TL;DR: Steam Next Fest runs October 19 to 26. In Philippine time, it opens Tuesday, October 20 at 1:00 AM and closes Tuesday, October 27 at 1:00 AM. It’s a week of free demos for upcoming PC games. These are five worth your bandwidth, from a ninja puzzle roguelike to a co-op survival shooter on a frozen train, and three of them are already playable this weekend.
Steam Next Fest happens a few times a year, and it’s one of the best weeks to be a PC gamer on a budget. Upcoming games release free demos, developers stream their builds, and you get to try games months before they launch. Libre lahat, kaya walang talo.
It also matters a lot to small studios. Wishlists help indie games get noticed on Steam, so if you like a demo, adding it to your wishlist is a free way to help the developer.
Already playable this weekend
KAREI – Endless Death Match
This turn-based puzzle roguelike comes from Tokyo studio Phase Co. You play a kunoichi on an 8×8 board, and every time you move, the enemies move too. The free demo covers floors 1 to 10 and ends with a fight against Gashadokuro, the giant skeleton yokai, with an online leaderboard for the fastest kill. It’s also on Android and iOS, kaya pwede rin sa phone.
Disbond
If you remember the zombie servers from computer shop days, this one’s for you. Disbond is a multiplayer zombie FPS by solo developer Galin, built around the classic infection mode. Everyone starts as a human, one player turns 20 seconds in, and anyone who gets bitten turns next. Humans and zombies both get their own classes and skills. On survival maps you barricade and hold out, and on escape maps you run for the exit.
ROCKBEASTS
This management RPG is about taking a ’90s grunge band from nobody to famous. You book gigs, deal with band members’ egos and money, build setlists, fix gear, and play rhythm-based concerts, all in an alternate America full of animal characters. The voice cast includes actors from Baldur’s Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077. Kung lumaki ka sa ’90s OPM band era, swak ‘to sa’yo.
The PC demo is out now. The full game arrives in January 2027 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series and Switch. Minimum specs are light, at 8GB of RAM and Intel UHD 620 integrated graphics, but you’ll need 25GB of storage.
Arriving with the festival
Never Wither
This open-world survival crafting ARPG is from Geo Seed Games, published by Luckycalf. You purify corrupted creatures, then possess them to use their skills, and the developers say almost every creature can be possessed. The demo has 19 creatures and 4 bosses, and you can invite friends into your world for co-op.
Frostrail
This co-op survival FPS comes from FakeFish, the studio behind Barotrauma. You keep a steam-powered train running through a frozen wasteland while you loot abandoned settlements, which are usually guarded. You craft better weapons, reinforce the train, and cook food to keep your health and stamina up. The cold is as dangerous as the enemies, so you’ll keep running back to the train to warm up. Pwede kang mag-solo, pero mas masaya ‘to kasama ang barkada.
Frostrail is headed to Early Access, which the Steam page lists for Q4 2026. Minimum specs haven’t been posted yet.
Bago ka mag-download
- Mind the time zone. Next Fest opens at 1:00 AM on Tuesday, October 20, PH time, and the festival demos go live then.
- Play them within the week. Some demos only stay up during the festival.
- Check your specs and storage first. Some demos are still big downloads.
- Wishlist what you like. It’s free, and it helps small developers.
Kayo, anong demo ang uunahin niyo?
Images courtesy of their respective developers