Here are all the Demos I played during Steam Next Fest June 2025. Great color choice this time Valve, very watermelon summer.
DAVY X JONES
DAVY X JONES is a first person shooter where you play as Davy Jones body being accompanied by Davy Jones head. Davy has been killed by Blackbeard and now he must go on this quest for revenge but in two pieces. It’s a fun concept and a fun demo. The depths of the pirate underworld are beautiful and the gameplay is very snappy. One hand is sword play while the other is your gun that seems to never run out of bullets. You can use your severed head to grapple, hook around and pick up enemies. Davy’s head is going to do most of the talking in this game, while the body you are controlling just says “Jones” in acknowledgement. You can also play a slapping and luck mini game with your head which is cute. I’m really excited for this one. I think It’s going to be a wild ride.
LAN Party Adventures
Do y’all remember LAN parties? This game is like a LAN party set up simulation game and mystery combined. You started a business of setting up LAN parties for money but then your friend goes missing so now you have to set up LAN parties and find out what happened to Pedro. It plays like a job sim so you better know where all the cords go and how to install the software off floppies. According to the Steam Page every time you set up a LAN party you discover more clues. You can also play a sandbox mode and create your ultimate gaming setup!
Date Everything
Date Everything doesn’t need an introduction, it’s got plenty of press because of the huge casts of prolific voice actors and some social media people. It is also what it sounds like, a dating sim where you can date everything (in your house). It’s fully voice acted and has over 100 dateable characters and you don’t even have to date them. You can just be friends with them or make them your enemy. It could be a friendship simulator or you could see what it’s like when all the objects in your house hate you. According to its steam page it has at least 3 different endings per dateable character, which is insane! It comes out right after Steam Next Fest ends, I was going to get it anyway but the demo made me even more excited!
Hobby Horse
Hobby Horse is a silly little racing game where you play as a kid racing around on a stick horse. You customize your horse head and stick then race around obstacle courses. It reminds me of the many horse racing games I played in my youth because I was indeed a horse girl/ Speaking of youth, get ready for a LOT of current slang terms. Took me out of it to be honest. After completing a course you unlock more customizable options for your horse and you get to show off your trophies back in your bedroom hub area. It looks really cute, no cap.
Tiny Book Shop
So as you probably know from my video game book podcast I have become a bit of a reader so the Tiny Book Shop was right up my alley. You run a small mobile book shop in a beautiful town by the sea. You chat with customers and recommend books based on what they tell you their interests are. These are all real books so this game is really made for bookworms. Someone asked for something similar to “ A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” and I have never read that book but I have heard of it so I had to take an educated guess. You can buy mystery book boxes and accessories for your shop in the local newspaper. Some of the town folks give you little quests such as selling books at the beach 3 times. Oh to be a little mobile book store in a small beach town, that’s the dream isn’t it?
Dracamar
Dracamar is a collection platformer/creature collector where you run around the world of Dracamar saving the Okis (which are these rabbit looking things) from a big evil dragon named King Crad who wants the turn them into Madokis. In order to change them back you just have to give ’em a good slap and then absorb their evil energy balls. These Moki-balls can be used to rebuild the bridges to connect the island. You also run around collecting stars scattered throughout the level and when hit you lose some of your stars. One of the Oki named Iko is stored in your glove and can help you with puzzles. Overall this game is really cute and fun. It reminds me of all those old school platformers and according to its steam page it’s going to have local co-op. My one beef with it is the dialogue seems a little off, but this just could be the English translation because the team is from Barcelona. On the steam page it states that “The Catalan culture inspires the world of Dracamar, and the game is available to play in Catalan”.
The Hilltop Funeral
The Hilltop Funeral is one of those games where you have to control two characters at once, both holding a casket. You and your thumbs have to work together to move a dead man in a casket through a cemetery but make sure not to drop them on the floor, they are floppy. The dead man isn’t the only thing you have to worry about. Pieces of the casket fall off as well, so you have to repair that. It can be played solo or local co-op and honestly I need the help.
CloverPit
CloverPit is the self proclaimed lovechild of Balatro and Buckshot Roulette. You are trapped in some sort of cell with a slot machine and you must pay off your debts each round or die. You get tickets that you can use to purchase lucky items. It is a rogue-lite and not a slot machine simulator so it can actually be defeated. Not that I would because I plummeted to my death in the demo. Can’t say i’m not curious as to what the hell is going on, guess I’ll have to go gambling when it comes out some time in 2025.
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