The first Steam Next Fest of 2025 has begun! Steam holds a Next Fest event every few months where game developers, big and small, can release demos of their upcoming games. Interested players can download and try as many of them as they want for free. From there, players can wishlist or pre-order the games in question so they know when they come out.
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There are thousands of demos to sift through, so deciding which Steam Next Fest demos are worth your time can be challenging. I have found plenty of titles that fans of action-focused games will enjoy. From Tempest Rising to Dragonkin: The Banished, these are five February 2025 Steam Next Fest demos you should not miss. These demos will all be available throughout Steam Next Fest, which runs from now until 10 AM PT on March 3.
Dragonkin: The Banished
Tired of Diablo IV or peeved that it won’t get another expansion until 2026? Then, I highly recommend checking out Dragonkin: The Banished. This is a new action RPG from the developers of Warhammer: Chaosbane, and it takes place in a world corrupted by the blood of dragons. Players become overpowered killing machines to take down those dragons and other monsters in a classic Diablo-like style. The Steam Next Fest demo lets you go hands-on with some very powered-up characters, teasing what the game will feel like after you put a lot of time into it. This demo doesn’t even really require players to mess around with its highly customizable take on a skill tree, the Ancestral Grid, so there’s a lot more I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into once Dragonkin: The Banished hits early access.
Dragonkin: The Banished enters early access on Steam on March 6th. It’s also being developed for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Shotgun Cop Man
Yes, Shotgun Cop Man is the actual name of this game. It’s the latest from DeadToast Entertainment and Devolver Digital, the pair that brought us My Friend Pedro, and is a straightforward 2D shooter-platformer. With minimalist aesthetics similar to Geometry Dash, this is a shooter where firing blasts from the titular character’s pistol and gun is the main way to both attack enemies and launch yourself very far. It provides some easy pick-up and play fun, making it one of the most enjoyable demos of this Steam Next Fest.
Shotgun Cop Man will be released on PC and Nintendo Switch later this year.
Tempest Rising
If you’re a fan of real-time strategy games, then you should give Tempest Rising a shot. It takes place in an alternate-history world where the Cuban Missle Crisis went nuclear and, in turn, exposed a new plant and energy source called Tempest. This game harkens back to peak Command & Conquer all around, which feels refreshing as this kind of base-building, army-fighting RTS with a sense of humor isn’t nearly as common nowadays as it was a couple of decades ago. This is a meaty demo too, as it contains the first two campaign missions for each faction and the single-player Skirmish mode. It’s the must-play of Steam Next Fest for RTS fans.
Tempest Rising will be released for PC on April 24th.
Lost in Random: The Eternal Die
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Many games have been inspired by Supergiant Games’ Hades, but I still wasn’t expecting to get an action-roguelike follow-up to 2021’s stylish Lost in Random. That game took some bold swings with its Tim Burton claymation-inspired art style and unique dice-based combat. The Eternal Die plays things much safer from a game design standpoint but is still one of the best-feeling action roguelikes I’ve played since Hades. I’m also curious to see more of its narrative, which seems to be a redemption story for the villain of Lost in Random, and how the gorgeous art style retained from its predecessor is utilized as the game goes on.
Lost in Random: The Eternal Die will be released for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch this summer.
Kiborg
I have a soft spot for late 2000s action games that are a little janky around the edges but feel extremely satisfying to play, like Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. We don’t get many games like that anymore, but Kiborg is doing its best to keep that spirit alive in action roguelike form. This is a sci-fi melee game where players are trying to fight their way out of prison run after run, giving themselves many cool-looking cybernetic enhancements. The action isn’t as refined as something like Sifu, but it’s straightforward fun to learn Kiborg’s combos and embrace its weighty combat. If you ever feel like booting up a game to let off some steam and punch some things, then Kiborg looks like it’ll be a great option.
Kiborg will be released for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S sometime during Q2 2025.
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Image courtesy of Marvel Studios
