Adventure game demo round-up for Steam Next Fest – June 2023

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Features by Adventure Game Hotspot staff
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The next Steam gaming extravaganza is upon us, which means more demos, livestreams and developer chats than you can shake a pointer at. And there's only one week to soak it all in, so we're here to help! Instead of spending all your time poring through the games yourself, below is a list of as many adventure game demos as we could find (plus a few new ones that aren't part of the festival for good measure, just because you can never have too much great adventuring). Some of these will be available only until June 26th, so have it, and have fun! (And do check back in later, as more games will be added to the list as they become available.)

Akolyta

After a successful raid led by detectives Marshall Prime and Benjamin Black, the city of Gorenwille saw a drop in crime of over 80%. But when a new series of murders begins to ravage the city, Marshall gets a tip from an informant that leads him to a top secret CIA memorandum about the operation to transition former scientists from the Third Reich to the US. One name stood out among others: Dr. Maximilian Vogel.

Download here for Windows PC

Bent Oak Island

Twins Archer and Sam just want to relax after getting shipped off to stay with their eccentric uncle on a mysterious island for the summer. Too bad for them the world is ending, and only they can stop it!

Download here for Windows PC

Between Horizons

Twenty-four years ago, Stella was born on the Zephyr, humanity's first-generation spaceship en route to a distant star. Now she has inherited her father's post as Chief of Security, just as the ship’s entire mission becomes jeopardized. As Stella, dive into the mystery and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to disrupt the Zephyr's social order.

Download here for Windows PC

Bilkins’ Folly

Treasure hunter Percival “Percy” Bilkins and his canine best friend Drayton set out on a quest to find their missing family, who mysteriously vanished years ago without a trace. A rogue wave leaves the pair stranded, shipless, and very sandy. With their mission derailed, Percy and Drayton set their sights on procuring a new ship, reuniting with their trusty crew, and getting back on track. Nothing is ever that simple though, is it?

Download here for Windows PC

Cat’s Request

The alien cat Ash is a repairman for old robots that have almost been replaced by modern androids. Together with his virtual assistant, the cat lives on the roof of a house in a poor area. From the news bulletin, they learn that because of a virus, all virtual assistants that do not have bodies are now considered dangerous malware. The cat decides to find a body for his assistant, and gradually the two of them plunge deeper into the secrets of the city.

Download here for Windows and Linux

Chronique des Silencieux

In this detective game set in 1970s southern France, you play a rookie private eye tasked with digging up the secrets of a stubborn old man. Think on your feet while you follow your leads, interrogate witnesses, detect their lies, hypothesize why and finally confront the silent ones running from their past.

Download here for Windows PC

Crime O’Clock

Something or someone is trying to disturb time and it’s up to you to find out what is happening! As a time detective, your job is to travel through time and solve crimes that should never have happened. Investigate cases across time and evolving maps by unveiling a multi-era linked story. Fortunately you won't be alone in your job, as EVE, an advanced AI, will help you by providing tools and guidance.

Download here for Windows and Mac

Escape from Mystwood Mansion

You are trapped inside the mysterious Mystwood mansion. The door behind you is locked and the only way forward is to delve deeper within. As you explore the manor's many rooms, you discover that someone has orchestrated a series of puzzles and challenges to keep you from escaping. Will you get free or linger to uncover the mansion’s final secret?

Download here for Windows PC

An Everyday Story

A man relives his life's key moments from the perspective of three little trinkets he holds dear, each one representing his bond with a different loved one. Play as a tin soldier, bat origami and wooden boat through an adventure across a diverse array of explorable locations to regain lost memories. Witness both the highlights and lowlights of his life, from his childhood until his last breath.

Download here for Windows PC

Exit Doors

Enter the Exit Doors company to play a series of escape "rooms," which may have large open areas and span different buildings. But something is amiss here. Instructions you are given don't seem to match the actual rooms. Is there something even more wrong with this place?

Download here for Windows PC

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

The supernatural puzzle-solving thriller from Shu Takumi, the mastermind behind the Ace Attorney series, has been revived in high resolution. As the recently deceased protagonist Sissel, use your powers of the dead to unravel the mystery behind your own murder. Possess and manipulate objects to open a path toward the truth!

Download here for Windows PC

How 2 Escape

Emy wakes up, trapped in a runaway train filled with traps and puzzles. Her only way out? Reach the train engine and pull the brake lever. Luckily, her brother Johann is on the phone and can help her by providing crucial clues for Emy's progression. Will you escape in time? A two-player asymmetric co-op game.

Download here for Windows PC

Inescapable: No Rules, No Rescue

Inescapable is a social thriller set in a tropical island resort. You’ve been kidnapped and forced to participate in a twisted reality TV show with 10 strangers. At the end of your stay, you’ll receive $500,000. There’s just one catch: on the island there are no rules, and no escape. The story explores human nature and how far people will go for social clout, wealth, and their own desires—and how much further they might be willing to go when they have permission to ignore the rules.

Download here for Windows PC

Inner Ashes

Experience how Alzheimer’s affects people and their memories through an emotive story of a father and daughter set in dreamlike sequences. The main character, Henry, must go on an introspective journey through two different realities on his quest to remember why he and his only daughter, Enid, have been estranged for so long.

Download here for Windows PC

The Invincible

You are Yasna, a highly qualified astrobiologist sent on a scientific mission to discover what lies on the dusty surface of the eerie uncharted planet Regis III. When your crew disappears, things quickly get out of hand and the mind-boggling scientific phenomena that you experience throughout the course of your journey will bend your understanding of the difference between life and death, and force you to rethink humankind's position as the pinnacle of evolution.

Download here for Windows PC

Island of Winds

Upon the abduction of her mentor and an attack on her homestead, Brynhildur the Balance Keeper must go on a journey of discovery. Explore the vast different areas of the Island of Winds, which are heavily inspired by Icelandic environments, to uncover the hidden secrets and stories of the island.

Download here for Windows PC

The Isle Tide Hotel

An absent father must rescue his teenage daughter from an eclectic cult before their final night at the Isle Tide Hotel, which opens every three years for three nights. Investigate the strange events that unfold to save Eleanor Malone in this live-action interactive mystery game, where every decision affects the story.

Download here for Windows PC

The Legend of Skye

Put yourself in the shoes of a young druid who is tasked by her tribe to carry out an important mission. To do so, she will have to leave the safety of the forest behind and explore a world full of dangers. The fate of the grove is in her hands.

Download here for Windows and Linux

Lil’ Guardsman

Lil is a young girl who finds herself covering for her dad, the head castle guardsman. As she interrogates an array of strange, quirky characters trying to gain entry to their city walls, Lil must make tough decisions as she decides who to allow into her citadel home. Consequences can be severe, so you’ll have to make astute use of your abilities to uncover mass conspiracies and protect your stronghold and family from devious interlopers.

Download here for Windows and Mac

The Lost Uncle

When Steve and Daniel were little, they often went to the cottage of Steve's uncle, who was a detective, but suddenly he disappeared. Now Steve and Dan have no choice but to go on an adventure to search for him and find out what happened. You play as Steve, but Daniel will be in constant communication thanks to your handheld radios.

Download here for Windows PC

Lunacy: Saint Rhodes

Explore your tragic family history and confront your inner demons while grappling with the feeling that you are always being watched. In the town of Saint Rhodes, you will never feel alone … or safe. It’s a place where all the hidden story elements must be pieced together to silence the call from the past and restore peace.

Download here for Windows PC

Luto

Embody a person unable to leave their own house. Finding the way out will lead you through a series of experiences that will challenge your perception of reality. Explore the pain caused by the loss of a loved one, and the horror of insecurity to the deepest darkness hidden behind anxiety and depression.

Download here for Windows PC

Markus Ritter: Ghosts of the Past

Markus has recently discovered that he is a Shadow Hunter and that his ancestors have been protecting humanity from the Shadows for millennia. Unaware of this burdensome calling, however, he has been living a normal life until now and is anything but prepared to fight the monster that has already murdered countless innocent people. But it's not just the supernatural keeping our hero busy – his publisher has big plans for him and his love life has also taken a serious turn at a rather inopportune moment. And then there's Ro, a young woman who suddenly appears wherever the Shadow is. Who is she and how does she fit in with all this?

Download here for Windows PC

The Master’s Pupil

Traverse the intricate world of Claude Monet’s eye to help him complete many of his masterpieces. As you explore a spectacular hand-painted landscape, you will come across puzzles involving colour, physics, and space that you must solve to progress. And just as Claude Monet encountered many trials and tribulations throughout his life, the game also grows more challenging and complex with each level, culminating in a battle to save the eyes of the master artist himself!

Download here for Windows and Mac

Mayu: Last of the Yaksha

Follow the coming-of-age tale of Mayu, a young ancient Indian demigod who doesn’t like people much and would rather hang out with his animal companions. When his family is taken and his jungle homeland is threatened with destruction, destiny takes him and his animal sidekicks on a quest to find the only ones who can reverse the chaos: the mythical tribe of his ancestors, the Yaksha. Use your jungle detective skills to discover hidden paths, track down mysterious creatures, and find the secret temples of the Old Gods.

Download here for Windows PC

Murder Is Game Over: Streaming Death

Ace detective Guy and Cleo, the clue-sniffing dog, return for a spooky new mystery! On an isolated Massachusetts peninsula, a social media starlet is found murdered at the historical site of a Puritan-era witch hanging. While most superstitious residents attribute her death to a local ghost legend, our detective duo is determined to solve the case before another murder happens. Is a supernatural curse bewitching the area, or is a human criminal responsible? Search for clues, interview suspects, explore a village with a dark past, and catch the killer.

Download here for Windows PC

Paper Trail

Paige, a budding academic, aims to be the first in her village to be offered a place at university. In this colourful top-down puzzle adventure game, fold the world to create hidden paths, discover new areas, and meet new characters as Paige steps out into an origami-crafted world to uncover its secrets and pursue her dreams.

Download here for Windows and Mac

Phoenix Springs

When Iris finally locates the young man she met in a bar, something is not right. He has become a recluse. He is a billionaire. But, most terrifying of all, he’s dying of old age… To solve this mystery, she travels to Phoenix Springs: a desert oasis, home to a strange community. Under utopian appearances, she soon realizes that the inhabitants conceal dark secrets that are hard to unveil — and harder to believe.

Download here for Windows, Mac and Linux

Punzel: Chapter I – Toujours la Meme Histoire

Imagine you are a captured princess ... but the hero never arrives. Join Punzel in her quest to escape her tower prison. In this minimalistic hand-drawn GameToon-style adventure whose puzzle mechanics are based on social interactions with a set of diverse characters and personalities, experience the boredom of captivity, the daily frustrations of haggling with your captors, and crows. Lots of crows.

Download here for Windows PC

Retropolis 2: Never Say Goodbye

The VR-exclusive Never Say Goodbye is set a year after the events depicted in The Secret of Retropolis, continuing the story of Philip Log, the hard-boiled robo-detective, and Jenny Montage, the automated femme fatale that just can’t keep herself out of trouble in a postapocalyptic cityscape inhabited only by robots. Engage in a battle of the minds with a sick new villain and use only your wits, your hovering inventory, and a pair of extendo-arms to uncover the truth.

Download here for Steam VR devices

The Secrets of Hope

Lose yourself in an immersive story, as you follow a man coming to terms with terminal cancer. Explore his journey from being diagnosed with terminal cancer, to revisiting new and old memories, and culminating in reflections on his life.

Download here for Windows PC

Sleepytime Village

To learn how to be an adult, you have to act like a kid. Rufus Stone is a neglectful workaholic father who makes one wrong choice too many and becomes trapped in a children’s storybook reality, haunted by the residents of Sleepytime Village, its formless narrator and visions of his childhood. What is this village, what does it want from him, and how can he escape?

Download here for Windows, Mac and Linux

Stay with Me!

In 1999, a young woman named Ana disappeared in a nearby forest. Her whereabouts remain unknown to this day. The only trace of her is a VHS recording she filmed in her final hours. Relive that experience in an adventure of psychological terror, but beware that the decisions you make can have serious consequences.

Download here for Windows, Mac and Linux

Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog

Four years have passed since the end of the Solar War. Our protagonist, scarred from the loss of his crewmates, is re-assigned to the Jovian patrol ship Gun-Dog, whose orders are to investigate mysterious signals coming from the edge of Jovian Space. Unknown to the Gun-Dog’s crew, a new danger looms deep in the ocean of stars, threatening not just the Gun-Dog but all her crew. Take on the role of the Gun-Dog's security officer as you attempt to save the ship from an assailant whilst navigating the paranoia, conspiracies and vendettas that break out amongst the crew. As camaraderie falls apart can you overcome the challenges that await?

Download here for Windows PC

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical

Gods. Romance. Murder. Musical Numbers?! Play as a new Muse named Grace, in a world where Greek gods live in hiding among us. Determine your fate as you draw friends, foes and lovers into song using your powers of musical persuasion to unravel the mystery of your predecessor's death before it's too late.

Download here for Windows PC

Tales from Candleforth

Sarah is a 16-year-old girl who’s been left alone to run the family apothecary. Sarah's grandmother went missing a while ago, but one day Sarah finds clues that she might still be alive. As the young protagonist discovers new powers that only the women in her family can inherit, she ventures into a world of occultism, mystery and horror to uncover the secrets her family has been hiding and discover the part she plays in all of it.

Download here for Windows PC

This Bed We Made

In this tale of love, heartbreak and murder, Sophie is a curious maid in a 1950s hotel. As she carries out her duties, she uncovers the most intimate secrets of the hotel's guests through their unsettling possessions, leading her to discover the eerie, deadly mystery that binds them.

Download here for Windows PC

Tiny Room Stories: Rift Escape

When your wife disappears, you have to go in search of her, traveling through various space-time dimensions, solving puzzles and riddles along the way. Explore isometric dioramas of different places, rooms, dungeons and more, united by a common story, rotating them as needed to change the point of view.

Download here for Windows PC

Ugly

In this dark and twisted fairytale, nothing is as it seems. Explore the desolate recesses of a tormented nobleman’s mind as you progress through challenging puzzle rooms and topple towering bosses in this reflective puzzle-platformer. The mirror reveals all … but beware. Sometimes the truth is ugly.

Download here for Windows PC

Underground Blossom

Descend into the Rusty Lake Underground and travel through the life and memories of Laura Vanderboom. Travel from station to station, each metro stop symbolizing a piece of Laura's past and future. Solve various puzzles, find the correct train to board and uncover one of Laura’s timelines, while simultaneously helping her make sense of her life and escape the corruption of her mind.

Download here for Windows and Mac

Verne: The Shape of Fantasy

Set in an alternate 1888, the war against the dreadful “Nation” has reached its breaking point, devastating the land of Hemera, the fantastical world created inside the mind of Jules Verne. Aboard the mighty Nautilus, Jules Verne, Captain Nemo and the courageous crew struggle to uncover the secrets of Atlantis, the fabled utopia that faced mass destruction from the very power source Verne and his crew aim to locate: the Flame of Hephaestus.

Download here for Windows and Mac

Viewfinder

Explore a beautiful, fun world full of mystery and challenge perception, redefine reality, and reshape the world around you with an instant camera. Photos, paintings, sketches, screenshots and posters can be placed in the world to become a fabric of its reality, reshaping the environment around you.

Download here for Windows PC

A Void Hope

Follow the story of a tormented couple as they try to distinguish reality from nightmares and overcome the shadowy threats lurking in the dark in an atmospheric puzzle- platforming adventure to find a cure for a collapsed city.

Download here for Windows, Mac and Linux

Waterfall Prisoner

You awaken in a damp cell, located in the deepest basement of the mysterious Waterfall Tower. In making your way out, you discover you weren't the first in this predicament. Someone preceded you, and they left behind hints that might help you escape before the night is over.