Adventure game demo round-up for Steam Next Fest 2023

• Features by Jack Allin
• Published:

The first game festival for 2023 on Steam is upon us, which means tons of game news, livestreams and demos to sift through, and not a lot of time to do it. Wondering where to start? Right here if you’re an adventure game fan, as the following games have playable demos to check out first-hand. Many of them will disappear at the close of Steam Fest on February 13th, so it’s a week-long timed sequence!

Note: More games will be added to the list as they come available, so be sure to check back later to see if there are any you’ve missed.

Alone in the Crowd

Confused and scared, you wake up in a strange room filled with all kinds of machinery. You can't remember what happened, but a mysterious, self-proclaimed friendly messenger offers help. There are many questions you want to ask him, but first he needs your assistance. Equipped with surveillance technology, you're asked to search for specific citizens from the "Box."

Download link for Windows PC

Bramble: The Mountain King

A shy boy and his adventurous older sister sneak out at night and wander deep into a nearby forest. As they explore an old ancient ruin, the ground suddenly collapses and they tumble down through a sinkhole to the lost and magical world of Bramble. When a troll abducts the sister, the younger brother is left alone, lost in despair. If he's to rescue her and escape, he'll need to find the courage inside himself to face the sinister creatures and maddening darkness inspired by Nordic folklore.

Download link for Windows PC

Brassheart

Pola Zagórska is a smart and chipper aeroplane pilot who must follow the clues that might save her father. He’s been kidnapped by his own invention, a rebellious supermachine called Valkiria, which has gathered a loyal army and relentlessly seeks to mechanize and militarize the whole world. The key to stopping the machine's domination may be a mysterious invention called Brassheart, whose pieces have been scattered far and wide.

Download link for Windows and Mac

Castle of Secrets – Prologue

When tragedy once again befalls an ancient family, a young woman named Susan embarks on a deadly journey, where she will face many inhabitants of the world of the dead. Along the way she’ll encounter both friends and enemies as she seeks an answer to the most important question of who killed her entire family – including Susan.

Download link for Windows PC

Chants of Sennaar

Legend says that one day, a lone traveler will reunite the Peoples of the Tower, who are no longer able to understand each other following a terrible malediction. Explore and discover an enthralling world in a colorful, poetic setting inspired by the myth of Babel, in which the people have been damned by the Gods. Uncover an ominous truth and unveil the mysteries of this fascinating universe where ancient languages are both the lock and the key.

Download link for Windows PC

DE-EXIT: Eternal Matters

After dying and waking once again in a surreal world, you are confronted with a series of events that will put your whole new existence at risk. The Plane of Memory was supposed to be a safe haven, almost paradise. But something is not right. This world is starting to collapse. And you are the hero to save it – neither a super-soldier nor a legendary warrior, you just need to survive to succeed. Stealthily, avoiding conflict and solving puzzles.

Download link for Windows PC

Death Corp

Art is a young college graduate looking for his first serious job. After a series of unsuccessful interviews, the Grim Reaper himself materializes before Art's eyes and, impressed by the young man's skills, offers him a job as an intern at his own company, Death Corp. Meet tons of ridiculous characters, recollect the souls of those who recently passed away and, sometimes, push forward fate by solving outrageous and hilarious puzzles.

Download link for Windows and Linux

Dreams in the Witch House

In this late-1920s urban survival adventure game, you must survive nightly terrors for two months and finally face the May-Eve witch ritual in the city of Arkham. The game combines RPG elements with classic adventure genre gameplay. You can choose to explore the old rumours, read the forbidden books at Miskatonic University, or concentrate on studies and keeping Walter in a good physical and mental state. Based on the short story "Dreams in the Witch House" by H.P. Lovecraft.

Download link for Windows PC

The Empress Quest: Full Moons Saga

Kobi the dog moves into a new house with his human but is not impressed, and there's a strange shaggy creature in his own kitchen who vanishes into thin air before his eyes!

Now trapped in a completely incomprehensible magical world called Moon Valley, Kobi must solve the secrets of his new house, find the Empress and return to his beloved Master with the help of the mysterious Moon Mother.

Download link for Windows, Mac and Linux

The End of the Sun

You are the ashter (Slavic sorcerer) who is gifted with both the ability to travel in time and knowledge about Navia (the otherworld where human fates shape). Following the trail of an unusual fugitive, you come to a mysterious village but cannot find anyone there, at least not in a way you expected to. All you can see around you are burned hearths. Here the line between myth and reality is fading, and you must use your unique abilities to uncover the mystery, traveling back to four distinct time periods and four Slavic festivals, each taking place in a different season.

Download link for Windows, Mac and Linux

Grandmother’s Tale

A surprise World War II bombing left two teenagers, brother and sister, all alone in what’s left of their hometown. Not knowing the fate of their parents, the children begin to search for them but will have to find a way to survive, being exposed to mortal danger every day. Only one friend from their previously serene lives remains with them: a teddy bear. Play as both brother and sister, switching between them and using their unique abilities to work together and overcome all challenges.

Download link for Windows and Mac

A Guidebook of Babel

After death, you wake up to find you've boarded the Babel, a giant cruise leading you to the afterlife. On this journey, you must uncover secrets and solve quests by rewriting the past to change destinies. Where will it lead you? Perhaps reincarnation? Beware, though, as the consequences of triggering the butterfly effect are utterly unpredictable as even the smallest change could drastically alter the future.

Download link for Windows and Mac

The Hungry Fly

Embody a fly, make impactful decisions, and experience the disturbing but poetic horror fairytale of a hungry insect on a mission to eat a mysterious rotten creature living in a bath.

Download link for Windows PC

[I] doesn’t exist

[I] doesn’t exist is a one-of-a-kind combination of trance-like visuals and text-based narrative design. The combination of 2D and 3D perspective through optical illusion gives players a trippy, dreamlike experience while a modern "Natural Language Processing" technology lets players naturally type out answers to in-game prompts. Solve puzzles, talk to a cute mushroom, and give commands to the in-game avatar – until the façade starts showing its cracks.

Download link for Windows, Mac and Linux

Lempo

After his work day, an ordinary office worker named Paul finds himself trapped in Metsänpeitto, an otherworldly plane of existence that survives on the energy of souls from living beings. Find your way back home before you too are consumed in this psychological horror game inspired by Finnish mythology.

Download link for Windows PC

Loretta

Loretta is a housewife. Her husband Walter is a writer. Dragged from the glitz and glamor of New York City and thrust into a dilapidated farmhouse in the rural south, both are unsuccessful, struggling with their finances and their relationship. But when Loretta learns of her husband’s infidelity and a remarkably lucrative life insurance policy filed in his name, a grisly plan begins to take root. It is up to the player to decide how far she will follow it.

Download link for Windows PC

Mia and the Dragon Princess

Mia dreams of adventure, but her feeling of responsibility to her workmates – who have become her surrogate family – keeps her working at a job she’s bored of, living a life she didn’t want. When a mysterious woman turns up scared and on the run, Mia’s decision to take her under her wing and try to discover her identity leads Mia down a path of intrigue, mystery and danger. When a group of thugs led by the quietly terrifying Walsh shows up at the bar, Mia and her co-workers are taken hostage along with a group of customers. When Mia’s boss Matthew is injured, the stakes are raised and the struggle becomes real when Mia and the group end up on the run and battling for their lives.

Download link for Windows PC

Mr. Saitou

Mr. Saitou is an average white-collar worker who struggles to find meaning in a life full of constant overtime and social isolation. After an accident lands him in the hospital, Mr. Saitou is spirited away to a strange fantasy world where an unexpected friend takes him on a life-changing adventure.

Download link for Windows PC

Orten Was the Case

Ziggy is a simple guy in his early teens with no grand ambitions whatsoever. Waking up after a blackout, seemingly oblivious to what has happened, Ziggy discovers he's stuck in a time loop. Help Ziggy uncover millennia-old mysteries in the caves and tunnels deep down below Orten, a suburb of a fictional Swedish metropolis. 

Download link for Windows PC

Planet of Lana

A planet that used to be a place of undisturbed balance between humans, nature, and animals has now become something else entirely. The disharmony in the making for hundreds of years has finally arrived in the form of a faceless army. But this is not a story about war. This is a story about a young woman named Lana and her loyal animal companion, Mui. As they embark on a rescue mission to save Lana’s sister, they must use their unique ability in tandem to overcome the many dangerous obstacles in their path.

Download link for Windows PC

Roots in the Sky – The Hand of Glory 2

After five years in hiding to elude the cult that's been chasing him, former Miami detective Lazarus “Lars” Bundy is in Italy working incognito for a security agency when his client is murdered in cold blood by a sharpshooter. The new case will thrust Lars on another thrilling journey around the world, from Rome to Japan by way of Palestine and India. With help from an old ally he thought he’d left behind for good, Lars finds himself swept up in a case far more complex and dangerous than he ever could have imagined, filled with international mystery and mysticism. And all the while, a much more personal danger lurks close at hand, one that Lars is determined to keep secret from the world.

Download link for Windows PC

Scene Investigators

In pursuit of becoming a licensed investigator, you are a trainee given a number of challenging case files. Your goal is to not only pass, but ace them! Experience what it feels like to be a real-life detective by analyzing crime scenes, making assumptions, forming conclusions, and finding out if your deductions are correct.

Download link for Windows PC

Shadows of Doubt

In the hyper-industrialized 1980s of an alternate reality, you must think like a detective and use a variety of gadgets as a private intelligence investigator, gathering evidence and making money by solving cases, finding and selling information and more in an immersive open-world sandbox environment. Play your own way in a fully simulated city of crime and corruption with hundreds of citizens. Each case has different culprits, clues and experiences for you to test your investigative skills.

Download link for Windows PC

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened remake

Frogwares’ Sherlock-meets-Cthulhu horror adventure remake sees a young Sherlock Holmes and John Watson undertake a chilling and psyche-shattering case that will forever bond and scar the duo. What seems like a straightforward case of a missing person quickly spirals into a web of conspiracies by a nefarious cult that worships the eldritch god Cthulhu and is attempting to bring about an ancient prophecy.

Download link for Windows PC

Spirits of Baciu: Prologue

Follow the enigmatic adventure of a mysterious cat-like spirit who suddenly awakens in the dark forest of Hoia Baciu, one of the most haunted places on the planet. How did he get here and what haunts this place? Join him on this strange journey and meet many spirits that inhabit the woods. Help him to solve puzzles and to find his way out.

Download link for Windows PC

Splittown

Cold War has split the world in two, both figuratively and literally. The Great Divide spans across the globe with an impenetrable mess of concrete and barbed wire sandwiched between the two blocs. You are Leonard Nimby; stone-faced former top agent of IM5, hot on the trail of a shrink gun stolen from you by a villainous mayoral candidate on the eve of a fateful election.

Download link for Windows and Mac

The Star Named EOS

Dei is a young photographer following in the footsteps of his mother to uncover the truth of a family mystery. By taking and recreating photos, Dei is able to step back in time and experience the memories held within them. You must use everything around you to solve puzzles, gather props, and continue your search for truth and beauty in an uncertain and often painful world.

Download link for Windows and Mac

Stellar Mess: The Princess Conundrum (Chapter 1)

The Stellar Battle movie franchise has taken the world by storm, creating fans in every corner of the world. Diego is one such fan, a comic book store owner from southern Argentina who believes in conspiracy theories about the series and dreams of one day meeting his platonic love, the real Princess Lanor. Then one day opportunity knocks, and Diego has the chance to save the princess and help the rebellion in its battle against the evil Stellar Armada.

Download link for Windows PC

Zid Journey

Deep in the Magmosian woods, a young Woodroamer named Zid discovers a peculiar abandoned egg. Concerned, he decides to take the egg with him to ask fellow dinosaurs about it. However, much to everyone's shock it soon hatches ... into a carnivorous Daspletosaurus baby – a predator feared in Magmosia! The hatchling may not survive on its own, so after striking an unlikely kinship with the infant, Zid takes it upon himself to reunite it with its family, all while searching for his own long-lost family as well.

Download link for Windows, Mac and Linux

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