Any PC gamer worth their salt is already extremely aware of Steam Next Fest, and how it's easily one of the best events Steam runs every year. At least it is in my eyes, because Next Fest is all about getting to download demos for upcoming games, games you might've heard about, or just something you think looks cool.

From big and small studios alike, Next Fest is a great chance to discover new games you would have never played if you didn't have the chance to try them out for free first. The challenge with Next Fest though, is that there are quite literally thousands of games that can be featured in any of the Next Fest events Steam hosts each year. Which is why this list narrows it down to just 10 games that you should absolutely try out, before Next Fest is over.

10 Shotgun Copman

Go to hell, arrest the devil. Sounds easy, right?

The studio behind My Friend Pedro, the side-scrolling 2D shooting platformer is back with another shooting platformer, that really brings the two together this time. Shotgun Cop Man is the title of the game and the character you play, as you jump around Hell by propelling yourself with your shotgun.

It's a 2D twin-stick platformer, where your shots are how you jump around, and it absolutely slaps. This is immediately one of my most anticipated platformers, because of how well it weaves movement and combat. The demo is also incredibly long, with a bunch of short and sweet levels to play through that will keep you glued for hours. I love precision platforming games, and DeadToast Entertainment seem to have a pretty incredible one on their hands here.

9 Despelote

The soccer game about people.

Despelote is a narrative focused slice-of-life game, where you play as a young boy growing up in Ecuador in the late 90's and early 2000's. Like any young boy at the time in Ecuador, you're obsessed with soccer, and playing soccer from a first-person perspective as this young kid is the core gameplay you'll experience in this demo. But what makes despelote special, unsurprisingly, is its storytelling.

The demo takes you through a few scenes. A scene where you're at school, and then at recess, and being at home with your family. In a short window, despelote is able to display how effective it is with its storytelling, and even just after playing a very quick demo, this is probably one of the games that I absolutely cannot wait to get back to, to see the whole thing through. If you like narrative-focused games, than despelote should absolutely be a game you check out during this Next Fest.

8 White Knuckle

Push your hands to the limit.

I'm quite the fan of platformers, even the ones that make you pull your hair out. In some cases, I especially love the ones that make you pull your hair out. White Knuckle is the kind of platformer that'll make you go crazy, without it actually being an unfair challenge.

This first-person 3D platformer will have you jumping and climbing out of a low-pixel-count prison, while trying to balance your stamina so you don't fall. Your stamina isn't displayed by a green bar in the corner of the screen, though. It's shown through how red your white hands will get the longer you hold on to a ledge. Once you let go, that hand's individual stamina bar begins to slowly go down, so you're constantly managing how long each hand can last on a ledge.

Which also means you're trying to move quickly to keep momentum up, and to make sure you don't rest on one hand going all the way red, causing you to slip. True to its name, the fast-paced platforming quickly causes 'white knuckle' moments where you'll just make it onto the next platform just before you would have slipped. The platforming and climbing is tight while also being floaty in a way that you'd want from a platformer. If you liked the platforming sections of Ghostrunner, then you'll be right at home with White Knuckle for the same reasons.

7 Lushfoil Photography Sim

This game makes me want a better PC.

Sometimes, a game comes along that makes you wish for something more. Something better than the experience you're currently having in life. I've had the same desktop PC for the last five years, and when I built it five years ago, it was a mid-range build. Now it's on the low end of the performance spectrum for most modern games. Usually, that doesn't bother me, but Lushfoil Photography Sim makes me want something better.

A calming game about taking pictures, Lushfoil Photography Sim puts you in multiple naturally beautiful parts of the globe, where you can walk around and take photos. That's it. You enjoy the gorgeous scenery that's been rendered to look incredibly realistic, some calming music, and snap a few pictures while you're at it. If you have the computer to push it, then Lushfoil Photography Sim might just be the most beautiful game you ever play.

You can get as granular as you want with your photos, or barely touch any camera settings. The point of the game is to enjoy the environments around you, and do your best to capture their beauty. That this was a game made by a single developer is an incredible feat, and before Next Fest ends you should absolutely download this demo and try it out yourself.

6 Wheel World

I think I like bikes now.

Wheel World is a game about riding a bike to help a magical floating skull named "Skully" get back to doing its job by finding mystical bike parts, but it's also not about that at all. It's about riding a bike, and sometimes it's about racing bikes, but mostly it's about riding and enjoying the world around you.

The story is more so just there to give you a bit of a narrative to stick around for, if you really need it, but the real draw of Wheel World is how good it actually feels to just ride around, and its bright and colorful art style. The music was also a big highlight, and really delivered on the feeling of just riding around for the fun of it.

Wheel World feels loaded with charm and good vibes. It's the kind of game you want to recommend to your friend, because you think it could make them feel better after a hard day. It's wonderfully infectious, in that sense.

5 Haneda Girl

Action platforming with stealth gameplay and a mech.

Haneda Girl mixes up what you might expect from an action platformer with a heavy dose of stealth-based combat. When you're outside of your mech, you die in only one-hit. So do all your enemies though, so combat is more about executing a quick succession of moves, rather than being a prolonged bout.

Once I got the hang of how to dash and move in Haneda Girl, the precision platforming flowed with the stealth abilities, like a quick dash attack that can take out multiple enemies in a row, or just being able to turn invisible for a few seconds. It's satisfying to execute the combat and the platforming, and so much of that comes from how satisfying this game sounds. I've always felt that half of what makes 2D platformers feel good just comes from what it sounds like to move around in the world.

It's also got a pixel art style that I can't help but love. I'm definitely a mark for this kind of game, but this demo is a promising show that Haneda Girl is going to be one of the platformers to watch in 2025.

4 Is This Seat Taken?

The coziest puzzle game about putting butts in seats.

Is This Seat Taken? is a charming puzzle game where you'll place different geometric shapes with legs in a seat, across a variety of scenarios. Starting out in a car, then expanding to a movie theatre, and in the course of the whole game a great number of other places.

It's a fun and simple puzzler that, at least from this demo, seems to be less about the puzzle challenge and more about the short and sweet narratives it tells in each scene. Which is part of why I'm really enamored with this game, though there is a part of me that hopes the full game has a few challenge levels.

Overall though it's clear that developer Poti Poti Studio has a cute and charming puzzle game on their hands that I'm happy to now have on my wishlist.

3 The Perfect Pencil

Could 2025 be another great year for action-platformers?

I'm aware that this is the third action platforming game on this list, but you also gotta hand it to developer Studio Cima. The Perfect Pencil has a really strong look and animation style that, frankly looks much better in-game than it does in trailers.

Other players who might put three action platformers on their own list of Steam Next Fest demos to try will likely be familiar with a lot of what The Perfect Pencil is doing gameplay wise. Though even for platforming-heads it remains a unique experience to play. The eerie and soft opening makes it clear from the jump (pun intended) that there's a dark underbelly waiting to be uncovered, while a cheery NPC gently nudges you to start uncovering that darkness.

Perhaps the camera on your head is some hint about how cinematic Studio Cima intends to be here, but it very clearly works. The core gameplay feels tight, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it would evolve over the course of the full game.

2 Ruffy and the Riverside

A PS2-era 3D platforming adventure in 2025.

Ruffy and the Riverside is a really impressive game to me. It blends 2D characters in a 3D world. It utilizes a texture-swapping mechanic that lets you re-adjust the world around you to your advantage, and it's got an art style that feels nostalgic and fresh at the same time.

Like a lot of the games on this list, it has a lot of charm and a lot of personality. There's also a lot of potential in its core mechanic, the ability to swap textures in the world around you. Want to climb a waterfall? Turn that water into a pile of vines you can climb on. Swap the ground out from under you, or precisely change parts of the environment to manipulate your way forward.

It's a fun platformer that seems to have a bit of the magic that the platformers I loved on PS2 had. I can only hope the full game is chalk full of the same magic.

1 Skin Deep

What if Dishonored was a comedy game?

A comedic first-person immersive-sim is not exactly what I expected when I started up the demo for Skin Deep. After playing it, I know now that it was better to have no expectations at all, and be pleasantly floored by how fun and funny it is instead.

With no shoes, and a lot of spunk, you'll walk the bare feet of Nina Pasadena, a former assassin turned insurance commando. You'll defend a ship from pirates who, it turns out, are there to kill you, specifically. To make up for the lack of any backup, you have to really lean into the surrounding environment, and use whatever you can to gain the upper hand.

It's funny in it's writing and storytelling, and in the gameplay scenarios that can occur based on how you approach a situation. Also, you work with a bunch of talking cats. It's cheek and quality wrapped up in a bow.

Take advantage of Next Fest while it's here.

Next Fest is one of the best events Steam runs every year, because there's so much available to try. The best demos get across what makes their games special in less than 20 minutes, respecting your time while letting the game shine as bright as it can.

You can spend an hour going through all 10 of these games, so take advantage of the chance while it's here. Some of the games will still leave their demos up after the fest is over, but not all of them, so act fast.