Steam Next Fest February 2025

Next Fest has come and gone. This is a great time to check out some games from developers that would otherwise fly under the radar and have trouble advertising their titles. Next Fest is a celebration for indie games and their developers. Show some love, try some games, and inflate some wishlists. Of course, with thousands of demos available, it can be hard to sort through them all. So here's a list of some of my favourites. All the demos discussed here are still available, and some of these games are out very soon.

House of Necrosis

Because I am shamelessly biased towards Resident Evil, we're starting off with House of Necrosis, which is in actual fact, a turn-based horror RPG. I wasn't sure how this was going to work but it essentially plays like a dungeon crawler with extreme Resident Evil 1 vibes.

When exploring the dungeons, you will scavenge for loot and defend yourself against horrible monsters. There's a lot of variety in monster types and equipment, you can even learn spells! It certainly leans more towards dungeon crawling and RPG tropes than survival horror–but it still tickles the part of my reptile brain that loves Resident Evil.

I had a blast with House of Necrosis. With House of Necrosis, the developers have preserved the tension and dread of a survival horror even in this form.

Am I Nima

A psychological horror word association game that’s as bizarre as it is unsettling. You are Nima. Or, you aren't Nima. It's unclear–what is clear is your mother's desperate insistence that you are Nima. You need to answer her questions correctly to convince her otherwise you may wake up and find that she has an ice-pick to, well, pick with you.

You start with an empty head, that slowly fills with partial memories as you speak to your mother and explore your surroundings. Words flow into your head which you can combine with other words to form new memories. It's a really ingenious dialogue system.

My sole concern is that the in-game dictionary may spiral out of control, even with the filters provided. Perhaps greying out words that no longer have any other associations can help tidy up the lists. Regardless, this is shaping up to be a really engrossing and original horror game.

REPOSE

REPOSE is a stunning sci-fi horror game that uses 1-bit, monochromatic graphics to craft a striking atmospheric experience. It is truly fantastic what the developer has accomplished with such strict limitations. The gameplay is tight, straightforward and tense, lending itself well to horror.

Your primary objective is to hunt down lost oxygen tanks for a shady corporation, taking out monstrous creatures as you go with your trusty axe. The demo is short but does allude to a wider mystery under the surface. There's a lot of potential here and the demo is worth checking out based on vibes alone.

Skin Deep

An immersive sim with tongue-in-cheek humour and inventive gameplay–a fresh twist from the developers of Thirty Flights of Loving. That game's wacky DNA is felt throughout the demo.

The demo includes two missions and a short intermission at your character Nina's apartment. The demo's two missions–one serving as an introduction, the other a freeform playground–offer a plethora of inventive combat options.

For example, one such option is the time-honoured tradition of leaving a banana peel in some poor unsuspecting NPC's path. Stunning an enemy, you can pounce on them and ram them into nearby objects, Jason Bourne style. It's a deeply satisfying and fun combat system, the icing on an already delicious cake.

Wanderstop

Games like The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide still stand out to me as some of the most well-written games of all time, so Wanderstop is a game I have been awaiting with great anticipation. What an absolutely delightful payoff the demo ended up being.

Wanderstop charms with its intricately detailed tea shop and deep gardening and brewing mechanics. Picture growing your ingredients, and scaling a giant tea-making contraption, all set to soothing tunes from C418 (of Minecraft music fame).

Carefully threaded through that top layer of cozy vibes and running your little tea shop, hints of a grounded and human story leave me hungry for more.

NITRO GEN OMEGA

An absolute treat for mecha fans–channelling the offbeat spirit of classic anime with a unique, timeline-based battle system. The closest thing I have to compare it to is Into the Breach but that still doesn't quite get there.

Combat is just one half of this game–you'll spend the rest of your time travelling the overworld in your airship. Visiting cities to pick up missions and restock or kicking back to build friendships and rivalries with your team of mech pilots. These play out as little mini-cutscenes which are a cute touch and help you get attached.

While the visuals and mechanics are solid, the audio–or lack thereof–disconnects you from the action on screen. The music is good, but there are hardly any sound effects even for combat. It's early days and I'm sure the team will be able to polish this like crazy because the foundation is excellent.

Labyrinth Of The Demon King

Labyrinth of the Demon King is pure horror—a bleak, PS1-inspired dungeon crawler filled with deformed demons and tense, stamina-draining combat. The aesthetic and atmosphere remind me of Forbidden Siren, with a touch of From Software's King's Field series.

In fact, there's a lot of From Software DNA in the Labyrinth of the Demon King. It's fucking hard for one. It should be no surprise as the developer describes it as "a challenging first-person dungeon crawler" and it certainly is at that.

There are occasionally some "friendly" characters or puzzles to solve–a welcome reprieve from drudging through dungeons and a much-needed moment of peace. I'm generally not a huge fan of challenging games with a few rare exceptions, but that doesn't mean I can't see the love and attention put into Labyrinth of the Demon King.

HASTE: Broken Worlds

HASTE is a thrill ride. It feels like the game Sonic the Hedgehog always wanted to be. Running around at the speed of sound, using momentum to fling yourself around levels and propel yourself to even greater speeds with a fucking hoverboard. In short, this is pure fun.

The game is drop-dead gorgeous, and there are hardly any performance issues or "asset pop in" which have typically plagued speedster games like 3D Sonic. Your movement is based around running and leaping, but sticking the landing plays a vital role. Landing at the right angle maintains your velocity.

Maintaining your speed is really important, as an encroaching threat looms behind you. I had an excellent time with this demo. I wholeheartedly recommend checking it out.

He is Coming

In He is Coming, you wander around a traditional RPG overworld collecting loot and battling monsters, while a clock ticks down to a nightmarish boss battle. Combat plays out automatically and is entirely determined by the quality of gear you find in the overworld.

It's your classic roguelike with a mad-dash RPG crammed in. These games live or die by the crazy shit you can do in them, like last year's Path of Achra, and from what I've seen He is Coming is on the right track to deliver on that front.

Twisted Tower

From the opening minutes, Twisted Tower channels Bioshock with its mid-century aesthetic, unsettling environments and crazed enemies. It even looks and feels like an Unreal Engine 3 game, which isn't a knock against it, the focus on strong design overshadows the technical limitations.

Twisted Tower may look like a horror game; it even has a few decent scares in it. Despite this, it plays like an action game–slide, jump and grapple through environments like a big damn hero. This game understands the appeal of a big mallet and generously offers one as the starting weapon. Encounters are expertly contrasted against exploration and puzzles, resulting in roller coaster pacing with tight highs and pacifying lows.

Twisted Tower really nails the atmosphere. I can't help but compare it to games like Illbleed or CarnEvil. The developers describe it as "reminiscent of BioShock and Disney World" and I agree. Some minor performance hitches aside, the design and fun factor triumph.

Reignbreaker

This is Hades. I'm not trying to be reductive, but Reignbreaker is Hades. That said, Hades was amazing, and Reignbreaker nails the formula–combining isometric action, roguelike challenge and spectacular combos.

It can feel a bit rough around the edges, especially regarding the learning curve, but it's still good fun throughout. With a tonne of combos to pull off, traps to set up, and undoubtedly broken builds to find, it has a lot of potential. I also like the dystopian medieval-punk aesthetic, every inch of this game looks gorgeous.

White Knuckle

White Knuckle gives some flair to the roguelite genre with its speed-climbing mechanics set against a grimy, liminal world. Outclimb a rising tide of deadly Liquid™–a harrowing affair that inspires genuine urgency when you hear the sloshing and swirling of some mysterious substance rising beneath you.

The controls are really intuitive and it takes minutes to get acclimated. Despite that, I can imagine the skill ceiling being extremely high for this type of game. To help you along, you're given a hammer and pitons, climbing javelins, rope javelins and shiny gold cockroaches. The last one was lost on me, but I think they're used at vending machines. So, I'm still lost.

White Knuckle was a lot of fun. There's something primally satisfying about monkeying about and swinging on ropes. The game looks unique, and its atmosphere is gracefully oppressive. Certainly worth keeping an eye on.

This Next Fest delivered an overwhelming slate of standout demos, and my wishlist has never looked fuller. I think it's important to note that these are uncertain times, not just for gaming but the world. In my humble opinion, it's never been more important to support small and independent developers and artists. So I hope you found some games you're interested in! Thanks for reading—stay tuned for more in-depth reviews and the March roundup!