PC
I’ve already had a good root through the 2000+ submissions to the latest Next Fest, and found ten games well worth a look, over at Kotaku. But you know what those mainstream people can be like, eh? They want some games they’ve already heard of to be among the selections, or they become scared and can even stampede. But not us refined folks over here in haughty-taughty obscure indie territories. We want games that look like they’re made of straw and wires that fell out of a radio. So here I’ve put together a somewhat more esoteric collection of demos, such that we can all feel terribly smug about how simultaneously iconoclastic and eclectic we are. Well done everyone. Well done.
Actually, seriously, there is GOLD in here. I’m blown away by how much I’ve loved so many of these demos, and hope to add a bunch more to the article as the week goes on.
The Tragedy At Deer Creek
Developer: Sparrowland
Release Date: TBA
Demo Link
I cannot get over how much I love the art in The Tragedy At Deer Creek. While the game is primarily played as a first-person-viewed (but not moved) adventure game, the cutscenes are stunning animations with a completely unique look. This isn’t quite it, but it looks like Another World by way of Firewatch. It means that for once we have a game where when it cuts from direct control to a cutscene, it’s a pleasure rather than an irritation.
It helps that the demo suggests a compelling mystery game. You play as Charlotte Gray, a photographer visiting a deserted logging camp to capture it on film, and discovering a mournful old tale of love and loss, as well as some spooky goings on. Gray is superbly voiced by Rae Lynn Minke, and the whole thing is bursting with melancholic atmosphere. It does make that frustrating point-and-click adventure mistake of having the character adamantly refuse to pick up certain items, then moments later you’re supposed to circle back and get them anyway, but there’s still time to iron out stuff like that. As it is, this is one of my most look-forwarded-to-iest games of all.
Checkmate In The Old West
Developer: Grouper Games
Release Date: December 2025
Demo Link
I’m spectacularly terrible at chess. For the same reason I’m no good at RTS games, I don’t have the mental willpower to plan that far ahead, preferring to make maverick and radical plays based on gut feeling and aesthetics. Which is to say: I lose. But Checkmate in the Old West isn’t a chess game per se, but rather a puzzle game about teaching you to spot available moves. As it stresses on each of its chessboard puzzles, it’s not about finding the best move, but rather spotting all the currently available pieces that can be taken (by either side) and all the possible checks. And even I can manage this. Then the demo has a second mode focused on spotting pieces that aren’t currently defended (another useful practice), and even ways to play a proper game of chess against one of the characters.
In these roguelite times, you also earn coins that can be spent on help like freezing the clock (literally), hiding the irrelevant pieces on the board, or even revealing a correct move. There are towns you stop off at on your travels, inhabited by chatty animals who might give you a bonus or just have a chat, and it’s all very amiable stuff. I’m really intrigued to see how developed this all becomes in the full game, but I’m already aware that it’s tricking me into getting better at chess.
DOMiNi
Developer: Death By Chicken
Release Date: TBA
Demo Link
Look, we all have to accept we live in a post-Balatro world, and that every single old-world game is going to get its roguelite. But hooray, DOMiNi is definitely one of the good ones! You have a grid of icons, and a selection of dominos. As in the real-world dominos game, you need to place your pieces such that the numbers align. However, the number also determines the effect of the icon below it. So put a 6 down on a basic enemy and it’ll hit you for six damage. Put a 5 on a shield and you’ll gain that level of defence.
This means it’s all far more tactical than it might first appear, making for a really challenging roguelite puzzler that already has me hooked.
Numeral Strike
Developer: ostsergey, Dareda
Release Date: 2026
Demo Link
Have you ever noticed how clever some people are? Goodness me, the people behind Numeral Strike are so incredibly clever! This is a completely unique roguelite puzzler that feels so exquisitely well put together that it feels mad it hasn’t been a thing before. It’s all about matching orthogonal numbers on a grid, either pairing two identical numbers, or adding two together to get 10. You can do this when they’re adjacent, and it’ll cost you a turn, or if you clear a gap between distant numbers you can do it for free. And pairing specific numbers works either in your favour or against you.
Your numbers are 1 to 4, with weapons, defence, healing and a bonus attack assigned to one of them. Your enemy has its weapons and abilities signed to the numbers 6 to 9 at random. If you match your numbers, you improve the related stat, but when you match the enemy’s you’ll aid them instead. And smart people will have noticed that to add two numbers together to get 10, you’re very often going to be doing both at once. Attack rounds happen every time you score 10 points, and then again when you end a round for lack of turns you want to take. And…look, I could spend far too long explaining it or instead just tell you to go grab the demo and find out for yourself. The in-game tutorial is stunningly good.
This is also a super-generous demo, not only giving you a whole bunch of rounds to battle, but then giving you a second character class with which to do it all over again. So excited to play more of this.
Confidential Killings
Developer: BRANE, Lorenzo Boni
Release Date: TBA
Demo Link
With a heavy dose of Curse of the Golden Idol, Confidential Killings is a murder-mystery game in which you solve cases by inspecting a scene, gathering a big long list of words and names, and then assigning all those nouns to a case file to identify all the characters and lay out what happened in the crime. However, and crucially, it’s nowhere near as complicated as Golden Idol. I think, perhaps, rather to its detriment. Rather than requiring incredibly clever deduction skills, the three cases in the demo can be solved with cursory glances and judicious guessing of the leftovers. Yet, despite this, it still felt like a pleasingly methodical process to complete.
I think there’s definitely a fair amount of room for improvement on what’s shown here, with a need for the game’s clues to require a lot more brainwork on the part of the player, rather than just clicking on everything underlined in every scene. But it’s an interesting project nonetheless.
Shadows Of The Afterland
Developer: Aruma Studios
Release Date: 2025
Demo Link
Shadows of the Afterland is a mid-90s LucasArts-style point-and-click adventure, in which you play a very confused ghost who’s just arrived in the afterlife. The confusion arises given a) the suddenly former police detective didn’t die, and b) she appears to have arrived there in 1960, shortly before she was born.
A prologue to all this shows a very similar-looking woman in 1960s Madrid acting very peculiarly. After working as a maid all day, she visits a zoo at closing to talk to a tiger about her troubled marriage (the tiger doesn’t talk back), while explaining how much she loves and wants to spend more time with her daughter. Then, out of nowhere, her spirit appears to become separated from her body. We then see a not particularly pleasant moment in which her body stands on the wall to the polar bear enclosure, and as her spirit shouts for it to stop, spreads its arms and falls forward. At which point, it’s, um, struck by lightning.
This is obviously a very involved setup for the bizarre circumstances of the game, and although I personally could have done without the suicide element, things quickly kick in to some good-old-fashioned adventuring in a superbly drawn afterlife, with a fully (and extremely professionally) voiced cast. The 15 minutes or so is great fun, with traditional inventory puzzles and an immediately involving afterlife setting to accompany a properly interesting central mystery. Really looking forward to playing some more.
Nighthawks
Developer: The Curiosity Engine
Release Date: TBA
Demo Link
This inclusion is, to be clear, an act of pure corruption. Vampiric RPG Nighthawks is made by my friend Richard Cobbett, and so I can clearly not be impartial about it. However, at the same time, never having played any of the game before during its 500 years in development, I was absolutely terrified about what I’d do or say if it sucked. So maybe I’m extra trustworthy here? No. But I’m so relieved to say I’m loving it! This tale of a world that is coming to terms with the existence of vampires, one of which is you, has me captivated right away.
This is a very narrative-led game, the bulk of the screen used for illustrations , with the narration, dialogue and action taking place in Disco Elysium‘s right side column. This is primarily about the writing, with plenty of splendid voice acting, and it’s really looking good. Lines like “The old woman presses back in terror, praying to a god who isn’t listening,” are delightful.
It’s a generous demo, too. There’s the layers of character creation choices that influence your options in the game, along with multiple routes based on your actions as you play. You can experience one of the RPG’s companions, take part in the rudimentary combat, and get involved in the game’s opening mysteries. I’m wildly biased, loving it, and so relieved.
Perfect Tides: Station To Station
Developer: Three Bees
Release Date: 22 Jan, 2026
Demo Link
Oh my goodness, I’m so excited for Perfect Tide: Station to Station! I didn’t even know there was a demo until wrapping up this article. 2022’s Perfect Tides is consolidating itself in my mind as one of my all-time favourite games, and I cannot wait to pick up Mara’s life a few years on. She’s now 18, and in 2003 has moved off the island on which she grew up, and is now attending college.
And straight away it recaptures that same gloriously angsty storytelling, with Mara dossing on the couch in her “best friend” Daniel’s shared apartment, clearly besotted with a guy who just considers her a chum. Or does he like her? She’s not going to ask. And besides, she has a boyfriend, Adam, although he’s miles away. As before, Station to Station has not a hint of mawkish nostalgia, instead offering a clear-cut view of the era with all that was good and bad about it, while never patronising Mara’s youthfulness.
Everything is wonderfully written, with every single object on every screen there to look at and read about in amazing detail. And, yet again, as with the early-internet-fraught events of the first game, I find myself seeing so many of my late-teen, early university days mistakes playing out in front of me, despite Mara being a Jewish American girl and me none of those things.
It’s a lovely, long demo, with thousands of words to read that are all a total joy. It demonstrates a new core mechanic, where you learn topics from talking to others, and then process your breadth of knowledge in the written assignments you need to complete for college. And all of it is so interesting. I’m so happy this is coming soon! Oh, it’s my happy place in gaming form.
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