Best Steam Next Fest demos to download and play

Steam Next Fest is with us for the next seven days and it brings with it hundreds upon hundreds of demos to check out and fill up our Steam Wishlists with There are far too many for the normal human to work their way through so we are going to give you a pointer to five demos we definitely thing you should be downloading and checking out.

There are so many more options, but these are the ones you absolutely should not miss out on.

Pacific Drive Demo

The highly anticipated Pacific Drive now has its own demo ahead of its release on 22nd February. Kepler Interactive and Ironwood Studios have released it containing the full first story mission, alongside the opening moments of the game. You need to keep your beat-up old car in shape and scavenge new parts to pimp your ride.

Steam description: Face the supernatural dangers of the Olympic Exclusion Zone with a car as your only lifeline in this driving survival adventure! Scavenge resources, load up your trusty station wagon and drive like hell to make it through alive.

Genre: Survival, Action

Animal Trainer Simulator Demo

As well as hardcore gaming experience, Steam Next Fest is filled with wholesome experiences, like this one for animal lovers where you can train dogs to give you the paw, and horses not to, well bolt away, throw you off, and shatter your skeleton. Unleash your inner Cesar Millan (although he did cats and we aren’t sure if they are in this, but roll with it anyway.)

Steam Description: Become a real-life animal trainer! Manage and develop your animal training center, and create a safe and happy place for them! Train different types of animals, and give them a lot of attention and they will surely become calmer and more cooperative with their owners.

Genre: Simulation, Casual

Dystopika Demo

Right, we covered this a short time ago, and from the interest in the page is looks as though lots of you liked the look of it as much as we did. Hugely excited to get our hands on a demo that gives you a full 15 minutes to design your Blade Runner-style dystopian city, and then as long as you want in Photo Mode to traverse it and take pretty pictures.

There is zero management in Dystopkia, it’s just about creating beautiful futuristic cities with ambient music. Drop some buildings down, scale them, and decide whether to put gaudy neon billboards on them, Then head into Photo mode and hang out with all the flying cars and admire your work before heading back out and expanding. It’s great. Even at this stage. You must check it out if you like this sort of vibe.

Steam description: Dystopika is a chill cyberpunk city-builder of dystopian dreams (or nightmares). No goals, no stress, no objectives. Just your imagination.

Genre: Casual, Building

Dungeonborne Demo

Another game that is building a lot of hype around it is Mithril Interactive’s Dungeonborne which sees you delving into the dark and looting dungeons in a first-person perspective romp that looks very cool. It actually reminds me a bit of old-school Hexen and am hoping the final version of the game will be as exciting as the demo.

Steam description:Dungeonborne is an immersive first-person PvPvE dungeon crawler. Venture solo or join forces with trusted companions to hunt for treasure, explore ominous dungeons, and battle terrifying monsters and cunning adversaries. Escape before succumbing to darkness and greed.

Genre: Dungeon crawler, Action RPG

Soulmask Demo

It would not be gaming in 2024 unless most games were Survival games. Soulmask will have to stand out in an increasingly crowded market but so far it looks nice and its premise is solid. You will need to recruit tribesmen to your cause and fortify your clan to fend off attacks. Have we seen it before, clearly, but this looks as though the effort will be rewarded.

Steam description: Escaping a deadly sacrificial ritual, you find an ancient mystical mask on your journey. This mask holds potent knowledge, changing the world you knew. Face the harsh challenges of nature, survive, rally followers, and build your own tribe. Explore and unveil the truths behind the enigmatic mask.

Genre: Survival, Sandbox

There are plenty more demos in the Steam Next Fest to try, but these will keep you happy for a while!

Paul McNally

Gaming Editor

Paul McNally has been around consoles and computers since his parents bought him a Mattel Intellivision in 1980. He has been a prominent games journalist since the 1990s, spending over a decade as editor of popular print-based video games and computer magazines, including a market-leading PlayStation title published by IDG Media.

Having spent time as Head of Communications at a professional sports club and working for high-profile charities such as the National Literacy Trust, he returned as Managing Editor in charge of large US-based technology websites in 2020.

Paul has written high-end gaming content for GamePro, Official Australian PlayStation Magazine, PlayStation Pro, Amiga Action, Mega Action, ST Action, GQ, Loaded, and the The Mirror. He has also hosted panels at retro-gaming conventions and can regularly be found guesting on gaming podcasts and Twitch shows. He is obsessed with 3D printing and has worked with several major brands in the past to create content

Believing that the reader deserves actually to enjoy what they are reading is a big part of Paul’s ethos when it comes to gaming journalism, elevating the sites he works on above the norm. Reach out on X.