Free Steam Demos Worth Checking Out
Children of the Sun by developer Rene Rother
Crypt Custodian by developer Kyle Thompson
Steam’s Next Fest might be over for now, but that doesn’t mean all the demos are gone. Here’s a quick list of some of my favorite demos from the fest that (last I checked) are still available to download for free on Steam.
Dicefolk
Developers: LEAP Game Studios & Tiny Ghoul
Publisher: Good Shepherd Entertainment
Dicefolk, from LEAP Game Studios and Tiny Ghoul, is a rogue-like deck-building turn-based strategy game, oh, and there are dice too. In combat, one of the three party members takes the lead position and is flanked by the remaining two. Rotating in and out of the leading position is all part of the strategy. The player can find various chimeras that can be added to the team, but there is only room for a total of three at any given time. Each chimera has a different ability that plays around with the rotational battles.
Each turn begins with rolling dice, and the dice determine which actions the player and the enemies can take on that turn. Actions can vary from the simple “attack,” “rotate left/right,” and “defend” to the more complex actions like “reckless attack” and various stat-buffing actions. The turn can only end once the player has taken all of the enemy's actions, so deciding when to take those actions and in what order is important.
Players will have to battle through a gauntlet of enemies, and maybe stop at a few shops or dicesmiths along the way, culminating in a boss battle at the end of each level. Defeat means starting from the beginning, losing all upgrades and chimeras, but every run results in more knowledge and strategies to use next time. Dicefolk will launch for Steam on February 27th, so if the demo captures you the same way it did to me, the good news is you won’t have to wait for long to try the full game.
Hauntii
Developer: Moonloop Games
Publisher: Firestoke
Ever since Summer Game Fest 2023, which was my first in-person gaming event, I have been enamored with Hauntii, the debut title from Moonloop Games. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to try the demo at Summer Game Fest, but the striking black-and-white visuals immediately caught my eye and had me watching over other player's shoulders now and then. When I heard that Hauntii had released the demo for February’s Steam Next Fest, I was so excited to finally try it, and it did not disappoint.
Hauntii is a beautiful twin-stick shooter full of creative puzzles and exploration. The player assumes the role of a small ghost who is trying to navigate their way through a land called Eternity. Players will have to blast away enemies and use their unique haunting ability to possess objects. This can help solve puzzles by shifting the position of objects, help with traversing the landscape, or upgrade combat abilities.
Even just in this short demo, there is a lot to explore in the world of Hauntii. Mushrooms serve multiple purposes from acting as light switches to exploding on enemies. There will certainly be a lot more to discover when Hauntii eventually launches sometime in Q2 of 2024.
Pepper Grinder
Developer: Ahr Ech
Publisher: Devolver Digital
The free demo for Pepper Grinder might be one of the shortest demos on this list. But the disappointment I felt when I completed the demo in about twenty minutes just shows what a fun and unique platformer developer Ahr Ech (pronounced like the letters “R H” I believe) has created. Pepper Grinder has the player essentially swimming through earth and sand with a giant handheld drill. The drill, affectionately named “Grinder,” serves as a traversal tool, weapon, and more all at the same time.
The demo covers the first few levels of the game, introducing the main character, Pepper, and her motivations. She wakes up on the shore with her treasure in the hands of a band of monsters led by a mysterious knight in black armor. It turns out that the protagonist is a pirate. This fact doesn’t come up much in the demo, other than the fact that Pepper raises a pirate flag whenever the player completes a level.
Even with its short runtime, the Pepper Grinder demo showcases the creativity that has been poured into this clever game. The drill can operate as a crank to raise platforms, it can propel the player underwater, and it can launch the player through the air at great speeds resulting in Sonic-like dashes through parts of levels. But be careful not to let the speed cause you to miss hidden treasures scattered throughout each level. There’s no solid release date yet for this game, but since it was already delayed from 2023, hopefully, that means the wait won’t be much longer.
Beastieball
Developer: Wishes Ultd.
Publisher: Klei Entertainment
Beastieball, from developer Wishes Ultd. (Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Wandersong), is another game I did not get the chance to play at Summer Game Fest 2023. Their demo was available before Steam’s latest Next Fest, but they did release an updated version of the demo for the occasion. This is a creature-collecting game, but rather than having the creatures settle disputes with violence, instead, they settle it on the volleyball court.
Since last summer I have yet to come across a game that has such an unexpected one-sentence description. But don’t let its strange combination of genres fool you, this is a game worth checking out. For one, the beastie designs are adorable, and I’m glad that a creature-collecting game has finally done away with the violence of having creatures fight directly.
Instead of a trainer or tamer, the player is deemed a coach. Learning to master the field as well as the relationships of the individual beasties on your team (they can become besties, rivals, or partners) to climb the global rankings. Thankfully there is a lot of action to be had in the demo, but I can’t wait for Beastieball’s full release which should hopefully be by the end of 2024.
Flock
Developers: Hollow Ponds & Richard Hogg
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Sometimes I actively wonder if Flock from co-developers Hollow Ponds and Richard Hogg (I Am Dead) was specifically made with me in mind. This relaxing game has the player soar around on a giant bird that they can choose the color and design of. The gameplay involves finding and observing various whimsical creatures that populate the world. They all have distinguishing features that organize them into family groups, and of course, they have ridiculous names like bewls and cosmets.
Once the creature has been identified, and the player has recovered the correct whistle from the burgling bewls, they can convince the creature to join their flock. This only means that the creature will fly behind you and your giant bird for as long as you like. There are no battling bewls or fighting with cosmets, it’s all about aesthetics.
But of course, what’s the point of looking cool if you can’t show off? Flock does plan to be a multiplayer game, even if the demo is a single-player experience. While Flock doesn’t have a release date yet, I believe chances are high it will be released sometime this year, especially with such a great demo already available.
Children of the Sun
Developer: Rene Rother
Publisher: Devolver Digital
The debut game from developer René Rother combines elements from a tactical shooter and puzzle games. Children of the Sun is simple but elegant, and a gloriously good time. Players take on the role of a vengeful protagonist hellbent on eliminating a cult with a single bullet, which sounds impossible until you throw in telekinetic powers.
In Children of the Sun, observing the area is key to success. Players will have to mark every target and identify a clear path for their bullet to travel between them all. A miss or striking an inanimate object will force you to start again. As the game progresses, players will unlock new ways to control and change direction mid-flight, making room for far more complicated approaches.
The demo is short and can be completed in under an hour, but it also shows a scoreboard for each level. Players are rewarded with higher scores for speed, accuracy, and number of shots among other things. Of course, it was only my first time playing, but on a few of the levels, the top of the scoreboard outscored me by nearly ten times. I get the sense that this game will develop a strong competitive scene of players trying to outdo each other. Children of the Sun was only revealed just ahead of Steam’s latest Next Fest, so there’s no telling when the full game will be available. But hopefully, it won’t be a long wait.
Rotwood
Developer & Publisher: Klei Entertainment
The first thing that caught my eye about Rotwood from Klei Entertainment (Don’t Starve Together), was the charming character designs. The demo allows players to choose between an anthropomorphized cat, an amphibious humanoid, and a devil-like human with horns and pointed ears. Rotwood is a multiplayer rogue-like dungeon crawler that pits players against a forest of strange critters.
Each venture into the wilderness starts with whatever weapon and armor you have, then when a clearing of enemies is defeated, players get to choose between two or three upgrades. On my first run I saw one upgrade that gave me a temporary increase in movement speed every time I defeated an enemy, and then another upgrade that increased my damage based on my movement speed. I didn’t get to make much use of it unfortunately, but the concept of snowballing speed and damage gave me a great glimpse at what this game has in store.
Aside from combat and upgrades, Rotwood will also have shops to stop at and a town to build up, including finding lost folks in the woods like the smithy and bringing them back to the town. Rotwood can be played solo as well, but according to Steam’s analytics, this game was among the top ten most-played demos during February’s Next Fest. With the demo still available, that could mean a somewhat healthy base of players to try out the game with. Currently, there is no release date or release window announced for Rotwood, but fingers crossed it’s sometime later this year.
Anger Foot
Developer: Free Lives
Publisher: Devolver Digital
I played and loved developer Free Live’s Terra Nil (a patient strategy/simulation game about restoring natural habitats to destroyed wastelands) when it launched in 2023. So when I learned that another game from the same developer had a demo available, I was excited. Little did I know that the new game, Anger Foot, was more in line with Free Lives’ other violent action titles, Broforce and Gorn. This over-the-top ridiculous, fast-paced first-person shooter was far from what I first expected, but I have to admit it is still a great time.
Anger Foot is stacked to the brim with crude humor and violence, but there is barely time to acknowledge it as the player kicks down doors, kicks down enemies, and utilizes an array of weaponry to dispatch the gang that stole the titular vigilante protagonist’s favorite sneaker.
Anger Foot will be a perfect game for speed runners because each level tracks the time it takes to complete. For me, each level took multiple attempts because enemies often hide around corners and bust out new weapons to keep you on your toes. Anger Foot does not have a release date as of yet, but it is scheduled for sometime in 2024, and there’s plenty of fun to be had in the demo until then.
Crypt Custodian
Developer & Publisher: Kyle Thompson
Crypt Custodian puts the player in the place of an unlucky cat that is sent to spend the afterlife living outside the palace for all eternity as the janitor. Thankfully the broom is strong enough to fight off the enemies you’ll encounter there. Developer Kyle Thompson (Islets) brings the afterworld to life with cleverly written ghosts who are also learning to adapt to their eternal damnation.
Aside from the clever writing and charming character designs, Crypt Custodian promises to be a fully-fledged modern metroidvania with a vast map to explore. In a developer update on Steam, Kyle Thompson explained that the map will have multiple viewing modes for large-scale and small-scale planning, fast travel, and even a way to highlight missed loot on the map, making backtracking much less of a chore.
I can’t wait to see what else Crypt Custodian has in store past this demo. Trailers have shown some tense boss battles and enemies that may even border on frightening. But most of all I think the protagonist, Pluto, may become one of the most iconic main characters in gaming this year. Why else did you think I’d feature him in the header image? Between the engaging gameplay and charming presentation, I’m sure Crypt Custodian will be nice and cozy on my Steam wishlist until it releases later this year.
Pacific Drive
Developer: Ironwood Studios
Publisher: Kepler Interactive
Ironwood Studio’s debut game Pacific Drive delivers excellently on a unique concept. While the demo is just a glimpse into the alternate world of the game, there is undoubtedly a lot more to explore and discover. The core concept revolves around making runs into the Olympic Exclusion Zone with a decked-out station wagon. The Exclusion Zone has been walled off for years to contain what can only be described as anomalies.
This is a great demo and if you are interested it’s well worth trying out, but if you want some more in-depth thoughts, read my full review of Pacific Drive! The game will launch on Steam and PS5 on February 22nd, 2024!