Steam Next Fest’s best demos — 13 quick picks (try Vampire Crawlers first)

Steam Next Fest is one of those calendar events that quietly defines what the next year of PC gaming will feel like. What caught my attention this run wasn’t Valve or a big publisher trailer – it was a demo that eats your lunch: Vampire Crawlers. It’s the kind of limited preview that proves the Fest still matters for finding surprises you won’t see on marketing timelines.

• Top demo to try: Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard – fast, addictive first‑person roguelike with card combat (but expect rough edges).
• Big‑name curiosity: Panzer Dragon Zwei: Remake – a long‑gestating rail‑shooter remake finally in playable form.
• Variety on offer: 12 other picks from arcade dogfights to chess‑as‑roguelike and cinematic puzzle games — pick by mood, not hype.
• Timing: All demos are only free until March 2, 2026 — add to wishlist, try, and report bugs you care about.

Try Vampire Crawlers first — but don’t pretend it’s finished

VidaExtra’s roundup and multiple Steam previews agree: Vampire Crawlers is the standout demo of this Next Fest. The creator of Vampire Survivors has shifted the bite‑sized loop into a first‑person dungeon crawler that uses deck‑building for combat. The demo (two floors, three characters, fusion and gem mechanics, per VidaExtra) hooks quickly: there’s a “Play All” style rush option noted by Steam News that turns card draws into chaotic, gratifying carnage.

That said, the praise comes with a footnote. Another Steam News hands‑on found the demo promising but rough — balance issues and missing polish keep it from being the fully refined loop Survivors fans expect. In short: it’s worth the hour of your life, but wishlist and expect updates rather than a finished product.

The rest of the 13: fast guide to what to queue next

VidaExtra’s quick list is practical: pick a demo based on how much time you have and what you want out of the Fest. Highlights beyond Vampire Crawlers:

• Denshattack! — chaotic, high‑speed train platformer with stunt jumps and boss fights.
• Wild Blue Skies — arcade-ish dogfighting that wears its Star Fox inspiration on its sleeve.
• Sudden Strike 5 — WWII RTS with 300+ units; big battles if you like scale and command decisions (listed with a 2026 launch window).
• Gambonanza — an unusual chess roguelike that turns the board into a miniature gauntlet of synergies.
• Roguelite third‑person demon shooter (Paris setting) — frantic runs, weapon variety, and celestial powers.
• Frog‑tongue platformer — reflex‑heavy levels and oversized boss encounters.
• New RPG from the Disco Elysium team — espionage, conversation depth, and moral complexity.
• Castle‑on‑wheels roguelike — medieval madness where you upgrade an armoured rolling fortress.
• Panzer Dragon Zwei: Remake — a playable slice of a project that’s been in the oven for nearly a decade; ride a dragon, test the revamped rail‑shooter mechanics.
• Mewseum: Film Festival — Picross‑style poster puzzles starring cats; oddly charming.
• Hack‑and‑slash boss‑focused action RPG — tight encounters, loot progression, optional challenges.
• The Eternal Life of Goldman — hand‑drawn 2D platformer with frame‑by‑frame animation and a mythic vibe.

Why this Next Fest still matters (and how to use it)

Steam Next Fest is less about big reveals and more about timing: developers get a concentrated window of feedback, players get to test games before they’re press‑honed and before early access decisions stick. For busy players the Fest is about triage — spend the limited free time on demos that are either clearly close to launch or show a singular idea done well. Vampire Crawlers fits both boxes: it’s novel enough to be compelling and rough enough that your feedback matters.

The question nobody’s asking (but you should)

For spin‑offs like Vampire Crawlers there’s an easy PR narrative: “bigger world, new mechanics.” The uncomfortable follow‑up is practical — will this team scale polish and balance to match the addictive loop that made Vampire Survivors a hit? And for veteran projects like Panzer Dragon Zwei, the real metric won’t be a demo’s visuals: it’ll be whether the remake ships on a sensible timeline without becoming a nostalgia cash‑grab.

What to watch (actionable)

• Try these demos before March 2, 2026 — the Steam Next Fest window is finite.
• Add Vampire Crawlers and Panzer Dragon Zwei to your wishlist and follow their Steam pages for patch notes.
• Watch for dev updates on balance and polish for Vampire Crawlers — improvements there will tell you if the studio learned from Survivors or is repeating rough launches.
• For Panzer Dragon Zwei, look for a firm release date or a roadmap; a decade in development buys scrutiny, not blind trust.

TL;DR: If you only have time for one demo this Fest, start with Vampire Crawlers for its rush and unique card‑combat twist — but treat it as a work in progress. After that, split your remaining time between Panzer Dragon Zwei for nostalgia inspection and a couple of the smaller indie demos that match your mood (platformer, dogfighter, or chess‑roguelike). Steam Next Fest is short; use it to play, wishlist, and give the feedback that actually moves these games forward.