Steam Next Fest is always a blast, as game developers line up to offer up a slice of their upcoming games for players to download and enjoy.
This latest iteration of Steam Next Fest is full of some incredible titles that range across every genre you could imagine, along with some genre combinations you would never even consider. We’ve been playing them all, and we have a list of suggestions to try out before this Next Fest comes to an end.
Here are our picks for some of the best demos to play during Steam Next Fest in June 2025.
The best Steam Next Fest demos
Absolum
The latest fromStreets of Rage 4devs Guard Crush is a demo I got toplay a bit earlyahead of Steam Next Fest, and it’s one I’m incredibly excited for. It’s a roguelike side-scrolling beat-em-up with an interesting story premise and three playable characters, and it’s the first original IP fromTMNT: Shredder’s Revengepublisher Dotemu.
BALL x PIT
Break balls, build your base, and upgrade your characters in yet another roguelite, but this one hashad me addictedsince I first played it. I’m not even sad that demo progress doesn’t carry over, though, because it’s just that addicting.
Phase Zero
The latest in an ever-growing line of classic PS1Resident Evil-likes, and this one skyrocketed to thetop of my listafter playing it. Fixed camera angles, inventory management, puzzle solving, and zombies? Yeah, I am all the way in.
PIGFACE
Sticking with the horror theme,PIGFACEreminds me ofManhuntandHotline Miamiif they got together and made a creepy, retro FPS. Ultraviolent and disturbing, this one combines stealth and gunplay to create something worthkeeping an eye on.
This is simply one of the most stylish and promising game demos I’ve played in some time. It combinesBatman: Arkham-style simplified combat with disco music to create something that’s utterly satisfying, and it’s all soaked in neon for beautiful added effect.
Windswept
A duck and a turtle combine to create one of themost charming demosin this Steam Next Fest, brilliantly recreating the feeling and look of classic retro platformers, but with some awesome and interesting new gameplay mechanics as the two animals work together to progress.
Ambrosia Sky
PartPower Wash Simulator, part narrative game, Ambrosia Sky is all potential. You’re tasked with spraying alien fungus while performing last rites for the dead, andplaying the demowas all I needed to generate some genuine interest.
Letters to Arralla
One of the mostunique demos I playedthis week, this one stars a turnip with fat asscheeks delivering mail on an island where everybody else is a caked up fruit or vegetable, too. I’d suggest trying it just to see that it’s actually real.
MIMESIS
Games likeLethal CompanyandREPOgoing popular have created an entirely new subgenre of spooky co-op games, and this one may bethe creepiest. The game will record you and your teammates to then try and make monsters use your voices to mimic you in the game.
