We covered 22 of the best demos during February Steam Next Fest earlier this year, and we’re back at it again! The June Steam Next Fest runs from June 15 to June 22, and we’ve booted up our Steam Decks and PCs to try out the most exciting demos. We’ll keep updating this list, but for now, enjoy our favorites.
Note: Unless otherwise noted, all of the games included on this list are playable both on PC and on Steam Deck. (Certain demos might take some finagling to set up, but they do run!)
The Best Demos of Steam Next Fest (June 2026)
Hopefully you’re reading this during the last weekend of the June 2026 Steam Next Fest, but worry not — many of these demos should still be available to play. From bucolic to haunting, sword fighting to inventory management, here are the best new titles we sampled this week:
- Curio Shop
- Goat’s Odyssey
- The Great Sassanelli – An Interactive Novel
- Last Night, Last Call
- The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian
- Lost in Art
- Milki Delivery
- Moss: The Forgotten Relic
- Rivage
- Sovereign Tower
We are currently in the process of playing and previewing more demos; check back soon for an update!
Sovereign Tower
Sovereign Tower appears to capture what I loved most about Reigns, Yes, Your Grace, and even parts of Dragon Age: Inquisition — telling people what to do!!! Mwahaha! While the Sovereign Tower demo is slowed down by a somewhat confusing and winding backstory, the majority of the demo keeps players rooted in the medieval court, receiving audiences with farmers, dignitaries, and warriors. Characters are charming both in art and dialogue; each visitor feels unique. There are RPG-elements as you’ll make choices that can increase your leadership stats. This is all wrapped up with a sense of dark humor. For example, I recruited a knight and sent him to chase after a magpie who had stolen a treasure. Harmless, I thought. The big hulking knight promptly fell off a ladder and died. It was so absurd, but because of a flirty demon in the crypt basement, I could rewind time and send a more nimble knight instead.
Sovereign Tower quickly achieved the dream demo status for me: the desire to stop playing so that way I can “save” my enjoyment for the full version. The demo does have some text that is hard to read on Steam Deck, but it’s fully playable. I look forward to what mysteries, treasures, and calamities will befall my kingdom.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Developer: WILD WITS GAMES
Publisher: Curve Games
Platforms: PC
Release date: August 6, 2026
Play the demo!
Milki Delivery
I fell in love with Blibloop & Doot’s Minami Lane earlier this year, and I eagerly started following the development of their next game, Milki Delivery. Players take care of the last cow in the valley (and maybe in existence?!) to deliver milk by bike to local citizens. The demo gives a great taste of the full game’s management mechanics including inventory, time, upgrades, and energy levels while exploring the valley. One of my favorite things about Minami Lane was that it felt cute without being vapid (unlike much of the cozy slop out there); Blibloop & Doot give a sense of purpose and intentionality to all villagers. Being a good neighbor makes a tangible difference in Minami Lane, and once again, Blibloop & Doot delivers a sense of intentionality to all villagers in Milki Delivery.
The demo runs on Steam Deck when using Proton Hotfix compatibility. I eagerly await the full version; I gotta give milk to all my new friends!!! The one thing that could be improved is an option to pet my cow. She’s such a good girl. In lieu of that, I’ll treat her with lots of apples.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Developer: Blibloop, Doot
Publisher: Doot Tiny Games, Wholesome Games
Platforms: PC, Mac
Release date: 2026 TBD
Play the demo here!
Rivage
Being alone in space seems to be this generation’s Big Fear (as seen through countless games and films), and this year’s Steam Next Fest brings another entry. People got hyped last winter when beloved indie publisher Raw Fury announced Rivage in which a scientist awakens on an empty space station with a ticking clock. Oh, and it’s a time loop. Nice.
If you like atmospheric clues and puzzles, you’ll dig Rivage, a game in which memories are embedded in objects around the space station as part of a mental off-loading system. The downside is that, along with her computer password, protagonist Miranda can’t remember what happened to her fellow astronauts. The demo serves as a contained chapter to get a sense of what the game is all about. The interior of the spaceship is impressively detailed; I loved picking things up to examine them closer, but panicked when I realized the clock was counting down. (Some of the items are a little hard to read on the Steam Deck.) Combined with voice acting, the vibes seem strong to bring players into the fold.
So far, Rivage reminds me of Gone Home (2013) meets Prey (2017) meets Blue Prince (2025). I’m curious if I’ll be patient enough to discover all of the A.R.E.S. ship’s secrets.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Developer: Exnilo Studio
Publisher: Raw Fury Games
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Release date: August 13, 2026
Play the demo here!
Moss: The Forgotten Relic
Moss VR was almost enough to make me buy a PSVR headset in 2018. A cute little mouse?! With a sword?!?!? Going on adventures?!?!??! And it’s a cool girl mouse!??!?!?!??! Need!!! It looked to give me all of the Redwall and The Tale of Despereaux vibes I could ever want. However, every VR set felt (and still feels) wildly expensive for a catalog of games that I didn’t really care about after that cute little mouse. So, for eight years, I just sighed every time I saw it. But now, I have learned that patience pays off — because that sweet little mouse is being freed from her VR jail.
Moss: The Forgotten Relic combines both Moss: Book I and Moss: Book II into a non-VR, single-player experience. I had a great time with my demo of Moss: The Forgotten Relic which takes place in a mid-game preview-modified chapter. It’s a mix of platforming and simple combat that I imagine would be charming as a VR (especially because you play as “you” i.e. a disembodied audience member of a storybook tale guiding Quill, the protagonist, on her way), but I still had a great time with it on my Steam Deck. I’m utterly charmed, and I can’t wait to finally fulfill my life’s mission — I mean, Quill’s life’s mission — with Moss: The Forgotten Relic.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Developer: Polyarc, Blackbird Interactive
Publisher: Polyarc
Platforms: PC
Release date: July 16, 2026
Play the demo here!
Curio Shop
During my first few minutes of the Curio Shop demo, I bought an ancient vase, a Pirate’s Coin, and a Pirate’s Coin (Real). I got these treasures set up in my store and set the prices. I promptly sold all three items. Two out of three of those items immediately killed my customers; one burst spontaneously into flames and the other was cut in half by mysterious floating swords. It was wild.
Curio Shop is a funny, funky, weird little shop 32-bit-style simulator in which you can try to kill your customers or not. There seems to be a greater plot going on where perhaps your actions on a micro level —- like in Death and Taxes — affect the world at large. But also, maybe the goal is just to get a 5-star rated shop without murdering everyone in town. There is an impressive amount of systems in this game that made me curious what else was underneath the hood. If you want something that is both low-key and not low-key with a high dose of spook, you should check out Curio Shop.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Developer: Sprout Coo
Publisher: Sprout Coo
Platforms: PC
Release date: July 10, 2026
Play the demo here!
The Great Sassanelli – An Interactive Novel
I’ve written previously about my love of circuses as a setting, so I’ve been eagerly awaiting The Great Sassanelli – An Interactive Novel. Its Steam Next Fest demo has continued to pique my interest, though with caution.
The best part of the demo so far is the beautiful artwork of characters and settings as well as in-depth systems. I like that this really feels like a business that needs to be managed with employees to keep happy, customers to impress, and logistics to manage. It reminds me, in a very good way, of inkle’s 80 Days.
The one place The Great Sassanelli falters a bit is in the quality of the writing in the demo, which is one thing that inkle games always nail. I am especially critical of interactive novel games; I have high expectations that the story will be just as strong as the interactive mechanics if I’m expected to engage with huge word counts in a video game setting. There do seem to be some interesting characters at this circus (and certainly with beautiful, detailed character portraits), so I’m curious to see how it all shakes out in the full version.
There’s potential in The Great Sassanelli, and only time will tell if this show is worth catching in the Big top.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Developer: Forking Paths Gardening Interactive
Publisher: DigiTales Interactive
Platforms: PC, Mac
Release date: TBD Q3 2026
Play the demo here!
The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian
The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian is already one of the best interactive novels I’ve ever played, and I’ve only seen the prologue. The Steam Next Fest demo gives players the opening chapters of a memoir retrospective in the early years of a complicated man in a fantasy world. I was locked in for 90 minutes, not even realizing how much time has passed. Players who want Disco Elysium but medieval and with more words will be hyped.
The writing is excellent and an appropriately engaging length for the medium. Sound effects — a disgruntled sigh, the sharpening of a blade, an opening of a book — all hit their mark. The aesthetics, imitating an old book with woodcut illustrations, are dramatic and stunning. The player makes choices of real consequence, affecting dozens of variables including qualities like Passion or Law, relationships with mentors and friends, and the state of the nation in general.
I cannot wait to see what the rest of this life holds.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Developer: Schisma Games
Publisher: 101XP
Platforms: PC
Release date: July 20, 2026
Play the demo here!
Goat’s Odyssey
Goat’s Odyssey is a humorous puzzle game following a goat who wants to escape his Ancient Greek farm life to go to a tropical beach beach. In order to make his big break, he gets into Untitled Goose Game style shenanigans.
I loved the commitment to the aesthetic, a mix of shadow puppetry and an amphora vase with Googly eyes. I found it very charming for about 20 minutes before I got stuck at an environmental puzzle and couldn’t figure out what the game wanted from me and frankly got bored. (I’m not a big puzzle girlie.) The demo has no dialogue or words, only thought bubbles and silly critters and point-and-click actions, and the music can become a little grating as it loops. However, fans of absurdism and puzzles will likely have a good time here.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Developer: Parsley Games
Publisher: Parsley Games
Platforms: PC, Mac
Release date: TBD Q3 2026
Play the demo here!
Lost in Art
I was totally entranced by the Steam Next Fest demo for Lost in Art. Protagonist Leah is stuck in a contemporary art museum after hours, and it’s very clear very quickly that this place is super haunted. To escape, the player needs to solve environmental puzzles and retrace steps to discover supernatural clues. Leah proves to be an admirable protagonist; her teenage sense of humor provides levity to the creepy scenario.
This demo was by far the most stylish I tried during Steam Next Fest; I spent a large part of the 45 minutes I played of the demo just taking screenshots. My demo experience was very cool and fairly tight, even if one puzzle took me longer than I think I was supposed to. I took a break at one point, thinking the demo auto-saved, but player be warned: The demo does not auto-save. Alas, I’ll just have to wait for the full version to continue my rescue mission.
I even stuck with the game after a jump scare, which is impressive given I’m the resident scaredy cat. It feels, at time, like playing an art house film. The setting of the New Art Gallery Walsall in England is incredibly rendered; the game is even published in part by the art museum! I’m curious if Lost in Art can maintain this heightened momentum for a full game, but so far, I’m seeing a great potential successor to stylish puzzle games like Blue Prince or Lorelei and the Laser Eyes.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Developer: Stone Hippo
Publisher: New Art Gallery Walsall, The Space CIC
Platforms: PC
Release date: TBD 2026
Play the demo here!
Last Night, Last Call
One of my favorite games of last year was Best Served Cold, a stylish 1920s-inspired speakeasy murder mystery visual novel. Players made cocktails for chic customers during Prohibition, gathering clues as their loose lips slipped, and helped solve crimes. While it was a little buggy, Best Served Cold delivered on its vision and then some with a meta story that made me gasp. So, I was absolutely thrilled to see artwork that reminded me of the game — and lo and behold, a sequel is already in the works!
I enjoyed my time with the Last Night, Last Call demo. It appears to level up the cocktail and dialogue systems from the first game while still staying true to what made the first one great. The Rogueside team has impressively balanced visual style with excellent writing, something that not every visual novel game can pull off.
New players should, in my opinion, start with Best Served Cold and wishlist Last Night, Last Call! Meanwhile, I’ll eagerly bide my time before I can get behind the bar again.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Developer: Rogueside
Publisher: Rogueside
Platforms: PC, Mac
Release date: TBD
Play the demo here!
What Are Your Favorite Next Fest Demos?
Let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear what games we missed and whether they’re still available on Steam to check out. As always, thanks for reading.✌🏼
A video game outlet that blends quality words with inclusive voices. For business inquiries and review requests, reach us at press [at] punishedbacklog [dot] com.
Amanda Tien (she/her or they) loves video games where she can pet dogs, solve mysteries, punch bad guys, play as a cool lady, and/or have a good cry. She started writing with The Punished Backlog in 2020 and became an Editor in 2022. Amanda also does a lot of the site's graphic designs and podcast editing. Amanda's work has been published in Mothership, Unwinnable Monthly, Poets.org, Salt Hill Journal, and more. She holds an MFA in Fiction from the University of Pittsburgh. Learn more about her writing, visual art, graphic design, and marketing work at www.amandatien.com.
