10 Games From The 2025 Steam Next Fest You Should Check Out – Part 3
That’s right, it’s me again. Apparently I’m just a glutton for literally every video game to ever exist. I hope you’ve been remembering to eat and drink properly despite the slew of awesome indie games on show this week with the 2025 Steam Next Fest.
At this point, reality eludes me, I’m just wandering from one wonderful video game universe to the next. Do I have other responsibilities I should be taking care of? You bet your keester I do. Am I neglecting them to play more games? Damn straight. My rapidly declining mental state aside, I have another ten games from the Next Fest I’ve tried and that I think you should too. There may even be an extra one… you’ll have to stay to the end to find out though. How suspenseful.
AFTERBLAST
If you like your first-person shooters fast and furious, look no further than AFTERBLAST. Heavily inspired by the Doom reboot and high octane oldies like Quake, this FPS had me dashing, hook chaining and blasting across a multitude of monster-filled rooms. Then I hit the boss and despite knocking out one of its three health bars, went down like a sack of potatoes hitting the sea from 10,000 feet.
AFTERBLAST is all about smart movement, chaining your ranged assaults with your abilities, and being completely, utterly unrelenting to anything non-human. Doomslayer would be proud. It’s a tough challenge, even from just the first set of levels on offer in the demo, but I can foresee many an FPS enthusiast having a great time unleashing bullet Hell upon these hordes. Plus, it’s out just before Doom: The Dark Ages, what better an appetiser could you summon from Hell itself?
AFTERBLAST will be ripping and tearing onto Steam in April 2025. It’s being developed and published by Lumino Games.
Castle V Castle
2025’s Steam Next Fest has had an abundance of card-based games and deckbuilders, with Castle V Castle being one of the beneficiaries of that focus. The premise is simple – you have a castle, you need yours to be standing while leaving the opposing castle as nothing but rubble. You accrue stone, magic and swords, with which you launch cards to fortify your position and bring devastation upon the other.
Despite having no tutorial and being obliterated in my first three efforts almost immediately, Castle V Castle is easy to get the hang of and has an addictive charm. The black-and-white visuals, satisfying *clomp* that accompanies a castle being wrecked, the utter elation of beating your opponent, it’s all here and accounted for. A straightforward premise but done very well, I’d recommend having a look at this title.
Castle V Castle will be showing its hand on Steam at some point in the future, but for now it’s coming soon. It’s being developed by Nopopo and published by Future Friends Games and Outersloth.
Deck of Haunts
We’ve all at some stage of our lives felt unfulfilled by the inability of a mere mortal to take on the form of a haunted house and terrorise its occupants, let’s be honest. As I smugly watched six helpless explorers wander into my trap-laden kitchen, three of whom died instantly upon getting 3 damage each, I maniacally feasted on the evil joy of Deck of Haunts.
Using cards to either drive your visitors insane, or just kill them off, you can gather essence to add new rooms or expand your trap-filled terror bungalow. We all have to get our kicks somewhere, it just turns out I get mine from spending 20 minutes causing abject agony to small beings. I’d be really good at being a haunted house if this demo is anything to go by, and Deck of Haunts has shot up to the top of my most anticipated indie list for this year.
Deck of Haunts will be terrorising explorers everywhere on Steam, though its release date is a spiritual coming soon right now. It’s being developed by Mantis and published by DANGEN Entertainment.
Deliver At All Costs
I’ve never been so stressed trying to deliver melons before. By far, the highlight of Deliver At All Costs is the destruction and physics systems. Bulldoze into a wooden pier and bask as the splinters fly into the air, poor sightseers crashing down to Earth. Wasn’t me… I swear. Transferring cargo means those juicy fruits will explode on every street. Moving fireworks means evading them as they’re exploding all around you.
Deliver At All Costs is an absolute blast of a game. Exploring the free-roam map is a treat, while the fundamentals of the driving and destruction feel like the offspring of a Grand Theft Auto, Burnout and Teardown cocktail. Can’t compliment this one enough, and it was a favourite across a couple of the other Finger Guns crew. We can’t all be wrong, surely.
Deliver At All Costs will be crashing onto Steam at some point in future, though it must be counting its cargo before setting off, as there’s no release date yet. It’s being developed by Studio Far Out Games and published by Konami.
Grex
How do I even describe this one? Basically, Grex is like the smallest fish in the pond headbutting all the other small fish, consuming them, getting larger and then repeating the same process with bigger and bigger fish, until it’s THE big fish. You control a swarm with your mouse, flying directly into the colourful bubble creatures around you. Doing so accrues XP which you use for upgrades, power-ups and different varieties for your swarm.
Between the techno music, flashy visuals and absurd concept, Grex is confusingly immersive. Runs are fast-paced and the fact that dying is literally the point to levelling up makes it as moreish as a tin of M&S biscuits. When your swarm swells to an ungodly size and wrecks the living daylights out of that end level boss, you’ll be brimming with pride, entranced in its techno wonder.
Grex will be feasting on Steam in Q3 of 2025. It’s being developed and published by Hamster On Coke Games (Yes, you read that right, it’s oddly fitting for the game).
Heartworm
Tank controls, room transitions, PS1 era graphics, rock hard difficulty and more locked rooms than a prison, Heartworm has it all. Instead of zombies, it’s static figures that can slow you down and slap you silly that are your fear in this survival horror entry. You may even need a pen and paper to help you solve the puzzles and traverse the labyrinth-esque town.
Resident Evil impersonators are a dime a dozen nowadays, but Heartworm sets itself apart thanks to its bleak sense of place, contrastingly haunting foes and a dedication to catering for both older and newer players. Modern vs tank control schemes, pixelated vs non-visuals and even different styles of aiming your trusty camera. I’m really lapping up what Heartworm is serving so far, and look forward to it worming its way into my mind when it releases.
Heartworm will be available to be snapped on Steam in Spring 2025. It’s being developed by Vincent Adinolfi and published by DreadXP.
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days
This War of Mine was a breakout hit when it launched over a decade ago. Slink as I might through a dilapidated home, scavenging up duct tape and wood, the ever-present threat of the undead is palpable. I make a noise, and before I know it about 7 zombies are descending upon my poor, unprepared avatar. She dies. My remaining survivor, already struck with depression, falls into grief, and my demo is over.
Try as I might to be mad about it, my first instinct is to boot up another run of Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days and do it all again. A 2.5D side-scroller that’s both visually gorgeous and thoroughly intense, you’ll get lost in the decaying of both flesh and the 1980s suburbs you must sneak your way through. Manage supplies, build up your shelter, simply try to survive.
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days will be desperately clinging to life on Steam in Q2 of 2025. It’s being developed by PikPok and published by Boltray Games.
Out and About
I’m not typically one for a cosy sim, especially one that involves the great outdoors and the green of nature. However, if I am to suffer the outside world, at least I can do it via a video game. Out and About is a lovely, laid back and quaint third-person game where you forage for plants, cook up stinging nettle soup with your granny, and sell various goods to delightful townsfolk based on their needs.
Just in the demo, the relaxing vibes, easygoing music and upbeat nature of it all make for a perfect tonic in what’s typically quite a bleak industry. Your customisable avatar will skip through the wilderness, the dialogue is friendly and welcoming. It’s all so very nice. Very unlike me to pluck for something like this, but can’t deny that it was a nice change of pace and a very promising wholesome cosy sim.
Out and About will be frolicking onto Steam, though it’s too busy being in nature to have a release window yet. It’s being developed and published by Yaldi Games.
REPOSE
Manually writing down a save code to restore your progress when you next play? Check. Back-to-basics black-and-white visuals? Double check. Dying to the first enemy you come across? That’s the whole checklist for taking me back to being a kid and beginning my gaming journey. REPOSE is a horror-themed dungeon-crawler where your every move has to be methodical.
You have a limited number of steps you can take, thanks to limited oxygen (thanks, biology), meaning getting lost and going in a circle will mean starting again. Enemies can kill you in one hit, while the atmosphere and pixel-art visuals are disquieting. The demo is short and sweet, literally taking about 5-10 minutes, but it packs in a solid swing of an axe despite its length.
REPOSE is unnervingly coming soon to Steam. It’s being developed by Bozó Attila Bertold and published by Akupara Games.
Sliding Hero
Fellow Finger Gunner Josh will be proud of me for trying this one. I spent a decent chunk of time in Sliding Hero, which just as the name suggests, requires you to slide your keester around a Metroidvania inspired, pixel-art map. Given you can only stop your momentum by hitting something, the crux of the game becomes a constant puzzle of how, and where, to send your careening hero to.
It’s a weird and wonderful land that you’ll explore, brimming with deep orange and brown palettes, spindly characters and a retro Zelda aura. Normally, a game like this would be completely out of my wheelhouse, but I really did have a good time slamming my poor player character into wall after wall. Probably resembled what I would look like on roller-skates in real life, to be honest.
Sliding Hero will be bee-lining it onto Steam in 2025. It’s being developed and published by Silent Chicken.
BONUS: Wheel World
We all love an extra thrown in, like those chips that have fallen out into the McDonald’s bag (or so I’m told, I’d never touch them). Hop on your bike to explore Wheel World, where you can drift, race, jump and explore to your heart’s content. Sure, your bike is possessed by some glowing skull demon, but no need to sweat the details.
With a large map to explore, improvements to tinker with on your trusty bike and a frankly gorgeous visual style to admire, Wheel World is a treat you’ll be coming back to savour more of. The racing is exciting and surprisingly deep, and though I only sampled a snippet of the map, there’s potential bursting out of every pore of this wondrous looking adventure. This is coming from someone who isn’t even bothered about cycling whatsoever.
Wheel World will be drifting round the corner onto Steam in 2025. It’s being developed by Messhof and published by Annapurna Interactive.
31 games, dear reader. THIRTY ONE. All joking aside, I truly hope you’ve been having the best of times sampling everything the 2025 Steam Next Fest has had to offer. From getting battered as a pixel-art anime mech, to getting absorbed into a detective thriller, spray painting a muscle car and shooting an Ankylosaurus, my time with the indie game festival has been anything but mundane. It’s been genuinely incredible to see the sheer volume of ingenious ideas brought to life by the imagination and determination of the development teams, solo artists and publishers.
I know I mention it in every one of these articles, but I’ll bang the drum again. If you’ve found anything at all you’ve taken a liking to, please give the games a wishlist, shoutout the developers/publishers, leave positive and constructive feedback and just generally make your voice heard. Video games are ridiculously complex and arduous to successfully create, so supporting the creative minds behind them is what articles like this and the Next Fest are all about. If I didn’t get round to talking about your indie game, please know it wasn’t for lack of trying nor a loss of desire, there’s just too gosh darn many great games on offer.
Thank you all for taking the time to read through the features and for your responses to our shoutout on X. It’s been an absolute pleasure to play and write about my odyssey in this year’s edition. I thoroughly look forward to the next… Next… Fest? I need some sleep. Until then, enjoy the games, and leave us a comment if you fancy. Or hit us up on X or Bluesky, whatever tickles your pickle.
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