Steam Next Fest February 2026: The Best Game Demos So Far

Hope you’ve got your gaming rig sorted and your Steam Deck handy. The February 2026 Steam Next Fest — which runs from February 23 to March 2 — is here, and it’s bringing thousands of upcoming game demos to your virtual doorstep. 

From a spiritual follow-up to an indie legend to a game starring… checks notes… a bus (?!), this season’s Next Fest is already shaping up to be one to remember. At a time when AAA game development looks more uncertain than ever, there’s nothing like some wildly inventive indies to stir the soul and get you excited to game in 2026.

Not sure exactly where to start? Not to worry. Over the next week, our team will be scouring Steam for memorable and promising demos, so you can cut right to the good stuff. Bookmark this page and check back regularly, as we share our top demos from Steam Next Fest February 2026.

– David Silbert, Editor

The Best Demos of Steam Next Fest (February 2026)

The latest Steam Next Fest has just begun, but we’re already hard at work finding the best demos of the bunch. Here are some great experiences we’ve sampled so far.

Prefer to skim the list and hop to a specific entry? We’ve got you:

• Alabaster Dawn
• Altered Alma
• Denshattack!
• Gambonanza
• Map Map – A Game About Maps
• The Mermaid Mask
• Outbound
• People of Note
• Replaced
• The Witch’s Bakery
• Zero Parades for Dead Spies

Alabaster Dawn

I went into Alabaster Dawn already a fan of Radical Fish Games thanks to CrossCode. I came out of the demo genuinely blown away. This isn’t just a follow-up — it feels like Radical Fish is building on CrossCode in every possible way.

The demo is hefty, offering multiple hours of content and even teasing glimpses of endgame abilities. It opens with an emotionally charged apocalypse: The gods fall silent, their champions abandoned, and a village seeks refuge underground before emerging into a blighted world determined to fight back. The prologue alone is gripping, setting up a mystery surrounding a force called Nyx and a world unraveling at the seams.

Visually, it’s stunning. Gorgeous sprite work blends seamlessly with 3D environments, and the animation is absurdly smooth. Combat is fast, responsive, and deeply satisfying — tight dashes, parries, and divine weapons like swords and crossbows all feel incredible to use. On top of that, the demo features clever environmental puzzles that break up combat and reward exploration.

You play as Juno Olira, a cast-out “Chosen” navigating a fractured world, gradually expanding your abilities through a robust skill tree. Along the way, you meet Cabbage, a spirit companion known as a water pig — essentially an adorable capybara. Yes, I would protect Cabbage at all costs.

The orchestral soundtrack swells with tension and melancholy, and every system feels confident and polished. I left the demo ready to throw my wallet at the screen.

– Written by Donovan Harrell

Developer: Radical Fish Games
Publisher: Radical Fish Games
Release date: TBA
Play the demo!

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Altered Alma

I play a ton of great metroidvanias, so it takes something special to make me stop scrolling and dive in. Altered Alma, developed by 2Awesome Studio and published by Critical Reflex, absolutely did that. The demo grabbed me immediately with its neon-drenched cyberpunk world and striking anime-inspired sprite work. As Jack — a blade-wielding enforcer on the run in a dystopian Neo Barcelona — you’re thrust into an arresting, animated introduction and a city full of towering holograms, cyborg crusaders, and wanted posters plastered on every street.

Combat feels like a love letter to Mega Man Zero: tight three-hit sword combos, air dashes, wall jumps, and a parry that deflects projectiles all flow together smoothly. Your health cores recharge when you attack, which pushes you to stay aggressive. Later in the demo, you unlock the Quantum Blade, letting you teleport through walls, zip from enemy to enemy, and execute brutal finishers — a standout moment that made me grin. You also have Vera, a robot companion who navigates tiny chasms and hacks terminals, adding nice variety to traversal. Vera’s also got some secrets to uncover, too.

There’s personality everywhere you look: richly detailed backgrounds, a catchy synth soundtrack, and a mysterious narrative hinting at romance options and ancient starships. Movement can feel just a tad floaty at times, and I hit one progression glitch, but if 2Awesome Studio irons those issues out, Altered Alma could be a real standout.

– Written by Donovan Harrell

Developer: 2Awesome Studio
Publisher: Critical Reflex
Release date: TBA
Play the demo!

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Denshattack!

Announced at Gamescom 2025, Denshattack! is like if Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi had a baby… and that baby was a bright-yellow city bus. As Emi, a ramen delivery driver with a serious need for speed, you’ll grind rails, make death-defying jumps, and pull off smooth tricks — all within a hulking (yet surprisingly nimble) vehicle. 

Unlike Crazy Taxi, you won’t deliver passengers around town with your speed machine, and perhaps that’s for the best. Instead, Denshattack! leans heavily into the Dreamcast classic’s aesthetic, with bright colors, frenetic, vehicle-based movement, and a dazzling cityscape. Add in a cel-shaded style, terrific music, and a slew of tricks that would make Jet Set Radio jealous, and you have all the makings of old-school cool, made new.

Over the course of 30 minutes, I sampled a few levels from the beginning of the game. While I’ve played plenty of trick-based games of its ilk — OlliOlli: Switch Stance being a particular favorite — I’ve yet to see one with quite the complexity of Denshattack! Between hopping different tracks, breaking around tight corners, wall-running (yes, you heard that right), landing tricks, and about 20 other mechanics, there’s a level of depth to this game that’s betrayed by its surface-level goofiness. (To be clear, I love the goofiness.)

In any other timeline, selling a game centered around a hopping, borderline sentient bus would be far-fetched, if not impossible. But Denshattack! exists, and based on my demo time, it’s humming like a V12 engine.

– Written by David Silbert

Developer: Undercoders
Publisher: Fireshine Games
Release date: TBD 2026
Play the demo!

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Gambonanza

Our team loves ourselves some Balatro. Back in the game’s heyday, we would theorycraft potential builds, post screenshots of our nuttiest runs, and share our wildest DLC desires. Two years and change removed, that fire has dulled some, but there remain a few steadfast Balatro sickos who are waiting patiently for a sequel (shoutout Allison McDaniel).

Well, Gambonanza may not be Balatro 2… but it might as well be. Everything about the game screams LocalThunk’s smash hit, from the pixel art to the UI to the “gambits” (jokers) to the round-based boss fights. The big difference here, however, is that rather than stacking the deck in your favor, you’re stacking the chessboard.

I came into Gambonanza only knowing that last piece (pun intended). I had no clue it was a roguelike, or that it was inspired heavily by LocalThunk. Once I made the connection, my mind ran wild: A bit on the nose, isn’t it? Two years later, and we already have a Balatro-like? After just one run, though, the cynic in me shut up. I was hooked.

Turns out, Gambonanza may be a Balatro-like, but it’s a damn good one at that. Everything about the 2024 classic translates perfectly to the chessboard, with just enough design creativity and ingenuity to feel fresh. For five hours, I tried different builds: One gave my pawns the moveset of knights, allowing me to promote them to queens at a blistering pace. Another gave me the chance to skip my opponent’s turn upon placing a new chess piece on the board. It works exactly how you’d expect, and it’s awesome.

There are some balance hiccups. Some gambits feel useless in their current state, and it’s hard not to feel like your run is busted if you can’t build around queens. That said, the foundation here is promising, and developer Blukulélé is already taking feedback from fans to make it even better. With the right tweaks, this might be my new obsession.

– Written by David Silbert

Developer: Blukulélé
Publisher: Sidekick Publishing, Stray Fawn Publishing
Release date: TBD 2026
Play the demo!

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Map Map – A Game About Maps

Map Map – A Game About Maps is a very charming game about, you guessed it, making maps. In this cozy puzzle game, players take on the role of an unnamed youth who is traveling about an ocean in a floating houseboat of adventuring kids who are looking for a long-lost treasure. (One of the loading screens even makes a One Piece reference.) 

I played the demo for Map Map for about 30 minutes on my Steam Deck, and I’ll likely dive back in after finishing writing. In each level, players land on an island with missions from the different kids on the boat involving various locations on the island. Players have to carefully study an island’s outline, consider cardinal directions, count paces, and examine landmarks to correctly identify the desired location on a map. Players can use a touchscreen for drawing, which was a little janky when I tried it, but I loved the concept. I unlocked stickers toward the end of my playthrough, and I loved taking my cartographer skills to the next level.

Map Map is interesting while still being relaxing. There’s no time limit per island, which is nice not to feel rushed. After putting a pushpin on your map for where the target location is, you’ll get a score on a scale of one to three stars, a la real-world geography game GeoGuessr. You can continue or try again if you want a better score, though there’s really no pressure to get it “exactly right.” The only time you’ll really have to try hard is if you want to find buried treasure with “X marks the spot” objectives.

Map Map’s hand-drawn art style is blocky and colorful. The music is delightful, contributing heavily to my positive mood while playing the game. A little less cute are the characters’ dialogue lines; their audio is always “mapmapmapmap” no matter what their written dialogue is. This is a clever way around voicing all the lines, similar to how the characters in Animal Crossing talk, but I found it a little annoying here. The writing is fun, but when a robot kid is muttering the word “map” repeatedly, it’s a bit distracting. Luckily, you can turn off these sounds. The demo as a whole feels very conscientious of the player’s experience. 

Map Map invites players to make sense of the world around them in a calm, safe, friendly way. I don’t know about you, but I sure could use some of that in my life. 

– Written by Amanda Tien

Developer: Pipapo Games
Publisher: Pipapo Games
Release date: Q2 2026
Play the demo!

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The Mermaid Mask

I’ve recommended SFB Games’ 2019 murder mystery game Tangle Tower so many times that I have lost count. It’s a habit; I don’t even think about what I liked about the game anymore — I just tell people to play it. When I booted up the demo for their long-awaited sequel, The Mermaid Mask, I instantly remembered why. 

The short but good demo for The Mermaid Mask shows that SFB Games has spent time and energy investing in their next mystery game. (In the intermediary, they also released the lauded survival horror game Crow Country in 2024, but I’m a scaredy cat and didn’t play that.) Everything here seems like more of the same but better. When I heard Detective Grimoire and Sally’s snarky banter, I murmured to myself, “We’re so back.”

The Mermaid Mask returns with humorous dialogue, that gloriously haunting music, and the same rich, unique illustrations we’ve come to expect from the series. The map, hinted at briefly, promises many locations. Clues can now be picked up and examined “three-dimensionally” by spinning them around. Puzzles and case files return with more detail than before.

There is a limited number of rooms that can be explored in the demo, with lots of items that can be clicked on and discussed. I played the whole demo on my Steam Deck in about 15 minutes. I’ve been keeping an eye out for The Mermaid Mask for over five years, and SFB Games is confident that 2026 is finally the year. I’d say I can’t wait, but I’ve waited this long — I’ll be patient and wait a bit more. Good things are worth waiting for.

– Written by Amanda Tien

Developer: SFB Games
Publisher: SFB Games
Release date: 2026
Play the demo!

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Outbound

I am a millennial woman with a dog and a car, and I’ve been on Instagram before; of course I’ve seen and admired those amazing travel influencers who road trip with their dogs! It’s a life that seems both easily attainable (just get up and go!) and deeply unattainable (but what about jobs, laundry, family, back problems, and all of life’s other trappings?). In Outbound, realizing that dream gets a bit easier. 

I didn’t play Outbound’s demo for very long, but I very much admired its vibes. In a new game, players can customize the exterior of their camper van along with a fun, colorful character creator. Then, players hit the road, driving through an area that looks like the American Southwest. I didn’t have a very good sense of what Outbound’s objectives would be about — there seem to be some radio towers to reach (which gave me brief Firewatch vibes), and players can light campfires (but not put them out? Which felt dangerous to me and one misstep in the simulation). It’s billed as a “cozy, open-world exploration” game, so perhaps it will be more of a sandbox experience than a focused mission.

The developers state that their demo is an early gameplay build designed to convey the vibe of what they’re going for with the full game. Being behind the wheel felt similar to other road trip video games like Glitchhikers, Road 96, Pacific Drive, Overland, and The Long Drive. Notably, the Outbound demo does not feature the dog (sad!!!) and progress can’t be carried over, so you’ll be trying it out more to get a feel for it. 

The gameplay has two camera settings — one in the dashboard, and one in a more bird’s-eye view behind the van. The dashboard view made me a bit nauseous motion-wise, but when in the rear camera view, the van felt like it was moving much slower and was harder to maneuver. I imagine these will be adjusted through the game’s development, as you’ll be able to craft and build things to upgrade your van as well. The full game promises a co-op mode including the chance to build a sustainable house with friends and garden, fulfilling yet another millennial dream of the friend compound somewhere in the woods.

I’m not a big fan of driving games in general, but the Outbound demo succeeds in capturing the wistful romanticism of hitting the road with my good boy. 

– Written by Amanda Tien

Developer: Square Glade Games
Publisher: Square Glade Games
Release date: Q2 2026
Play the demo!

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People of Note

Whether you loved it, liked it, or thought it was overhyped, there’s no denying the influence of last year’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — particularly on RPG culture. For two decades, it’s felt like turn-based games have been put out to pasture, with series like Persona and Like a Dragon serving as rare exceptions rather than the norm. Clair Obscur changed that narrative completely, proving without a doubt that old-school RPGs can not only survive today, but also thrive (and win a bunch of awards too).

People of Note is the latest addition to this turn-based renaissance. Published by Annapurna, this adventure is best described as Final Fantasy X meets KPop Demon Hunters. An odd pairing on the surface, I know, but it makes more sense once you get a chance to try the game out.

You play as Cadence, a young pop singer who dreams of stardom. After missing placement in a popular song competition, she embarks on a quest to assemble the world’s greatest musicians and create a group act that no one would dare pass up. The Steam Next Fest demo drops players into Chapter 2 of the game, with Cadence recruiting her first ally: the legendary but retired guitar player Fret.

Like Final Fantasy X, you’ll navigate fixed-camera environments, explore towns filled with shops and NPCs, and engage in battles with a heavy emphasis on turn priority and team synergy. Where the Demon Hunters influence comes into play is, well, everywhere else — from Cadence’s idol aesthetic to the inclusion of some gorgeously animated singing sequences, complete with original songs.

While the demo’s combat is on the easy side, I’m excited to see what trials Cadence, Fret, and the rest of this ragtag garage band will face in the full game. At the very least, we should expect some serious earworms.

– Written by David Silbert

Developer: Iridium Studios
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Release date: April 7, 2026
Play the demo!

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Replaced

The Replaced demo already dropped a week or so ago, and by all indications, the long-awaited indie game from Sad Cat Studios seems to have been worth the wait. From a beautiful world in motion to an intriguing narrative and some promising combat mechanics, Replaced is a thrill ride I can’t wait to discover in a few short weeks. Check out my full thoughts by reading my Replaced demo impressions.

– Written by Gary Wilson

Developer: Sad Cat Studios
Publisher: Thunderful Publishing
Release date: April 14, 2026
Play the demo!

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The Witch’s Bakery

The demo for The Witch’s Bakery is absolutely adorable. Lunne flies on her broom to Paris to open up a bakery where she can make and sell baguettes and croissants with the help of her cat-like familiar. It’s dreamy. The demo already exemplifies how cozy games masterfully blend work with relaxing (read this great piece at Mothership that explores why that works so well). 

I love games that challenge me to min-max efficiency management (I love logistics in my everyday life, so this will surprise no one who knows me), and I find cooking and restaurant games do this best because the built-in mechanic for placing and serving orders already gives that time crunch. In another lifetime, I was a food journalist, and I still love the magic that a good meal can bring. I’ve enjoyed a freemium mobile game called Delicious World off and on for years, but it has a ton of ads and eventually the pay-to-play ceiling becomes impossible. The Witch’s Bakery seems like the game I’ve been waiting for.

The Witch’s Bakery is half bakery-management, half RPG-visual novel, and all charming. The 2D anime art style shaped by French influence is beautiful. Even in the demo, I can see the game fulfilling its promises to build relationships with friends, explore Paris, and decorate the bakery. I played the demo on my Steam Deck for about half an hour; I’m not sure if the progress in the demo will carry over, but I’m eager for the full release either way. This will be Sunny Lab’s first game, and it already looks delicious. Bon appetit! 

– Written by Amanda Tien

Developer: Sunny Lab
Publisher: Silver Lining Interactive
Release date: Q2 2026
Play the demo!

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Zero Parades for Dead Spies

Zero Parades for Dead Spies is ZA/UM’s first game since their 2019 mega-success Disco Elysium and its massive 2021 update, Disco Elysium – The Final Cut (which was my personal Game of the Year). Since then, many of the studio’s founders and original creators have left; the controversies have been well-documented. I was skeptical coming into this demo, but having played it for an hour on my Steam Deck, it’s clear to me that ZA/UM knew they had something to prove here.

The vibes, right out of the gate, are awesome. I was instantly hooked by a mysterious, dramatic, grainy, black-and-white spy briefing. I felt excited by the story of a spy on a redemptive journey to prove herself. The gameplay of exploring, gathering clues, and talking to potential leads all felt natural and compelling, albeit familiar.

There are many similarities to Disco Elysium. The protagonist stumbles out of a bathroom into a messy apartment in an almost identical waking scene. The art style is very similar, though one could argue this is part of the studio’s signature style. On the right-hand side, there is a written narrative of what’s occurring, along with dialogue and action choices. Your character also has skill points and different specialties. In the demo, you’ll pick from one of three pre-made skill sets, but you can create your own in the full game.

On the other hand, there are also interesting differences. If the player-character gets too anxious, one of their skills takes a hit — my normally charming spy had a bit harder time hiding their emotions after getting nervous, which felt quite relatable. The scenes and movement feel much more dynamic than in Disco Elysium. There’s a particularly impressive bazaar space where NPCs move around and talk to each other. Additionally, because you play a spy who’s going a bit rogue, the mission objectives aren’t quite as clear as the protagonist of Disco, who had a murder to solve. 

Zero Parades for Dead Spies’ demo is stylish and exciting, and it can be played for about three hours in a mix of the main quest and side activities. (Some content, apparently, has been cut to avoid spoilers.) Progress does not carry over to the full game; I played for about an hour and will likely return and go a little wild with my choices since they won’t matter long-term. The demo is available only until March 15, so get your play time in now.

While fun, the demo is a little rough around the edges. It’s hard to tell what buttons do what or how likely you’ll have dice success with certain rolls. Not all of the lines are voiced (the narrator is clearly paying homage to Amelia Tyler’s incredible work as the Baldur’s Gate 3 narrator) or match up with the written text, but that makes sense as the writing and voice-acting are likely the last to be finalized in the lead-up to launch. 

So far, the choices also don’t feel as broad as in Disco Elysium. My character usually had two to three ways to reply in a conversation, and tonally, her choices always felt similarly snarky. Additionally, my spy at one point knocked over a catatonic man in a chair, and I felt bad about it, but I had no option to put him back in, just leaving him in a pile on the floor. 

Role-playing games succeed when they let players feel like they have some ownership of how their character will behave, and ZA/UM is taking big swings here, inspired not just by its previous title but also by the success of Baldur’s Gate 3. Only time will tell if this spy can change her ways. I, for one, will be eager to find out the answer.

– Written by Amanda Tien

Developer: ZA/UM
Publisher: ZA/UM
Release date: TBD 2026
Play the demo!

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Stay Tuned for More Next Fest Impressions!

That’s it for now! We’ll be updating this piece with more demos as we play ’em, so be sure to bookmark this page and check back later. ✌🏼