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Steam Next Fest is live again with new demos, livestreams and more

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Another digital event has arrived with Steam Next Fest, giving you a chance again to try out a bunch of demos for upcoming games and watch live events.

Just like the previous events the main page will allow you to browse through different genres. Developers will livestream directly to their store pages, giving you a chance to watch and chat with them which does make it quite an experience. It's a really wonderful format, that I hope Valve continue for years to come as it's a great thing for developers and players.

Annoyingly, Valve seem to have again forgotten to include a platform list so you can't just see only Linux-supported titles right now. Not only that but quite a lot of developers haven't put up the full demo banner with platform icons on their store pages (only the little demo button on the sidepanel), so you need to check SteamDB (Search for "game + demo") on those to see if the demo has a Linux build.

Here's some of the Linux supported demos to take a look at that might stand out:

Adam The Storyteller Aquamarine
Billionworlds : Kingdoms CreatorCrate
Cute Bite Death Trash
Doki Doki Ragnarok FRANZ FURY
Farlanders Haven Park
Idol Manager Increlution
Lila’s Sky Ark Operation STEEL
Patrick's Parabox ProtoCorgi
Sail Forth Sea of Roses
Screeps: Arena Shutter Stroll
Sky Fleet Space Bandit
Spies & Soldiers StoryArcana
The Lost King of Avallon Unpacking
Zoria: Age of Shattering  

There's plenty of other demos, we're just going through what's new for the event. If we miss any that look really good, send us a correction to add it.

I did play Patrick's Parabox in a previous event and that was a fantastic puzzle game, so I can already tell you to absolutely go and check that one out. I'm also incredibly keen to try out Death Trash and Lila's Sky Ark.

Steam Next Fest: June 2021 Edition runs June 16 - June 22. See more about it on the Steam store and the dedicated event page.

Let us know in the comments what you try and what you think of them.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Demo, Event, Misc, Steam
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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Anza Jun 16, 2021
That demo list is always helpful. I installed just seven by browsing the event page and looking for Linux demos that I haven't yet played. Could install few more once I have tried the ones that I found already.

I already tried Unpacked and it certainly was something different. It's basically about unpacking stuff and finding good place for everything. After all boxes are emptied, game checks if things are in correct enough place. It can be bit picky, so might have to try out few places. Especially the kitchen in the demo was bit confusing as there didn't seem to perfectly logical place for everything. I might be bit spoiled though as I have good place where the plates go for example and game didn't have that.

I guess it could be great game for somebody who hasn't played games that much. There's no pressure and game mechanics come mostly from real life (assuming you actually unpack the boxes when you move...). From the demo it's impossible to say though if the final game has enough new mechanics to keep the game interesting.
whizse Jun 16, 2021
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I tried Death Trash, but wasn't immediately hooked. I found the scenery and colour scheme too drab. Gameplay wise there's a focus on combat and not so much on quests and dialogue. Mind, that's just first impressions from 30 minutes or so of gameplay...

The rest of the evening was spent tinkering with the WRC 10 demo in Proton. I got it from immediate error message, to black screen followed by an error message, hurrah! I guess among other things the DX12 support in Proton needs to improve.

(Ironically it doesn't sound as any of the WRC titles are all that good, but it is where all the esports happen so I would love to see it working).


Overall, I'm glad Valve is bringing demos back. But please, keep them in place after the festival is over. There's no way I have time to try out even half the titles that catch my fancy!
CatKiller Jun 16, 2021
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Quoting: whizseOverall, I'm glad Valve is bringing demos back. But please, keep them in place after the festival is over. There's no way I have time to try out even half the titles that catch my fancy!
This came up with another recent article. A lot of game devs believe that if a potential customer is able to satisfy their curiosity with a demo, the dev won't be able to pick their pocket for the full game price. I think that's an abhorrent attitude. But by enforcing the demos being unavailable on launch day to placate the devs, Valve can get them to actually make a demo in the first place.
Liam Dawe Jun 16, 2021
A lot of demos can be just manually backed up too and run outside of Steam.
Anza Jun 16, 2021
Not all of the demos are time limited though, too bad it's hard to know which ones are. I checked through demos that I still have installed and it's time limit is quite common.

However I tried one the demos that has expired and running it outside Steam worked fine. So just downloading the demos before they expire might be just enough. No need to make backups unless you're afraid that Steam will uninstall the demo automatically.
dubigrasu Jun 17, 2021
Thanks for the work you put on that list, save me a lot of time.
kokoko3k Jun 17, 2021
Quoting: CatKillerThis came up with another recent article. A lot of game devs believe that if a potential customer is able to satisfy their curiosity with a demo, the dev won't be able to pick their pocket for the full game price.

(!) Source?

QuoteI think that's an abhorrent attitude.
Indeed. Hype, or worst.
Am i paying for (or are they really trying to sell me) games just to satisfy my curiosity?

Doesn't make sense, do they know steam allows refunds if you don't like the game?


Last edited by kokoko3k on 17 June 2021 at 8:39 am UTC
Liam Dawe Jun 17, 2021
Well Death Trash currently has what looks to be a shader bug, have let the developer know as enemy view cones are bright pink.

Edit: Vulkan fixes it. Use "-force-vulkan" as a launch option for Death Trash.


Last edited by Liam Dawe on 17 June 2021 at 3:22 pm UTC
Expalphalog Jun 17, 2021
Not many of these looked that appealing to me this year. Tried running The Wickie, a Lovecraftian horror, through Proton but it wouldn't even launch. Also tried WarTales. It ran fine and the combat was solid but the game itself was rather dull.

EDIT: Went back and tried some more games. Deepest Chamber ran very well once I got past the starting menu (which was incredibly slow to load). Would only recommend it for people who found Slay the Spire to be 'too much.' It's a very watered-down version of Slay the Spire. Which is to say that it was fun, but not very challenging and it just made me want to play StS again instead of doing another run of Deepest Chamber.

Void Tyrant is also a watered-down Slay the Spire except it's charming enough and seems to be aimed at kids so I dig it. In fact, last night, I plunked my 8yo down on my lap and let her play while I gave advice. She adored it.


Last edited by Expalphalog on 19 June 2021 at 3:51 pm UTC
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