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Destructoid
Scott Duwe

Here are 9 of the best game demos you need to try out during the June 2025 Steam Next Fest

Steam Next Fest is always a blast, as game developers line up to offer up a slice of their upcoming games for players to download and enjoy.

This latest iteration of Steam Next Fest is full of some incredible titles that range across every genre you could imagine, along with some genre combinations you would never even consider. We've been playing them all, and we have a list of suggestions to try out before this Next Fest comes to an end.

Here are our picks for some of the best demos to play during Steam Next Fest in June 2025.

The best Steam Next Fest demos

Absolum

Absolum demo screenshot Steam
Image via Dotemu

The latest from Streets of Rage 4 devs Guard Crush is a demo I got to play a bit early ahead of Steam Next Fest, and it's one I'm incredibly excited for. It's a roguelike side-scrolling beat-em-up with an interesting story premise and three playable characters, and it's the first original IP from TMNT: Shredder's Revenge publisher Dotemu.

BALL x PIT

BALL x PIT gameplay screenshot
Image via Devolver Digital

Break balls, build your base, and upgrade your characters in yet another roguelite, but this one has had me addicted since I first played it. I'm not even sad that demo progress doesn't carry over, though, because it's just that addicting.

Phase Zero

A warning screen at the start of Phase Zero.
Image via SPINA Studio

The latest in an ever-growing line of classic PS1 Resident Evil-likes, and this one skyrocketed to the top of my list after playing it. Fixed camera angles, inventory management, puzzle solving, and zombies? Yeah, I am all the way in.

PIGFACE

PIGFACE "Break Me" screenshot from gameplay
Image via DreadXP

Sticking with the horror theme, PIGFACE reminds me of Manhunt and Hotline Miami if they got together and made a creepy, retro FPS. Ultraviolent and disturbing, this one combines stealth and gunplay to create something worth keeping an eye on.

Dead as Disco

Image via Brain Jar Games, Inc.

This is simply one of the most stylish and promising game demos I've played in some time. It combines Batman: Arkham-style simplified combat with disco music to create something that's utterly satisfying, and it's all soaked in neon for beautiful added effect.

Windswept

A sreenshot from Windswept, showing a duck and a turtle on wooden platforms in front of a watery background.
Image via Top Hat Studios, Inc.

A duck and a turtle combine to create one of the most charming demos in this Steam Next Fest, brilliantly recreating the feeling and look of classic retro platformers, but with some awesome and interesting new gameplay mechanics as the two animals work together to progress.

Ambrosia Sky

Ambrosia Sky gameplay screenshot of a room filled with alien fungus
Image via Soft Rains

Part Power Wash Simulator, part narrative game, Ambrosia Sky is all potential. You're tasked with spraying alien fungus while performing last rites for the dead, and playing the demo was all I needed to generate some genuine interest.

Letters to Arralla

Letters to Arralla dummy thicc
Image via Little Pink Clouds

One of the most unique demos I played this week, this one stars a turnip with fat asscheeks delivering mail on an island where everybody else is a caked up fruit or vegetable, too. I'd suggest trying it just to see that it's actually real.

MIMESIS

Several players dressed in hazmat suits repairing a wagon in Mimesis.
Image via ReLU Games, Inc.

Games like Lethal Company and REPO going popular have created an entirely new subgenre of spooky co-op games, and this one may be the creepiest. The game will record you and your teammates to then try and make monsters use your voices to mimic you in the game.

The post Here are 9 of the best game demos you need to try out during the June 2025 Steam Next Fest appeared first on Destructoid.

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