Distance sees you repair relationships, figure out secrets, and, ultimately, move on. If nothing else, play for the beautiful writing, the haunting soundtrack, and the unique art style.

What The Car

If you’ve played What The Golf, you know what to expect. It’s that.

Note: You should know that your car has feet instead of wheels. That might be off-putting for some. It might be the selling point for others.

Heart of the Machine

It’s great to see a game that knows the difference between sentience and sapience. You’re the first sapient AI, and check out the screenshot above for the very first decision in the game.

Everything that follows is much in the same vein as you navigate a post-apocalyptic earth as an entirely logical being. Heart of the Machine is primarily about chaotic turn-based combat as you raise an android army, but it’s the narrative decisions that bind it all together. It needs a (better) tutorial because the systems are quite abstruse, but there’s a spark here that could blossom into a satisfying robot uprising.

Keylocker

Footloose but make it cyberpunk. Keylocker has an interesting concept and aesthetic, but the timings on the rhythm sections are very harsh. There’s something here, especially in the GRIDS battle system, but it’s not quite polished yet.

Conscript

I thought this would be a deep meditation on war, but it’s surprisingly ‘gamey’ with plenty of mechanical depth. It’s faster paced than I expected, with prompts such as ‘press A to jump down a ledge’ and ‘press RB to reload’. I don’t know why, but I didn’t expect Conscript to be like this. The trailers have been dark and atmospheric, the pace slow and deliberate, but the actual game is faster, less a narrative or wartime horror and more a top-down shooter.

Still, the sparse music, loud sound effects, and filtered pixel art direction make for an intense World War 1 experience.

While these ten games piqued my interest, the real joy of Steam Next Fest is diving in for yourself and finding something that speaks to you. There’s no way I can cover every game with a demo featured in the festival, so take it upon yourself to get stuck in, bulk out your wishlist, and find your next favourite game.