Every few months we see a bunch of upcoming games come and take to the walkway to strut their stuff and showcase what might be releasing in the next few months, this time in the Steam Next Fest for Winter 2025. What started as a COVID-era replacement of opportunity for events like PAX has become a consistent discovery point for many developers, with Next Fests now reliably having over 1,000 games in them.
No one could try them all, but with some time to play a number, and my own feelings on games, I can tell you 10 Steam Next Fest Demos you should get out and try, or at least keep your eyes on these games if they sound at all interesting to you.
Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos
Take the Vampire Survivors Bullet Heaven formula, toss it in a blender with Diablo 2, and after a few checks you may find that you come out with Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos. Beyond the equipment being very Diablo-esque, you’ll also notice that many of the abilities seem like they came right out of Diablo 2. Hammer of Might made me think of Hammerdins, while Ice Orbs felt like my favorite build, a Glacial Orb Sorceress.
Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall
The sequel to the exquisite Yes, Your Grace in 2020, Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall brings takes it to the next level with the same focus on narrative and strategic choices to be made, while adding new wrinkles and levels of options in what you can do. You can play this without having played the first, but you’ll have the story of the first game revealed as it sets up what the world state is at the start of Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall.
Void War
What if FTL was built around the Warhammer 40k license? Well, if they failed to get the negotiations over and had to slightly scrub off references, you’d end up with Void War. It adds a few wrinkles to the FTL formula, but it is very similar and features similarly snappy play and roguelite decision making.
Promise Mascot Agency
From the creators of Paradise Killer comes a really out-there game – a world where mascots have abilities and are real beings in the same world with us.
You play as a disgraced Yakuza member (voiced by none other than the voice of Kazuma Kiryu himself) in a run-down cursed Japanese town having to rebuild a failed mascot agency by recruiting quirky and abandoned mascots and doing a variety of jobs around town. Expect to be driving a lot and doing silly things all over while the cast takes it deadly serious in a wonderfully campy and fun video game.
Gothic 1 Remake
The Gothic 1 Remake captures the classic Gothic feel in the prequel demo with that beginning of powerlessness in an open world that the Gothic series was known for in its heyday. You can feel yourself improving as you learn things, and the game looks beautiful.
There's some jank to be worked out for sure, but so far it looks like a worthy revival of a storied RPG franchise. Just give it some patience, and be willing to meet it part way as its world operates on a different sense than most modern open-world RPGs, and when the Gothic 1 Remake releases later this year you'll have a good time.
Best Served Cold
If you played one of 2016’s best games, VA-11 Hall-A, you might have been looking for other games in that vein ever since. The newest contender on the block is Best Served Cold, which ditches the dystopic cyberpunk bar for a 1920s-era speakeasy, and adds in a murder mystery. Some strong storytelling and setup here make this a game I want to see more of when it comes out.
Crystal Rail
Crystal Rail is an innovative digital board game that also takes inspiration from roguelites. It brings to mind strategy games and trading games, both digitally and tabletop. It particularly brings to mind Gazillionaire for me, and the times playing that with my family in my younger days (back when games had play-by-email options).
My only complaint after playing it really is that it doesn't seem likely to have multiplayer in the future, so I can't plan to play it together with friends.
Drop Duchy
Drop Duchy is an interesting play on the Tetris-styled puzzle formula by turning the blocks into pieces of a roguelite building game, and you arrange them to gather resources and/or build an army to take on opposition. It plays slickly, intelligently, and has that addictive one-more-try type feel that many of the best roguelites have.
Solasta 2
Solasta 2 looks and plays great as an adaptation of 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons that aims to add more story and character to the series, building on what Solasta: Crown of the Magister laid down. While it doesn't quite have all the bells and whistles of Baldur's Gate 3, it is a lot of fun and it feels like playing a published campaign in many ways.
One small grace note for those looking to learn 5e from the video game is that they note when something is a house rule adaptation done to help bridge the gap between tabletop and digital roleplaying, so you'll know when a certain mechanic isn't quite the same as on tabletop.
Monster Train 2
Did you enjoy Monster Train? Do you enjoy roguelite deckbuilders? If you answered yes to either, you should go and play the recently announced Monster Train 2 demo right after reading this article, as it is more Monster Train. An iterative, rather than innovative, sequel, it builds upon the first game by offering more of the same with new content and a few twists.
That’s 10 games for you to try this weekend, among the many other games that are out there for the Winter Steam Next Fest 2025. If you’ve tried one and want to recommend it, let us know!
A longtime lover of speculative fiction, in almost all its forms, Don joined TechRaptor in 2014 on a whim sending in an application as he was looking for… More about Don
