Steam Next Fest adventure game demo round-up – October 2026

• Features by Adventure Game Hotspot staff
• Published:

Great games are being released at a furious pace, so surely we'll start to run out at some point, right? Wrong! With every Steam Next Fest, we're treated to demos of dozens of promising new games to replace the outgoing batch, and October 2026 is definitely no exception.

As always, there's a little something for any preference or ability. You can investigate all kinds of mysteries or scale yourself silly. You can play as a bird, crabs, flying mice, political dogs, or fantastical moomins; you can even be a house! You can descend deep beneath the waves or to the Underworld itself, or keep your feet planted squarely on terra firma. You can travel back to the past, jump forward in time, or stay right where you are. You can dodge gargantuan guards, escape a dungeon, compose beautiful music, or snap eerie pictures of things that say cheese in the night. 

Even that is just scratching the surface. Luckily you have all the time in the world to check them out, right? Wrong again! Some (not all) of these demos will disappear when the festival is over on October 26th, so procrastination is not your friend. New demos will be added as they come available as well, so be sure to check back later to find out what you may have missed. And then... let the gaming begin!

Apple Crumble

Developer: Happy Broccoli Games

It’s your grandma’s 84th birthday and one of the guests is out to knife her, but the question is – who? It’s down to you to uncover the truth. Explore your childhood home, reconnect with your dysfunctional family, and work out who you can trust before it’s time for tea in this short, twisty thriller.

Download for Windows, Mac and Linux

Bad Magpie

Developer: Milktooth

You are a magpie with one wing, a missing flock, and an unhealthy obsession with a fallen star. Steal shiny trinkets, cause chaos, and stick your beak where it doesn’t belong.

Download for Windows and Mac

Below Lethe

Developer: Meisomi

In the underworld of Greek mythology, take on the role of Dikaion, a figure whose duties in the trials of the dead are similar to those of a prosecutor. Investigate memories left in the River Lethe and reconstruct past events by piecing together the people and actions found within them. These reconstructed events serve as evidence, which you present before three judges to establish the accused's guilt and the gravity of their actions.

Download for Windows PC

Broken Shell

Developer: Foggy Studio

Embark on a heartwarming journey with Mr. and Mrs. Hermit, a crab couple whose peaceful home has been devastated by human expansion. As they navigate love, loss, and hope, help them solve meaningful puzzles and overcome challenges to find a new home and rebuild their life together.

Download for Windows PC

Coldline: Disconnect

Developer: Grawire Studio

As Agent 22, you have been assigned to a new undercover mission during the Cold War. Disguised as a repair technician inside the enemy facility, you will interact with radios, signal systems, surveillance devices, and various pieces of strange machinery while attempting to maintain your cover. Actions have consequences, so carefully observe how each device functions before deciding whether to repair, manipulate, or sabotage it.

Download for Windows PC

Dark Alley

Developer: CheesecakeGames

Kyoto. 2012. British detective Edward Hale has vanished. London sends Detective Thomas Bennett to Japan expecting a straightforward missing person investigation. Instead, he finds a city where everyone seems to know more than they're willing to admit. From quiet temples and narrow backstreets to hidden clubs and traditional ryokans, Bennett follows a case that refuses to stay simple. The Yakuza are involved, but they are far from the whole story.

Download for Windows PC

Dark Trip

Developer: iWorlds

In a small German town, the only daughter of a retired businessman disappears. You are hired to investigate the case and find a seemingly abandoned laboratory. Exploring room after room, you'll discover evidence of experiments carried out there in notebooks of employees and test subjects. It becomes clear that the infamous Nazi doctor Mengele conducted the inhuman experiments here using psychedelic substances and sadomasochistic practices. Moving deeper, you'll come to understand that despite the apparent abandonment, the laboratory is still active and the experiment continues as Olga (the kidnapped girl) and you are in fact the active subjects of the evil occult ritual merging the infernal plane with our world, causing bizarre scenarios where it's impossible to distinguish hallucinations from reality…

Download for Windows PC and PC VR

Deep Siren

Developer: Made From Strings

When the lone survivor of the U.S.S. Siren, Alexander Calder, discovers a mermaid while adrift at sea, he finds himself plunged into a world of supernatural horror fathoms beneath the surface. Survive terrifying creatures, navigate alien technology, and discover the secrets of the deep.

Download for Windows, Mac and Linux

Drowned Lake

Developer: Monumental Collab

Deep in Brazil’s coastal forest is the Drowned Lake, an area of sinister folk tales and legends, where many who trespass never return. When a young student goes missing, it sets off a twisted story to discover the truth. Follow Carolina the reporter, Rafael the first responder, and Leonardo the old fisherman as what begins as a rescue mission quickly spirals into a series of bizarre and disturbing events. As the lake’s dark past comes to light, so do the secrets buried deep within the three strangers, forcing them to confront both their inner demons and the sinister presence haunting the lake.

Download for Windows PC

Escape: The Cabin

Developer: Deceptive Games

You awaken inside a remote wooden cabin with no memory of how you arrived. Finding a way out means searching for concealed compartments, inspecting objects and solving puzzles while uncovering the identity of your captor and the reasons behind your imprisonment.

Download for Windows PC

False Echo

Developer: Retromagine

In an alternate-history 1942 in a world consumed by war, you serve aboard a classified submarine deep beneath the Atlantic as a member of the Oppressian Empire, a military power determined to control not only territory, but information itself. Using the mysterious OBSCURA machine, you must process encrypted military communications while ensuring that only regime-approved truths are allowed to pass through the Empire’s censorship systems. You are not here to save lives. You decide what gets through, and live with the consequences.

Download for Windows PC

Genuine Article

Developer: Altum Studio

Vienna, 1901. A bureau that authenticates antiques: without your certificate the piece is worth nothing. Silver, paintings, watches, papers — each carries a truth and a lie about its history. A predecessor’s debt makes bribes tempting. And you won’t get this right every time — mistakes cost.

Download for Windows and Mac

Goodbye Seoul

Developer: JINO Games

With only six months left until an asteroid endangers Earth, once-vibrant Seoul has morphed into a violent, lawless place. Rion ventures into the unknown, tracing the steps of a covert operation intended for space evacuation. Her journey takes her through the remains of Seoul in search of information about this secretive project. But the collapsed city is fraught with peril, from the rubble to the rogues and the remnants of rebellion eyeing Rion with hostile intent. She must overcome these diverse obstacles and threats to find the clues pointing toward mankind's last beacon of hope.

Download for Windows PC

Hela: of Mice & Magic

Developer: Windup

The witch has dedicated her life to aiding the village's residents and wildlife, but now that she's unwell she needs you, her familiar, more than ever. Step into the tiny paws of a brave mouse, wander through an enchanting Scandinavian landscape filled with puzzles to solve, potions to brew, and quests to complete, all to aid your ailing witch.

Download for Windows PC

Hillthorn

Developers: Fool Moon, Finnegan Motors

Only the foolish and the desperate attempt to wander the mazelike trails of Hillthorn. But a child has gone missing, time is in short supply, and you’re tasked with unravelling the mountain’s secrets. Welcome to Hillthorn, an investigation game unlike any other, where the mystery unfolds without a word spoken.

Download for Windows, Mac and Linux

Hope Timbre

Developer: Linnet Solutions

Guide a mysterious creature through an imaginary realm at night, or help two siblings awaken their broken world during the day. In dreams, traverse colorful environments and manipulate the architecture to solve puzzles and find various hope instruments. When you wake up, use them to heal the world and escape the never-ending cycle.

Download for Windows PC

The House Before

Developer: Gabriel Helfenstein

You wake up as a House. Your limbs stretch through endless rooms filled with grotesque creatures. You can never see outside of yourself, never feel the world that lies beyond your flesh. Every corner of your anatomy is seething with terror. Every inch of your skin is painted with intricate wounds, etched long before you were born. And yet, there is life inside you: shapeless haunts, organic material with barely any purpose except to despise you for crimes committed aeons ago.

Download for Windows PC

I Want to Play the Villain!

Developer: Triomatica Games

To create the perfect stage show, you must match actors to their roles. Every actor has their own wishes, ambitions, fears, and favorite roles. Rearrange the cast, switch costumes, and change the story to make everyone happy on stage. Give an actor their dream role, pair them with the right partner, or keep them away from situations they fear.

Download for Windows, Mac and Linux

Inkblood

Developer: Hey Bird!

You're an Inquisitor on a wild mystery chase. Reality and people's minds are rotted by wicked sorcery. Find the truth, impose the righteous rule of Inquisition. This investigation is now your responsibility. Do not fail like your predecessor.

Download for Windows PC

The Inspector

Developer: Yagel Ravid

In a not-too-distant future, a way to connect to the subconscious thoughts of people who fall into comas has been found. You are "The Inspector," and your task is to investigate their minds in search of elements that will bring your patients back to life. 

Download link for Windows PC

The Journey Home

Developer: Joey's Entertainment

Some answers can only be found by going within. In a world beyond the boundaries of time and space, your journey awaits.

Download for Windows PC

Krendel

Developer: HandHush

You are Pip, a tiny knitted traveler with enormous curious eyes and a pure heart. Driven by wanderlust, you explore a strange and beautiful universe where time moves at its own pace — quiet, melancholic, and full of hidden magic. Your journey leads across creaking sunset piers, into the dim and cozy glow of underground taverns, and through overgrown, half-forgotten places that feel truly alive.

Download for Windows PC

Lingering Shadow

Developer: Ferine Columba Studio

On her birthday, Lanlan returns home to discover that her father has vanished. As she searches the familiar streets, shops, and apartment blocks of her childhood, the town begins to shift between warm nostalgia and quiet, creeping dread. Through exploration, conversations, and puzzles, Lanlan recovers fragments of her forgotten past and uncovers the truth hidden within the town.

Download for Windows PC

The Marvelous Raincaster of Yell Holler

Developer: Brain&Brain

As a folklorist visiting the rugged hill country of the Ozarks, your chronicle of local lore is at the mercy of an unreliable storyteller. You’ll need to help sort his wayward ballad by rearranging its stanzas—but even this is not so straightforward. Each stanza you move is also a moment in time: shaped, like most folklore, by what comes before.

Download for Windows and Mac

The Memphis Chronicles

Developer: High Road Stories

After a canoe trip goes sideways, you swim to the surface of a lake and emerge in a city filled with questions, where objects are charged with memories of your own past and others. On your journey through strangely familiar streets and buildings, you have encounters that feel both ordinary and uncanny, and sometimes downright terrifying: an elephant, well-dressed demons, an elusive arsonist, a homeless prophet. The deeper you look, the more these strange pieces begin to connect — and the more the journey starts to become personal.

Download for Windows PC

Militsioner

Developer: TALLBOYS

Someone must have been telling lies, because you’re an ordinary nobody who has never done anything noteworthy, and yet you’ve suddenly been arrested for a crime?! It’s time to grab your passport, your half-eaten banana and start planning your escape. But the Colossal Policeman is on patrol. His job is to stop you from escaping the town. Yours is to get out, any way you can think of. Get creative but stay quiet. Every move you make, every step you take, he’ll be watching you.

Download for Windows PC

Moomin: Midsummer Madness

Developer: Crossbridge Game Studios

When an unexpected flood overtakes Moominvalley, the Moomin family finds refuge in a mysterious floating theatre. Play as Moomintroll and Little My as they attempt to find their way home, solving light puzzles and befriending a quirky cast of characters in this mesmerizing hand-painted world.

Download for Windows PC

MoonStreet – The Playable Movie

Developer: Christopher Lee

Scientist Keith Klipper, accompanied by robot companion M.A.X, must uncover the mysteries behind the recent power outages and abductions occurring in the tense, retrofuturistic city of Astro.

Download for Windows PC

MyDear.exe

Developers: Falling Leaves Studio, ClemiSoft

Play as Ellie and spend around two hours exploring the game her husband Lucien developed for her in the old family computer to celebrate their 57 years together! Find memories in the form of photos, drawings, love words... anything... and use them to solve the puzzles he prepared especially for her.

Download for Windows and Mac

The Mystery Mist

Developer: WolfSmokeStudios

In a world that appears peaceful but is simmering with racial tensions, a deadly toxic mist has begun spreading across the land, bringing death to anyone who dares to enter. You will play as Ya Qing, an apprentice to a mysterious physician, learning to harness the power of insects to craft life-saving medicines and save his sister from a grim fate.

Download for Windows and Mac

The Mystery of Oak Island

Developer: Visionaire Studio

For over 200 years, the legend of Oak Island has fascinated treasure hunters, historians, and conspiracy theorists alike. But the infamous "Money Pit" is a shaft that turns out to be a deadly trap. Every attempt to drain it ends in floods or tragedy. Over the centuries, millions have been spent trying to uncover its secret. What lies beneath? No theory has ever been proven. And yet the curse of Oak Island continues – said to demand seven lives before the mystery may be solved...

Download for Windows PC

Oldest Golden Treasure

Developer: Vasil4N

Step into the role of a detective, solve puzzles, and uncover the truth behind your colleague’s disappearance. Travel through time, explore immersive worlds, and crack the mystery in this VR escape room adventure. Every decision you make brings you closer to the truth... or further from it.

Download for PC VR

The Other Side of the Wall

Developer: Atropos Studios

Julian Reed is a 13-year-old student at a New England all-boys Catholic boarding school in the early 1980s. When people begin disappearing and no one else seems to remember they ever existed, Julian investigates, with the help of a girl he has never seen, separated from him by a wall.

Download for Windows, Mac and Linux

The Outer Islands

Developer: Ancient Clockwork Games

It is 1958. The Outer Islands have been closed to the world for twenty years. Their residents are gone. Some left. Some disappeared. Some were never properly accounted for. You are Detective Anne Shepherd, sent to investigate why the signal tower on Pandora’s Rock has suddenly begun transmitting again after two decades of silence. The islands were sealed by the Ministry of Defence. The Malin family’s work was buried. The hospital on Asylum Rock was abandoned. No one is supposed to be there. But something has woken up.

Download for Windows PC

Rain98

Developer: C#4R4CT3R

Tokyo, 1998. A rain that never ends and a girl who wants everything to end. Talk with Reina, help her with whatever request she throws your way, and from time to time journey together through a rainy Tokyo and draw closer to the secrets she's hiding. Live through those lonely days together as you carry forward the ritual to end the world.

Download for Windows PC

Quiet Express: Cabin 909

Developers: STUDIO 909, Kazuhide Oka

Board the Quiet Express, a train that takes seven days to cross the continent. Make your way to the front to find Cabin 909, a room that theoretically does not exist. Standing in your way are three types of cars – passenger cars, dining cars, and cargo cars –  drawn randomly for you to choose between. Rearranging the order of the train cars might open up passages you haven't seen before, and by listening to the other passengers' stories and fulfilling their requests, the many secrets of Cabin 909 will slowly reveal themselves.

Download for Windows PC

Re+pray Signals: Echoes Still Wait

Developer: Tetherea Studio

You are the only one connected to a child trapped in a closed-off world. Speaking becomes the key; listening becomes hope. A conversational adventure where the words you exchange help unravel its mysteries.

Download for Windows and Mac

Sobakistan: The Land of Dogs

Developer: Terletski Games

For the first time in its history, Sobakistan, the land of dogs, opens its borders. The nation’s Supreme Leader, Comrade Buddy, has staged a lavish rehearsal of his own funeral to witness the people's grief in advance. What could possibly go wrong? Among the invited foreign guests is a journalist – the chameleon Henri Pascal, famous for his hard-hitting documentaries. You begin in his shoes, preparing to film a documentary about this secretive nation, but will gradually uncover the secrets of Sobakistan by switching between six playable characters to view the same events from multiple perspectives.

Download for Windows and Mac

SOMBRAS: negative frames

Developer: Maboroshi Artworks

Shiomi Alterio, a Japanese-Spanish photography student, lives with her father in a quaint Japanese town after her parents’ recent divorce, far from the life in Europe she was forced to leave behind. One night, Shiomi is engulfed by a dark dimension made of familiar streets, hungry shadows, and a cast of girls that look just like her... Help Shiomi return home by taking pictures of unusual sights, surviving unsettling encounters, and reuniting every single fragment of her broken self.

Download for Windows PC

Springs, Eternal

Developer: Fullbright

In the dead of night, explore the mysterious steaming springs of Stillwater that shroud the pine-covered mountain peaks in mist and meet the other lost souls who are drawn to this place. Along the way, you’ll relive moments from the romantic relationship that brought you here through flashbacks.

Download for Windows PC

Stip

Developer: Sixtyfour

There is more than meets the eye in Stip. On the surface, it's a simple number puzzle game but as rules are discovered and puzzles misbehave, you'll come to understand that looking too closely may be a mistake.

Download for Windows PC

There Are No Ghosts at the Grand

Developer: Friday Sundae

Inherit a crumbling English hotel and restore it by day – while battling ghosts by night. With a sardonic cat, a talking power tool, and a twisting supernatural plot, this is a musical mystery unlike any other. Will you be able to hold it together while everything around you falls apart?

Download for Windows PC

The Transference

Developer: Kuraishisama

You wake up to find the doors and windows boarded up. Someone has turned your home into a prison and left strange puzzles scattered throughout the rooms. Now you’ll have to explore every corner, find clues, and solve the mysteries while trying to answer an increasingly unsettling question: who locked you inside, and why?

Download for Windows PC

Underpaid

Developer: Fort Green

You spent a hundred years scaring children for a living, until New York rent forced you into a 5-day trial as a kindergarten teacher. Bond with a group of misfit kids, help them win their first team victory, and discover why one girl never wants to go home.

Download for Windows and Mac

Unsound Love

Developer: Professional Villains

You are born into a new world through the backseat of a wrecked car. Trapped in a time loop. Understand it – or stay trapped forever.

Download for Windows PC

The Vaults Below Durn: A Field Study

Developer: Gongylus Games

Far below the town of Durn lies a sprawling dungeon where survival depends not on combat but observation. Look for clues and piece together an 800-year-old mystery. Every room presents a choice between three doors. Only one is safe. The other two lead... somewhere else. Your survival depends entirely on reading the environment.

Download for Windows PC

Work Work Work

Developer: Mojiken

You are one of many workers for Triquetra, the tech company that proudly claims to be the most productive organization in the world. You are here to fulfill your potential, trapped in a time loop where you experience the surreal cycle of work, life, and death. Find clues, gather information, and explore Triquetra to discover the truth, and find out that maybe there's more meaning in working, and living.

Download for Windows PC

Zombie Police: Midsummer Unhappy New Year

Developer: Lobstudio

In a village mysteriously frozen in midsummer, zombie detective Akemi Kabane and her human partner Yasu Tamura investigate a tragedy captured during a VTuber’s livestream. Use Akemi’s Zombie Dive to uncover hidden thoughts and secrets, then connect testimony and keywords in Tamura’s Journal to solve the case.

Download for Windows and Mac

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