Steam Next Fest No. 1 of 2026 (Pt 1)
Have always wanted to do something like this where I can just put some quick thoughts about some demos down. Most of these are from Next Fest but there was an excuse to finally jump into some other demos I had been meaning to get into, so far this is a part one because I didn't have enough time to get through what I wanted.
Titanium Court was the standout here for being the most novel and slick game out of the bunch and I have feeling that may carry over into my part two!
Nutmeg! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager
A beautifully presented game that aims to scratch that classic card collecting and 90s-00s football nostalgia. The card playing system is fun but can't wait until the full game to test how robust it is. Replay-ability and flexibility don't get a highlight in the demo (unless you likely dedicate more time than I could). Don't go into this thinking it is a dumbed down version of football manager, Nutmeg has its own complexity in it that feels very daunting within the space of the demo. The tutorialisation leaves a lot to be desired as it leads a player to a lot of reading of concepts they have 0 familiarity for when they first boot up. The demo seems to know this as it pulls you away from the reading and gives you actionable examples half way through. Maybe a bit of feedback here is to have a tutorial for a few rounds that leads your team to getting relegated. Lets you fail in an unavoidable way and gives the player some breathing room to have some forced practice rounds.
Cargo Hunters
If this game has a story around it then I am sold, the atmosphere and the ambience are terrifying and the concept is interesting. Doing to the extraction genre what SurrounDead did to the survival genre, bringing those nail-biting tense scenarios to people who may not have the time to get value out of PvP extraction shooters. Shooting and looting is fun and the novel body repair concept helps the idea of healing being a diegetic action rather than the suspension of disbelief most healing systems require in order to be fun.
Cloudscrapers
Tetris is ultimately timeless for a reason and this does not disappoint. The art style and the music make for an almost relaxing experience in Cloudscrapers, and there is a hint at an intriguing story. The demo had me exhausting it without stopping and that was 60mins gone in a flash. The way the building works with each individual block lends itself to interesting mechanics where you can build your own powerups that you unlock has you ascend the tower. I can see a lot of people losing many hours to this game already.
Titanium Court
Effortlessly stylish and may be one of the coolest games I have played in a long while. One of those rare games where it is happy to play with the medium that it is in and push it in interesting and novel ways. Titanium Court brings a fresh feeling to match 3s while also looking good and being easy to pick up and play. The laid back jazzy music in this game is a plus as well.
Windrose
Without saying anything else, there are sea shanties and you can board low health ships you are fighting, encapsulating the Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag DNA that enamored everyone in 2014. With the addition of exploration and survival elements that pull from Valheim and succeed at providing that same feeling as those mechanics, this game may make it a Pirates life for me.