An event so big no one person can play through it all - Steam Next Fest June 2026 is live with thousands of demos so you can try before release. Like with previous events there will be developer livestreams going on as well. The event runs through June 22nd at 10am pacific / 5pm UTC.
Valve's official trailer is below:
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Direct Link
Direct Link
As for some initial quick recommendations? I have a good few gems here that I think are worth your time (and in no particular order):
| Blood Dungeon | over the hill |
| SPRAWL zero | SiN Reloaded |
| PengPong | Project P.I.T.T. |
| Guncrypt | Casualties: Unknown |
And as always, you can check out our own dedicated Demo tag for various games we've already covered at any point. You don't need to wait for some special event - we cover games nearly every day here on GamingOnLinux. We'll continue going through and highlight others as we find them amongst our normal news tips and other articles so keep an eye out.
See the event on the Steam store.
You can also use our comments below to drop your own suggestions for people to pick up and play.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
About the author - Liam Squires-Hand
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked 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. You can follow me personally on Mastodon [External Link].
See more from me
See more from me
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
You can also find comments for this article on social media: All posts need to follow our rules. Please hit the Report Flag icon on any post that breaks the rules or contains illegal / harmful content. Readers can also email us for any issues or concerns.
12 comments
Petethegoat 13 hours ago
highly recommend the divine frequency demo, imo it's something really special. dark, fuzzy, and intense uzdoom based dungeon crawling. super satisfying gunplay.
0 Likes
Quoting: Petethegoathighly recommend the divine frequency demo, imo it's something really special. dark, fuzzy, and intense uzdoom based dungeon crawling. super satisfying gunplay.put links my man!
[Divine Frequency](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2548880/Divine_Frequency/)
3 Likes 👍 (3) See more...
Holy shitballs SO MANY DEMOS ... whew a little overwhelming.
That Casualties Unknown looks AWESOME. Love weird stuff like that.
For me, here's a small list of things that look pretty awesome from a quick peek at the store front for the fest:
[Ghostpunk](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4378490/Ghostpunk/) - Investigate paranormal cases using a 1990s CRT terminal. Analyze photos. Decode audio. Interrogate suspects and decide what’s real
[Holonoptic](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4305470/Holonoptic/) - economic simulation and party-based RPG into a story-rich corporate alpine cyberpunk.
[Enarian Online](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4218510/Enarian_Online/) - text based ARPG experience that fuses classic adventure with modern action-packed gameplay
[Soul Diagnosis](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4657690/Soul_Diagnosis/) - dialogue-rich isometric cRPG where you are haunted by your mistakes. Navigate a labyrinthine hospital conspiracy, engage in fisticuffs with inanimate objects, and leverage your fractured psyche to survive.
That Casualties Unknown looks AWESOME. Love weird stuff like that.
For me, here's a small list of things that look pretty awesome from a quick peek at the store front for the fest:
[Ghostpunk](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4378490/Ghostpunk/) - Investigate paranormal cases using a 1990s CRT terminal. Analyze photos. Decode audio. Interrogate suspects and decide what’s real
[Holonoptic](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4305470/Holonoptic/) - economic simulation and party-based RPG into a story-rich corporate alpine cyberpunk.
[Enarian Online](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4218510/Enarian_Online/) - text based ARPG experience that fuses classic adventure with modern action-packed gameplay
[Soul Diagnosis](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4657690/Soul_Diagnosis/) - dialogue-rich isometric cRPG where you are haunted by your mistakes. Navigate a labyrinthine hospital conspiracy, engage in fisticuffs with inanimate objects, and leverage your fractured psyche to survive.
0 Likes
If you're as addicted to FromSoftware games as I am, I HIGHLY recommend the demo for Mortal Shell 2. It may be the best non-FromSoft Souls-Like game I've ever played.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2584270/Mortal_Shell_II/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2584270/Mortal_Shell_II/
0 Likes
Anyone have a link to SteamDB showing only demos without AI like last year? The official store listing is getting unusable at this point.
0 Likes
Liam Squires-Hand 6 hours ago
Quoting: SalvatosAnyone have a link to SteamDB showing only demos without AI like last year? The official store listing is getting unusable at this point.https://steamdb.info/instantsearch/?refinementList%5Btags%5D%5B0%5D=-AI%20Content%20Disclosed&refinementList%5BappType%5D%5B0%5D=Demo
0 Likes
Thanks Liam. I seem to recall that you liked Roadwarden, so you may want to check out South of the March. Very different art style, more old school and gritty, but not too dissimilar in terms of gameplay. I enjoyed the writing and tense atmosphere.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4628420/South_of_the_March/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4628420/South_of_the_March/
0 Likes
Quoting: Liam Squires-Handomg what irony.Quoting: SalvatosAnyone have a link to SteamDB showing only demos without AI like last year? The official store listing is getting unusable at this point.https://steamdb.info/instantsearch/?refinementList%5Btags%5D%5B0%5D=-AI%20Content%20Disclosed&refinementList%5BappType%5D%5B0%5D=Demo
that listing page which searches for games that don't have any ai in them, is itself powered by ai. It seems you cannot even escape it when you are actively trying to. 😫
0 Likes
Liam Squires-Hand 5 hours ago
Quoting: JarmerHuh, you must be seeing something I'm not. I've not heard of SteamDB using any AI?Quoting: Liam Squires-Handomg what irony.Quoting: SalvatosAnyone have a link to SteamDB showing only demos without AI like last year? The official store listing is getting unusable at this point.https://steamdb.info/instantsearch/?refinementList%5Btags%5D%5B0%5D=-AI%20Content%20Disclosed&refinementList%5BappType%5D%5B0%5D=Demo
that listing page which searches for games that don't have any ai in them, is itself powered by ai. It seems you cannot even escape it when you are actively trying to. 😫
0 Likes
Quoting: Liam Squires-Handthat steamdb search and filter page is powered by algolia (top right). When you click on their logo, it takes you here https://www.algolia.com/ which says:Quoting: JarmerHuh, you must be seeing something I'm not. I've not heard of SteamDB using any AI?Quoting: Liam Squires-Handomg what irony.Quoting: SalvatosAnyone have a link to SteamDB showing only demos without AI like last year? The official store listing is getting unusable at this point.https://steamdb.info/instantsearch/?refinementList%5Btags%5D%5B0%5D=-AI%20Content%20Disclosed&refinementList%5BappType%5D%5B0%5D=Demo
that listing page which searches for games that don't have any ai in them, is itself powered by ai. It seems you cannot even escape it when you are actively trying to. 😫
"Agentic. Generative. Search. One AI retrieval platform to power them all"
0 Likes
Liam Squires-Hand 4 hours ago
They used algolia for quite a long time before the AI hype, I can't see how any AI would help with their search filtering because it's basic stuff.
0 Likes
Well, let's do this.
Orc Incremental (Proton) - Pretty decent incremental auto-battler that seems to take some RTS inspiration. Simple premise pulled off pretty well overall. It does get a bit old after a while, although I haven't tried the "Trials" mode.
Chonky Cat (Proton) - Very clearly a meme game, where you play as an extremely fat cat who is actually a normal cat skin from an asset store stretched over a large body, chasing a variety of birds and squirrels and such to instantly eat them. I guess it's fun for a bit, but doesn't seem to have had a lot of effort put into it. Probably good for streaming if you're into that.
Worlds Upon the Wind (Native) - Historical Japanese art themed roguelike deckbuilder. No combat in this one, the cards are used to accomplish tasks in rebuilding a shattered world. Not fast moving by any means, but very pretty and it seems like something a person could sink a good amount of time into. Card mechanics seem interesting, where they can be used either to supply required glyphs for tasks, or to be used for drawing more cards and similar tasks. I, for one, found it quite absorbing.
Industronaut (Proton) - Crashed astronaut survival/crafting game. Clearly going for the Subnautica/Planet Crafter vibe, but a bit more industrial/automated. Not a fan of the UI at all, and the process of making things feels very awkward. There are better entries in this genre, by a long shot.
Lone Voyage (Proton) - Exploration game where you're the sole survivor of an attack by an alien "swarm" which has destroyed everyone else. You have a little dude in a spaceship and no explanation of how to work anything. You've got a mining laser and apparently an auto cannon that I never figured out how to use. Or if it's actually there or just listed in your gear. Very poorly/not at all explained mechanics, pretty much immediate and unavoidable death when the swarm shows up or your engine inexplicably goes critical. Not well designed at all, recommend not bothering.
Orc Incremental (Proton) - Pretty decent incremental auto-battler that seems to take some RTS inspiration. Simple premise pulled off pretty well overall. It does get a bit old after a while, although I haven't tried the "Trials" mode.
Chonky Cat (Proton) - Very clearly a meme game, where you play as an extremely fat cat who is actually a normal cat skin from an asset store stretched over a large body, chasing a variety of birds and squirrels and such to instantly eat them. I guess it's fun for a bit, but doesn't seem to have had a lot of effort put into it. Probably good for streaming if you're into that.
Worlds Upon the Wind (Native) - Historical Japanese art themed roguelike deckbuilder. No combat in this one, the cards are used to accomplish tasks in rebuilding a shattered world. Not fast moving by any means, but very pretty and it seems like something a person could sink a good amount of time into. Card mechanics seem interesting, where they can be used either to supply required glyphs for tasks, or to be used for drawing more cards and similar tasks. I, for one, found it quite absorbing.
Industronaut (Proton) - Crashed astronaut survival/crafting game. Clearly going for the Subnautica/Planet Crafter vibe, but a bit more industrial/automated. Not a fan of the UI at all, and the process of making things feels very awkward. There are better entries in this genre, by a long shot.
Lone Voyage (Proton) - Exploration game where you're the sole survivor of an attack by an alien "swarm" which has destroyed everyone else. You have a little dude in a spaceship and no explanation of how to work anything. You've got a mining laser and apparently an auto cannon that I never figured out how to use. Or if it's actually there or just listed in your gear. Very poorly/not at all explained mechanics, pretty much immediate and unavoidable death when the swarm shows up or your engine inexplicably goes critical. Not well designed at all, recommend not bothering.
0 Likes
Patreon
PayPal