11 Steam Next Fest demos you should download and play this week

Today marks the start of Steam Next Fest, a Steam event celebrating upcoming games with free demos. This happens three times a year — February, June, and October — and lasts just one week, meaning this particular event will run until October 20th at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. There are hundreds of demos featured this week, but of course, you only have so much time. So, here’s a quick list of eleven highlights worth downloading.

Eleven demos worth trying during the October Steam Next Fest

A game can only participate in Steam Next Fest once, so if you’ve played a bunch of demos earlier this year, don’t worry about running into the same ones again. Some of these demos might stick around on Steam after the event ends next week, but there’s no guarantee. Some demos might only be available during this week, so it’s worth taking some time to check them out while you still can. And remember to wishlist anything that looks interesting, it goes a long way toward helping smaller development teams.

• Eleven demos worth trying during the October Steam Next Fest
• Cairn
• Tears of Metal
• Love Eternal
• Motorslice
• Marvel Cosmic Invasion
• SWAPMEAT
• Relooted
• Skate Story
• Constance
• Forestrike
• Ultimate Sheep Raccoon

Cairn

This demo has already been out for a while, but the team behind Cairn, The Game Bakers, is preparing for the full release early next year, so this could serve as a last big push to get some attention. But, I’m not even sure they need it. The demo has “Overwhelmingly Positive” reviews, with 98% of 6,600 reviews being positive, which is rare for a full release, let alone a demo.

Cairn is a mountain climbing simulator. Play as Aava as she practices and prepares to eventually summit the “unforgiving Mount Kami.” You’ll need to “plan your route carefully” and manage pitons and other resources to reach the top. According to the Steam page, the demo covers the very beginning of the game and takes roughly 45 minutes to complete. If you have time this week, I highly recommend checking out the Cairn demo.

Tears of Metal

Imagine if Braveheart were a bloody, violent, roguelike Dynasty Warriors. That’s kind of the vibe of Paper Cult’s Tears of Metal, a hack-and-slash action roguelike, with co-op. I played a demo for this game at PAX West in 2024, and it was one of the highlights of the whole event for me. It manages to capture the fun of those giant mob fights where you’re knocking crowds of enemies into the air, without making it trivially easy. The enemies are relatively competent, and there are plenty of more challenging units to face off against, too. You’ll need to use your dodges, abilities, and more to claim victory.

I remember asking the team where they got the inspiration for the name Tears of Metal, but they didn’t give me a definitive answer. I like to think it’s symbolic of the meteors falling from the sky, which is the ultimate mystery of this roguelike game. The enormous Dragon Meteor has landed in Scotland, and it’s been claimed by “treacherous invaders,” so it’s up to you and your battalions to advance deeper into enemy territory and uncover the mystery of this powerful substance.

Love Eternal

Normally, I wouldn't think of horror and precision platforming combining well, but that was before I played the Love Eternal demo. From brlka, this dark, story-rich precision platformer has some of the most fun platforming challenges I’ve played in years. I’m so curious about the full game release to finally get a better grip on what’s happening narratively, but some of the sequences are so unsettling and odd that I wonder if that will ever be possible.

Love Eternal’s demo provides the perfect challenge, much like in another precision platformer, Celeste; if you fail, your progress only goes to the beginning of the current challenge. You won’t be repeating platforming challenges again and again; you’ll be able to learn, practice, and eventually execute without having to worry about getting back to the same spot. It gives me that great feeling of progression where I can say, “Oh, I see what went wrong there,” and then immediately act on that information. You might die a dozen times, but once you nail it, it will feel so good.

Motorslice

Almost like if Shadow of the Colossus was set in a construction zone, Motorslice is a “slice of life” action-adventure with a free demo available for the first time. “Parkour through the ruins of a megastructure” and face off against massive construction vehicles that you will have to climb onto to defeat. You’ll also always have your trusty chainsaw-sword by your side.

Motorslice, by the team at Regular Studio, doesn't have a release date yet, but I hope the Next Fest demo means it won’t be long. From the trailer, it appears there's something more dangerous at play than just rogue construction equipment. There is a helicopter flying around, crashing into walls that appears to have a mass of tentacles sprouting from it. I am curious to learn more from this demo.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion

This may already be one of the most noteworthy demos available now; it does have the Marvel branding after all, but don’t let that fool you. This is a demo worth trying. This game is published by Dotemu, the team that helped create the recent indie hit Absolum, and developed by Tribute Games, who released TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge in 2022. These teams are the masters of classic arcade-style beat ‘em up games, and after playing the demo for Marvel Cosmic Invasion at Summer Game Fest, this is another win for the team.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion stands out with its tag-team combat style. Every player picks two characters from the roster of Marvel heroes. You can swap between those two characters at will, or call on them for quick combo attacks and supporting moves. This is such a great couch co-op game as well, giving players the freedom to jump in and out of the game when needed without the rest of the team losing any progress. These teams know what they are doing.

SWAPMEAT

Perhaps the strangest demo on this list is SWAPMEAT from One More Game. This action roguelike is accurately named, as with every enemy you defeat, you’ll be able to swap out your own “meat” or body parts for those of the enemy. This is broken up into legs, arms, torso, and head. Grab the legs of a spider monster that gives you a double jump, or the head of an insect that now allows you to spit acid. There is an endless array of wacky combinations, not to mention the varied weaponry in this over-the-top third-person shooter.

SWAPMEAT will launch into Early Access on Steam later this month, on October 21st, so just after Next Fest ends. I was able to play the demo at this year’s PAX West and talk to the developers about the game, and I’m already excited to jump back in. This is a ridiculous roguelike where you won’t be able to recognize your own character by the end of the run.

Relooted

“Is it stealing to take back what was stolen?” This is part of the core concept of Relooted by Nyamakop. Western museums have locked precious African artifacts in their vaults to avoid returning them to the country of origin, so it’s up to you to pull off a heist. “Recruit crew members, plan escape routes, [and] acquire the precious cargo…” in the demo for Relooted, which has been available for nearly a month, but is also being featured in this week’s Steam Next Fest.

In Relooted, the museums and locations may be fictional, but all of the 70 artifacts featured in the game are actual artifacts you can find in real life. This sci-fi, futuristic heist game takes place in a 2D space across several gameplay phases. Plan the heist and the escape, then execute, avoiding guards and other security measures while getting away with the artifacts.

Skate Story

You are a skateboarding demon made of glass and pain on a mission to skate through the underworld and devour moons. Skate Story, from developer Sam Eng and publisher Devolver Digital, already has a planned release date of December 8th, but you can play the demo now on Steam. Explore a strange underworld of odd characters, but be careful how you skate, because your glass body won’t take much to shatter.

According to the Steam page, you can “sell your soul for decks, wheels, and trucks to keep your skating fresh.” You can see in the trailer that you’ll be able to customize your board by choosing an image and placing various stickers. In a year of Tony Hawk remakes and EA’s Skate, it’s great to have another skateboarding game that takes things in a less realistic direction.

Constance

Have you finished Silksong (or given up on it) but still want more action metroidvania goodness? Thankfully, Constance, from the studio bft, has you covered. Explore a vibrant hand-drawn world as the artist Constance, who wields a paintbrush and can morph into paint to dash through the air, dive into the ground, and “experience a constant state of flow.” Constance is scheduled for release in full next month, on November 24th, and it will be the studio's debut game.

Aside from the action and platforming, Constance also tells the story of the protagonist’s struggles with mental health. While the demo won’t tell the full story, the world reflects Constance’s journey: “with each colorful biome and its unique set of enemies and characters representing different aspects of her psyche and personal history.” This sounds like a great concept, and I’m excited to see how it evolves throughout the game.

Forestrike

What if you could see your opponent's moves before they make them? Imagine if you could play out all the possible scenarios in your head before they happen so that you could make the right decision. That’s what you can do in Forestrike, a 2D martial arts roguelike from Skeleton Crew Studio. Test out your plan, try different strategies, and eventually execute on it. Fall, and you’ll have to start your journey from the beginning.

In Forestrike, the developers knew the key to this concept was consistency, which is why the enemies will always react the same way to your actions. This allows for planning without any frustrating luck or chance getting in the way. Forestrike is planned to be released next month, on November 17th, a date announced today at the start of Steam Next Fest.

Ultimate Sheep Raccoon

You may recall a fantastic party game called Ultimate Chicken Horse from Clever Endeavour Games; well, this is Ultimate Sheep Raccoon. The core concepts remain the same. Every player places an object in the world that is meant to either help them reach the goal first or trip up the competition. The one major difference in Ultimate Sheep Raccoon is that, rather than running, jumping, and platforming your way to the other end of the map, everyone is on bikes on a track.

The Next Fest demo for Ultimate Sheep Raccoon allows for up to eight players, both locally and online. It looks like it will keep many of the same cartoony aesthetics, but with a slightly upgraded graphical style from the 2016 original game. I can already imagine the chaos among my friend group as eight of us race to the finish.

This is just a small sample of the hundreds of Steam demos available during Next Fest this week. Later in the week, I’ll provide a much longer list of demos for you to check out. But remember, if anything here looks like fun, it’s free to try it and free to wishlist the game to show support for these creative game ideas.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion

December 1, 2025

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• Overview

• Steam
• indie games
• demo / trial versions
• Steam Games Festival / Steam Next Fest