30 demos to check out during Steam Next Fest February 2022

The Steam Next Fest February 2022 event has kicked off and with it comes a wealth of demos from all corners of gaming to check out. There is an incredible array of variety on display as usual during the Steam Next Fest, so where does one even begin? We can help with that. We’ve taken an extensive dive into Steam Next Fest February 2022’s catalogue and sifted out a solid collection of excellent-looking demos players ought to try. Check it out!

30 demos to check out during Steam Next Fest February 2022

 Each of these demos is available for the duration of the current Steam Next Fest event from February 21 to February 28. You’ll find links to each game accompanying their listing below.

Beacon Pines

Beacon Pines is an adventure game from developer Hiding Spot and publisher Fellow Traveler. It follows the lushly artistic story of Luka and his friends as they sneak out at night to explore and discover mysteries in their town. It’s presented in a storybook format and offers players the chance to affect the narrative drastically through placement of words at key points.

Souldiers

Developer Retro Forge and publisher Dear Villagers bring us Souldiers, which is looking like a lushly colored hack-and-slash platform adventure. Players will be able to choose between different classes such as a swordsman, wizard, and archer to engage in metroidvania exploration and Souls-like combat. Fight back against fantastical foes, solve nefarious puzzles, and cross the line between worlds of the living and the dead.

Bomber Blok

2Lion are the developer and publisher behind Bomber Blok, which offers us a subterranean puzzle adventure full of TNT and treasures. This game has players blasting their way through blocky caverns with jackhammers, TNT, and whatever else you can find. Precious gems await, but the more you dig, the more you create dust. If you’re not careful, you could end up trapped in the dark.

Intergalactic Pawn Shop

It’s tough times out there in this galaxy created by Warlock Arts. As relations between humans and the galactic Lorc race teeter on war, you’ve chosen to work an Intergalactic Pawn Shop on the fringe of it all. While your business is what’s important, you might find that your customers and the things you buy from and sell to them could have an effect on galactic events as they unfold. Could your day job influence the fate of mankind as you know it?

Vanaris Tactics

It’s not often we get a good looking turn-based tactical RPG, but Vanaris Tactics is another title looking to fill that role. Developer Matheus Reis presents the story of a band of refugees looking to escape outside the walls of the oppressively controlled Vanaris. You’ll level up characters, gain abilities, and explore the land through a series of story encounters as your fighters seek their freedom by any means necessary.

Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER

We’re certainly not lacking for visual novels or mysteries in gaming, but few look as stylish as Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER from MidBoss. As a psychic detective in a cyberpunk-styled future, you’ll chase down a rogue psychic hiding in the memories of their victims. How you choose to chase them down is your decision, but the clock is ticking in this intriguing narrative.

Silt

The majesty of the deep sea is only matched by the terrifyingly dark mysteries it contains, and you’ll be exploring it all in Silt. As a mysterious diver, you are capable of possessing sea life. Use it to aid your journey in the deepest waters, outwit frightening and deadly obstacles, and venture further into the dark deep. This title from Spiral Circus presents quite the atmospheric adventure game for those who dare venture into the most dangerous of waters.

Winter Survival

Going from sea to snow, our next game takes us to the barren tundra with Winter Survival from DRAGO Entertainment. When you are left stranded in the frozen wild, it is up to you to do what it takes to survive long enough for rescue to arrive. You’ll hunt, collect water, seek shelter, and fight off dangerous wildlife as you try to traverse the snowy land in search of a ranger station. No matter how prepared you think you are, surprises lie in wait for you - some good and some deadly.

Kujlevka

When a flying saucer lands in a sleepy Russian village, you end up as the first contact of the otherworldly invaders. Kujlevka from developer Callback is a post-Soviet adventure in which your encounters with aliens can lead to some very interesting outcomes. Your actions and decisions influence the story. Whether you’re taking life advice from a horseshoe crab or judging the worth of a Stalin made of tablecloths to name a few, contact with alien life is bound to get more than a little weird.

Dangerous Drift

Sometimes you need a good old-fashioned race by the seaside to get the blood going and Dangerous Drift from Lunarhellgames looks like it will deliver. Race to beat your time or a rival as you take various vehicles spinning through a multitude of environments. Beachsides, forests, mountains, and further treacherous roads await you, as well as a wide variety of vehicles and ways to damage them. Do you have what it takes to push these cars to the limit on the most demanding of roads?

Garbage Crew

We don’t really get “Paperboy” style games these days, and while Garbage Crew doesn’t have you delivering papers, it certainly seems to have that same level of urgency and charm. As a garbage collector working on a truck that doesn’t like to make stops, your job is to grab all the garbage from the neighborhood cans while keeping up with your ride. Up to four players can play, making this look like an amusing and chaotic romp with friends.

Facteroids

We love ourselves a good building/industrial management sim here at Shacknews and we fancy maybe some of you do too. In that case, you might want to keep Jan Zizka’s Facteroids on your radar. Tasked with intergalactic mining, it’s your job to establish a mining facility on an asteroid and wring the valuable resources out of it. Time is money, so as you build, you’ll get new technologies to upgrade and weave your facilities into an efficient intergalactic mining machine.

Chains of Fury

Double-crossed and imprisoned, Cobble Games sets you off on a high-adrenaline first-person shooter slay-fest in Chains of Fury. Grabbing any weapon you can get your hands on, plus the power of your mighty boot, you’ll riddle enemies with bullets and shove them into all sorts of environmental murder machines as you gun your way through a cell-shaded world of alien inmates, guards, and towering monsters.

Fishing Paradiso

Fishing has become more than a gimmick in a lot of games. It’s a downright adventure when done right and Odencat aims to capture that with Fishing Paradiso. It’s a fishing RPG that takes you from the sandy shores of a tropical beach to an underground lagoon to fishing out in space! Bass, sharks, and everything in between await you as you journey and meet interesting characters to help you along your way to becoming a master angler and finding the legendary God Fish.

LUNARK

We’ve long moved past an era of games like Eric Chahi’s Another World, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have new ones. Canari Games aims to capture that spirit in LUNARK. In the distant future, you’ll take on a cinematic platforming experience as you run, jump, and shoot your way to rebellion against a totalitarian regime. LUNARK has a fun and stylish looking world and classic gameplay to go along with it, making for a cool-looking sci-fi adventure.

Lost in Play

Do you enjoy shows like Over the Garden Wall and Gravity Falls? If so, you’ll find a lot to love in Lost in Play! The game is family friendly and offers a wealth of fun puzzles to complete as you work to help guide Toto and Gal back home.

A Little to the Left

Looking for something to relax and unwind with? Look no further than A Little to the Left! The game is all about tidying up messes in the most satisfying ways possible. While puzzles are kept short and sweet, there are 75+ puzzles on offer in the game to help keep you busy, each with multiple puzzle solutions.

How to Say Goodbye

Another game with gorgeous artwork and fun puzzles to solve that’s worth checking out is How to Say Goodbye. In the game, you’ll work to help guide a group of ghosts through an exit door, essentially helping them cross over to the other side.

Desolatium

Desolatium is a unique point-and-click graphic adventure game based on Lovecraft Mythos complete with eerie locations and lurking lovecraftian creatures. Adding to this, Desolatium features ambisonic (8D) audio and hyper-realistic graphics to help immerse you in the game’s setting and story even further.

FAR: Changing Tides

FAR: Changing Tides is an emotional adventure game from the developers behind FAR: Lone Sails that follows Toe, a boy in search of a new home after waking up and finding himself all alone in an unfamiliar, and at times hostile, environment. The game is described as a meditative experience, and is certainly one you won’t want to miss if you enjoy exploration, puzzle solving, sailing, swimming, and more.

A Tale of Paper

A Tale of Paper is a puzzle-platformer that follows the story of Line, a magical character made of paper. Using origami techniques, Line can change shape which is key for solving puzzles. The game also has a heartfelt story complete with three prequel chapters centered around a different paper character with their own origami skills and story.

The Witchmade Shop

If you’ve ever dreamed of being a witch brewing up powerful potions, The Witchmade Shop is a game well worth checking out. In it, you become a potion seller who fulfills orders for customers while also talking to them and learning more about them. The happier your customers are, the more successful you’ll become.

Nadir

Visually striking, Nadir is a roguelike inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy that features deck building and intense card battles. Adding to this, there are nine circles of hell you’ll travel through all leading up to a climactic boss battle. If card games are your jam, Nadir is one that’s well worth checking out.

The Little Star Spirit

Looking for a platformer to spend some time with? The Little Star Spirit is a charming action-adventure platformer where you journey through colorful planets, collect stars, and encounters with a variety of interesting creatures. Be wary of these creatures though, not all of them are friendly!

Neodash

Neodash is a racing game with stunning neon environments that not only lets you race through community-made tracks, but also lets you make tracks of your own! To add to the neon aesthetic, the game also boasts a number of high-energy electronic songs, including some from Monstercat, with the game’s traps and environment reacting to the music in real-time.

Trash Panda

The idea for this game is wild, in all the best ways. In Trash Panda you play as, you guessed it, a raccoon who gets to wreak havoc on a quiet neighborhood and eat trash. If you want to live your raccoon fantasy, this sim will let you do just that by knocking over trash cans, fighting other raccoons, and more!

Card Shark

From the developer of Reigns comes a brand new hand-drawn, historical card game that’s focused more on cheating at cards than playing fair and square. Set in 18th century France, Card Shark tasks you with cheating your way to the top in card games with devious maneuvers such as false shuffles, deck swaps, card marking, and more. In a nutshell, Card Shark is a fun game in that it rewards you for cheating… as long as you don’t get caught!

Finders, Keepers

Finders, Keepers is a great example of a game taking an unexpected mechanic and turning it into something special. Specifically, Finders, Keepers has you sorting through a mysterious dating app called fyndr/keepr. In the app, you’ll swipe not to match with people, but to do things like open doors and uncover secrets.

Gibbon: Beyond the Trees

Swinging through the trees is what Gibbon: Beyond the Trees is all about. More than that though, the game is beautiful and offers movement options beyond swinging such as slides and somersaults. It also deals with important environmental topics like climate change, deforestation, and poaching in a very approachable way.

Onde

Ethereal tunes will be your guide in Onde, a sound-surfing platformer where you create paths of sound and light. Designed as a peaceful, meditative experience, Onde lets you explore ethereal landscapes full of soothing sounds as you guide a new being through the darkness and into the light.

That covers our picks for some of the most interesting demos of this Steam Next Fest February 2022 event. It’s running until February 28, so check in and check out some of these games while you can.