A few days ago, I wrote an article highlighting some of the most promising games that currently have demos available as part of the Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition that is currently running until June 22nd.
Since then, a few cool games have joined the Festival, but for whatever reason their demos aren’t highlighted on the Game Festival page. In any case, I decided to return with another batch of demo highlights I think might be worth checking out.
Here is a list of 20 more demos to check out during the Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition:
Partisans 1941
Developer: Alter Games
Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment
Partisans 1941 is a character-driven stealth tactics game about managing a small group of partisans on the Eastern Front of WWII.
You play as Alexey Zorin, a Red Army commander that escaped from a German prison camp, who is now waging a guerrilla campaign behind enemy lines. The game looks like it’s loosely inspired by the Commandos series, but with resource scavenging and base building mechanics between missions.
Partisans 1941 releases Summer 2020.
Gloomwood
Developers: Dillion Rogers, David Szymanski
Publisher: New Blood Interactive
Gloomwood is the next game by the developers behind 2018’s retro FPS hit, Dusk. This time around, the devs are creating a survival horror stealth game inspired by genre classics from the ’90s and early ’00s.
You are trapped in a Victorian metropolis, and will need to use stealth and a well-placed stab from your sword cane to get past patrols of mysterious creatures and deranged hunters. Scavenge for resources, uncover the secrets behind the city’s mysterious curse, and make it out alive.
Gloomwood is releasing sometime in 2020.
Creeper World 4
Developer: Knuckle Cracker
The cult hit Creeper World series has returned for a fourth installment. For the unaware, Creeper World is an RTS/tower defense franchise where your enemy is an all-consuming, physics-driven tidal wave of deadly fluid called the Creeper.
Creeper World 4 marks the franchise’s first foray into 3D graphics, and the game will launch with a variety of tools that emphasis community content. Players can easily create and share new units, maps, and scenarios using the game’s built-in modding tools.
Creeper World 4 is targeting a Q2 2021 release date.
Drone Swarm
Developer: Stillalive Studios
Publisher: Astragon Entertainment
Drone Swarm is a space RTS that puts you in control of a massive mothership and its compliment of 32,000 drones.
Take command of the Argo on a journey across a hostile galaxy to find a new home for humanity, following a devastating alien invasion of Earth. Deploy your drones both offensively and defensively as you are harassed by fleets of alien warships looking to finish off the human race.
Drone Swarm will release towards the end of 2020.
Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials
Developer: Unspeakable Pixels
Publisher: DANGEN Entertainment
Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials is a 2D action-platformer where you play as a barbarian stuck in a dark and dangerous cave. Luckily, you have a bioluminescent bat to keep you company and light the way. Fight enemies, solve puzzles, and join forces with other stranded adventurers as you try to find a way back to the surface.
Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials will release sometime in 2020.
30XX
Developer: Batterystaple Games
30XX is the follow-up to 2017’s hit 2D roguelite action-platformer, 20XX. This sequel is set 1,000 years after the original game, and follows Nina and Ace on their quest to liberate humanity from their robot overlords. Both characters have their own unique attacks, abilities, and playstyle, and the game can be played alone or with a friend via co-op.
30XX doesn’t currently have a release date.
KeyWe
Developer: Stonewheat & Sons
Publisher: Sold Out
Speaking of co-op, KeyWe is a quirky and colorful puzzle game where two players control Jeff and Debra, a pair of kiwis running a post office. Both players will need to coordinate their efforts to type out and send telegraphs, and prep packages for shipping. Players will also need to contend with various seasonal hazards that can make their job more difficult.
KeyWe will release in 2021.
Grounded
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Probably the biggest budget and most high profile game on the list is Grounded. This is a co-op focused survival crafting game where players control children that have been shrunk to the size of ants, and thrown into a dangerous new world that was once their backyard.
Build bases with your friends, scavenge for resources, craft useful items, and fend off attacks from giant insects.
Grounded will enter Early Access on July 28th.
Hammerting
Developer: Warpzone Studios
Publisher: Team17 Digital
Hammerting is a management sim about building a thriving dwarven colony in the hostile mountains of Mara. Mine for resources to craft exquisite armor and weapons to supply your allies, as they wage a war against the forces of evil. Fend off raids from subterranean creatures as you dig deeper into the mountain to expand your stronghold.
Hammerting enters Early Access sometime in 2020.
Tenderfoot Tactics
Developers: Badru, Michael Bell, Isa Hutchinson, Taylor Thomas, Zoe Vartanian, Madison Pathe
Publisher: Ice Water Games
Tenderfoot Tactics is an open world tactical RPG, where you control a group of goblins that have been gifted elemental powers by an ancient spirit.
Use your elemental powers to manipulate the environment in turn-based battles, but beware of the consequences that come from your abilities. Travel across a vast archipelago to uncover the mysteries surrounding the deadly fog that threatens your homeland.
Tenderfoot Tactics releases sometime in 2020.
Hundred Days – Winemaking Simulator
Developer: Broken Arms Games
Hundred Days – Winemaking Simulator is a management game about running your own vineyard. Plant a variety of different grapes, and care for your crops until they are ready to harvest. Control the parameters of the aging process as you turn your crops into fine wine, then ship the finished products to distributors.
Hundred Days – Winemaking Simulator releases sometime in 2020.
Dinosaur Fossil Hunter
Developer: Pyramid Games
Publisher: PlayWay S.A.
Dinosaur Fossil Hunter is a sandbox paleontologist sim. Set out on expeditions to dig sites to uncover fossils. Bring your finds back to your museum, so the fossils can be cleaned up and assembled into complete skeletons. Then design aesthetically pleasing exhibits to display your fossils to the public.
Dinosaur Fossil Hunter releases sometime in 2020.
Skellboy
Developer: Umaiki Games
Skellboy is a cute action-RPG where you play as Skippy, a hero that was accidentally resurrected by an evil wizard while raising his undead army. Take advantage of your skeletal body, swapping out parts to gain access to new powers as you try to save the Cubold Kingdom.
Skellboy releases sometime in 2020.
Skeleton Crew
Developer: Cinder Cone
Publisher: Modern Wolf
Speaking of skeletons, Skeleton Crew is a co-op focused puzzle-platformer with pinball-inspired mechanics.
Kick anything, including your friends, to create high-speed projectiles that rampage their way through destructible environments and enemies. The game features 11 playable characters, each with their own unique skills and mechanics.
Skeleton Crew releases in Fall 2020.
Eastern Exorcist
Developer: Wildfire Games
Publisher: Bilibili
Eastern Exorcist is a 2D action-RPG where you play as a demon hunter in a fantasy world inspired by various East Asian mythologies. The game’s combat is focused on stamina management that emphasizes well-timed strikes, blocks, and dodges.
Eastern Exorcist will release sometime in 2020.
Vagrus – The Riven Realms
Developer: Lost Pilgrims Studio
Vagrus – The Riven Realms is a turn-based RPG with branching narratives set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world.
Lead a caravan of workers and mercenaries across a devastated world full of rival factions, murderous bandits, and bizarre creatures. Manage your resources, take on contracts, transport valuable cargo, and do whatever it takes to ensure that those under your leadership survive another day.
Vargus – The Riven Realms releases sometime in 2020.
Recompile
Developer: Phigames
Publisher: Dear Villagers
Recompile is a 3D Metroidvania where you play as a semi-sentient AI trying to achieve true sapience inside the digital world of the Mainframe.
Choose to help or destroy the many strange denizens of the Mainframe you’ll encounter on your journey, which is full of branching pathways and narratives. Solve puzzles, and gain an edge in combat by hacking the environment, or your foes.
Recompile releases sometime in 2020.
The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos
Developer: Artefacts Studio
Publisher: Dear Villagers
The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos is a tongue-in-cheek turn-based tactical RPG where you control a bumbling party of incompetent adventurers. Guide these unlikely heroes through all manner of diabolical dungeons and silly encounters on their quest for fame and fortune.
The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos releases in Summer 2020.
We Are The Caretakers
Developer: Heart Shaped Games
We Are The Caretakers is a squad management RPG set in an “afrofuturistic” world under siege by an extraterrestrial force. You control the Caretakers, a group tasked with defending the land and its wildlife from poachers and other threats.
The game features an auto-combat battle system and 4X elements, as you send groups of Caretakers across the land and interact with different factions and races.
We Are The Caretakers is set to release in Q3 2020.
The Way of Wrath
Developer: Animmal
Finally, we come to The Way of Wrath, a story-focused turn-based tactical RPG set in a primitive fantasy world.
Rebuild an ancient fort and use it as your base of operations, where you can recruit followers and craft useful items. Unite rival tribes under your banner to prepare your people for a new, external threat.
The Way of Wrath releases sometime in 2020.
Which of these demos are you currently giving a try? What other games being showcased in the Steam Games Festival are you excited for? Tell us in the comments below!
