The October 2026 Steam Next Fest featured demos built around sharply different play styles, from dungeon combat and airline management to horror and tea-room mystery. The festival ran October 19–26, 2026, according to 3DJuegos. Steam describes Next Fest as a week-long event with free demos, developer livestreams and chats (Steam’s event page).
Nine picks, nine different play loops
Writer Daniel Martinez selected these nine demos for an AIPT feature and described his own play impressions. His picks are a curated selection, not a player-count ranking.
| Demo | Core gameplay idea |
| Emberville | Explore pixel-art dungeons, fight, build skills and move between areas you have explored. |
| Vital Decisions | Recognize symptoms, use diagnostic tools and medicine, and manage a growing line of patients in a hospital-management game. |
| Gate Guard Simulator | Inspect visitors’ documents, check bulletins when details are incomplete, then decide who may enter a medieval castle. |
| No Body No Problem! | Play multiplayer hide-and-seek: one player hides a body while a friend acts as the police officer. |
| Banana Airways | Run a chaotic chicken-themed airline, tending to passengers and handling onboard emergencies. Martinez says the demo can be played solo or with friends. |
| Extreme Cleaning Simulator | Clean a filthy house, choose tools and supplies, and upgrade skills for collecting rubbish. |
| Plushy’s Playground: Into the Slide | Enter a horror maze through a slide with a plush toy; the game pairs CRT-style graphics with a plush guide. |
| Tearoom of Terror | Inherit a tearoom, prepare tea and food from clues and recipes, and investigate relationships and a possible murder in Goreytown. |
| Guns ‘n Goblins | Defend a bell against waves of goblins, choosing weapons and spending earned coins on upgrades and spells. |
That spread makes it easier to choose by the activity you want: combat and progression in Emberville, document checks in Gate Guard Simulator, or a slower mix of recipes and investigation in Tearoom of Terror. Martinez singled out Guns ‘n Goblins for holding his attention during his session; that was his personal impression.
Five more demos, from platform action to puzzles
Blurbs’ separate five-game roundup included SNAPTIC, Bad Magpie, At Fates End, DERELIKT and Biryado. Its footage showed action-platforming and combat in SNAPTIC, card-based or tactical combat in At Fates End, dark retro-style shooter or exploration gameplay in DERELIKT, and puzzle or action play in Biryado. Bad Magpie was also among the five titles.
Steam’s most-played list measures popularity
Steam’s October 2026 most-played page lists 50 games ordered by unique players (Steam’s list). That gives readers a player-based way to browse the festival’s games; Martinez’s nine picks instead reflect one writer’s editorial choices and play impressions.
