All the games you need to know about at Steam Next Fest

Steam Next Fest 2023

Offers hundreds of video game demos to try out and decide what our next action will be all year long. With Steam’s extensive site, we find it all: other indies have made waves in recent months, high-profile projects with lasting success, and sometimes unexpected (and fun) surprises.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been glued to our screens with tons of indie demos that have completely blown us away. In the Gamers Only section, we bring you a list of the best demos from Steam Next Fest in January 2023 for your enjoyment and wish list while you wait for the final release.

1. Saitou

We may be over-convinced, but we think Mr. Saitou will be one of the big indies of 2023. With a release in just over a month, Laura Shigihara’s title promises a short story about Saitou, an office worker struggling to find meaning in a life suffocated by work, overtime, and loneliness. One day, Mr. Saitou has an accident and, in the hospital, is transported to a magical world. Play this demo.

2. Radio The Universe

A pixel art aesthetic reminiscent of the old days, all with a touch of role-playing, action, and vast exploration. Radio The Universe has been in development for over a decade by a single person, 6E6E6E. After so long, the creative is releasing the long-await edited game in demo form. We don’t have a release date yet, so this has a long way to go.

3. Mail Time

We want to start this list with one of the games that hooked us the most in its charming proposal. Mail Time is a platform video game developed by Van Der Deijl, which puts us in the shoes of a Mail Scout to go through beautiful landscapes and bring mail to the adorable inhabitants of Grumblewood Grove. Super relaxing and cute.

4. Bleak Sword DX

Previously released on the Apple Store, Bleak Sword DX now arrives on PC and Nintendo Switch to open to a wider audience if possible. To do this, it returns to the style of the smartphone version, but now with adapted controls so that all the gameplay is more fluid and according to what it proposes. 12 very well-set chapters to make up the final game (in the demo there is only one). No date has been announced yet.

5. Wandering Sword

If you have played titles like Octopath Traveller, Triangle Strategy, or Live a Life, the visual style of Wandering Sword will surely ring a bell. In fact, behind this pixel art 2.5 HD, which is the name it receives, is a turn-based RPG video game where skills and our good work in battle mark the future. It will be available in 2023.

6. 1000xResist

Imagine you are a clone at the end of the world, a denouement where only one human being exists: the creator. However, you realize that all is not what it seems, that there may be deception, and that you have been living a lie for over 1,000 years. That is the plot of 1000xResist, one of the titles that are attracting the most attention during this demo festival. Developed by the Chinese studio Sunset Visitor, its release date is scheduled for 2023.