Steam Next Fest is back, and with it comes a fresh wave of must-play demos from a vast selection of indie.io games. Whether you’re into stealth, strategy, roguelikes, or something unexpected, there’s a game waiting for you.
In recent years, there’s been a huge surge in the popularity of indie games, driven by the creativity and the remarkable ingenuity of small teams. There’s something truly special about seeing an indie team turn a bold idea into a fully realized experience. Publishing platform indie.io agrees, and that’s why they’re dedicated to supporting indie games in getting their start in life – whether through development, marketing, distribution, or the countless other ways they support these creative projects.
With 14 indie.io games featured in this February’s Steam Next Fest, there are hours upon hours of demos to keep you busy. If you’re short on time and need some help slimming down your options though, this hand-picked selection of roguelikes, stealth games, and more is sure to have something you’ll love, no matter what you’re into. Even better, many of them put a twist on their genre, proving why indie gems are worth playing.
Dark Deity 2
Dark Deity 2 is a gorgeous, turn-based strategy game combining 2D pixelated combat and an anime-styled RPG narrative. The story takes place years after the first game with a new cast of characters, so you won’t feel left behind if you never played the original.
We can already tell Dark Deity 2 is wildly replayable, and this is demonstrated before you even start your adventure. Unusually for a demo, you can choose between four difficulty levels, two combat speeds, and two leveling types, so even the free taster itself offers multiple unique playthroughs. Once inside, you’re immediately introduced to a band of five characters as their jovial dialogue brings you in on the action, and you’re swiftly dropped into your first combat encounter. The turn-based game is easy to learn with a helpful combat tutorial, but it also has a long tail and learning curve, with 20 heroes, 45 classes, and 30 chapters to master in the full game, plus a randomizer mode to boot.
This isn’t the first time we’ve written about Dark Deity 2, so if you still haven’t tried it, why not? If you have, we urge you to take it for another spin as the latest demo is a new build based on feedback from previous tests, and will no doubt have you wishlisting the game ahead of release.
Kaamos: Tactical Roguelike
We’re not sure we’ve ever seen a game quite like Kaamos before. Part roguelike, part puzzle game, and even part deck-builder, there’s a lot to see here – there are even elements of match-three games – but the most striking part of Kaamos is its art style. Its muted colors, pixelated design, and simplistic UI remind us of classic browser games, but the puzzle-dictated combat is far more complex than those games ever were.
By moving a selection of tiles on your board, each representing attack, armor, or defense, you must create sets to determine your combat choices. As you progress, you’ll expand your tile deck to better suit your gameplay preferences. Do you prefer a deadly assault with brutal melee weapons or to take a more defensive approach? Over 180 items allow you to customize your deck exactly as you like. Really, Kaamos needs to be seen to be fully understood, so do yourself a favor and download the demo right now.
Grimstar: Crystals are the New Oil!
Grimstar isn’t quite what you think at first glance. Sure, it’s a top-down, real-time strategy game in which you must build and protect your base, explore and gather resources, and level up your gear to defeat various enemies. What comes as a surprise is the emotional single-player narrative guiding you across this alien planet. You have no time to grieve following the death of your brother as you must take his place and complete the contract given to him by the demanding corporation for which he gave his life. Thus, not only are you, the player, driven by the usual engaging RTS mechanics, but also by the evolving story and a desire to seek answers about this character’s untimely death.
Tales of Old: Dominus
The popularity of games with a medieval setting never dies down: the weapons, soldiers, and rules of the era lend themselves perfectly to escapism, immersion, and captivating gameplay. Luckily, there’s an indie.io Next Fest demo that taps into this resource in Tales of Old: Dominus.
Play as Eric, one of the few surviving victims of a horrifying battle between corrupt nobles and a desperate rebellion. One of the latter, you were forced to flee, and have returned to find your home in ashes and your family dead. This is where your game starts. Upon discovering this devastation, all you want is revenge. Dominus follows Eric as you build your way from a nobody to the leader of the rebellion, ready to strike back and reclaim what was lost. What makes Dominus so different to other medieval RPGs, though, is a clever use of stealth. Think if Agent 47 was alive in the year 1100, where patience, deception, and precise strikes can turn the tide in your fight for revenge.
NEDRA
Stranded in a frozen, Soviet-era outpost in Antarctica, you’re left to fend for your life during a months-long whiteout. The devastating cold is one of the most deadly threats to your life, and you must find any resources you can to keep yourself from freezing to death. However, hypothermia might be a nicer way to go than falling victim to one of the many Lovecraftian creatures nearby hunting you.
In a unique twist to PvE survival horror, NEDRA forces you to find the perfect balance between warmth and stealth as the deadly creatures hunting you down have adapted to their surroundings and can sense your body heat. So, while the freezing temperatures can kill you, keeping yourself warm can, too. As such, NEDRA provides an immensely challenging situation alongside its fully fleshed-out narrative, resulting in one of the best Steam Next Fest demos right now.
Hauntsville
If you like classic, gritty survival games, Hauntsville is a must-try demo for you this Next Fest. Set in a classic western ghost town, Hauntsville features stunningly realistic surroundings as you do all you can to survive creatures born from folklore and legends. The restless horrors resting in this quiet, barren land come out during the day or night, and you won’t have long to gather supplies and set up your first defenses.
Working your way up from just the basics you arrived with to a fully crafted base and arsenal, Hauntsville challenges you with classic survival game crafting and building mechanics. Not only are the monsters out to get you, but so is the environment, with dynamic weather changes adding even more brutality to your adventure.
What makes Hauntsville truly special is its attention to detail. Developer Michael Janisch has researched the era, ensuring that the weapons, architecture, and buildings are all period-accurate. What’s more, even the monsters you’ll face here are relevant to the time, having been inspired by classic North American folklore.
The Zombie Slayers
The best zombie games somehow each put their own unique spin on the genre. Resident Evil is serious, first-person action. Project Zomboid is a serious isometric survival game. Dead Island is a little less serious and a whole lot gory. The Zombie Slayers, meanwhile, is plain bonkers. It’s a kind of zombie party game in which you play as a cartoonish character facing hordes of similarly silly zombies. There’s no crafting or survival, but you can equip turrets, mines, and more to defend your area. Get up close and personal with the undead with melee weapons, or hit them from afar with rifles or rocket launchers. With a simple, increasingly difficult wave-based format, The Zombie Slayers is a fun way to /kill/ some time.
The best thing about Steam Next Fest is that all these indie.io demos are completely free to play, so you’ve got nothing to lose in trying them all. Maybe you’ll even find your next favorite game. Once you’ve made your way through these, try the psychological horror of The Bunker or the retro stylings of The Colony: New Haven Chronicles, a pixelated Metroidvania.