Best Games of the Steam Next Fest
October 2025
this was a next fest of real highs and lows. a lot of ai slop cluttering the space to sift through- a lot of games with great art, a few of which were let down by a lack of programming skill and a surprisingly large amount that were let down by a lack of game design skill.
even then. there was still plenty of gold- and of the 32 i played, these, in my opinion, are the 16 best.
note: the order of the reviews below is partly arranged on an aesthetic basis. don’t take it as a ranking.
Jackal: Jackal is smooth. It's cool. It's an ice cold bourbon sat upon the smooth patch of a splintered bar, found at two in the morning as you stumble in reeking of sweat and substance abuse. it's the voice that asks "more?" more blood, more violence and drugs and speed, danger, literary flair. what it really is is fast paced action pulled together by a story about meaningless violence; delivered with ample sardonic wit, and leading perfectly into the blend of sliding executions and headshots- that equally often collapses into messy magic and fumbling weapon tosses. and both are great fucking fun. i could compliment it all night, but alas, last call.
The Kindling: one of the smartest and yet simplest puzzle games i've ever played. i don't know how i haven't seen anything like this before, it feels so obvious the moment you play it, that "mouse navigation puzzle game" should be a common thing. its style is simple and provides utter clarity- as it leads, though its empty spaces- to the mania of its demands. the call to arson. the call of the fire. in one word? lean. nothing is there that isn't perfect where it is- becasuse it knows it's damn good enough to not even worry about the gaps.
Mesmalie: Mesmer is the perfect… villain? for a game like this. she's fun and quirky and kinda cute and you know what maybe the little critter is wrong and she does want to eat you for real. i'm chill with that. it's all surreal and yet often kinda mundane. it feels like magic is an old chaos that's always hidden behind boarded windows, and a brand new chaos that's no more sophisticated than a fart with the power of property damage. it keeps you on your toes and keeps you under its thrall, both with total ease. wonderful, truly.
The Séance of Blake Manor: i mean. i am the target audience. a beautifully voiced, intricately mapped out (each npc has an hourly timetable!) story of mid 19th century occultism- with reference to the HOGD, spiritism movement, and druidic traditions of ireland- not to mention the strong willingness to show the state of ireland in those days for what it was and exactly what bastards led to it being that way. it is, also both the most detective-y detective game i have ever played, and not for the faint of heart- in the sheer intricacy of it all, or for the hauntings of the place (which, as mild as they have began, make for a truly splendid atmosphere).
Provoron: it's so damn creative. first of all: to give it one of the highest honours i can: kinda has some Night In The Woods vibes. to continue? it's a clever point and click, which due to the nature of its odd world, is in fact forced to use more purely internally logical solutions than so many worse games like it. couple that with a story that is going places, because there is no world in which it doesn't have a lot to say? even a bit rough as it is it's too easy to love for me to not recommend.
Plagun: i really did not believe in this game when i first played it. everything felt wrong. but then. it all began to click. i saw their vision. and damn, it's a pretty good one. it wants to be, just about, unlike anything else, and it does that right for sure. with influences converging from many different places into a format you'd never expect them to be in- as a 2d bullet hell with autoaim- it all somehow clicks. you can go from breezing through to fighting for a single pixel on which still to stand in a matter of seconds, and that's a good thing! every run feels unpredicatble, fresh, and easy to tell if you're doing well or not. a hard roguelike to put down.
Ambrosia Sky: really good voice acting- and the solid script the VA has to read is what lets her deliver. of course, that's all backdrop to the environments. sure, they look pretty nice, but more importantly, they are crafted with tremendous care. immersive sims usually love sprawling areas, but not ambrosia sky. it keeps it small, and in doing so keeps its (in any other game) dull moment to moment action fresh by putting you in the perfect situations for it. you can never get comfortable because you're always somewhere new- and because the fungus is all too happy to come right at you too. clusterlung's implications will give me nightmares if i play the full game. but it's so good i'll pay that price.
Forestrike: can you reach perfection? and can you do it again? how such a simple mechanic as "practice mode", that most games have as an afterthought, can become central, is a testament to the designers. They've made a game based on prediction, strategy, and quick reactions. there's so many choices that would need to be made in split seconds, moves that would need to be readable in a way that would destroy the naturalistic animation style. but when you can master the fight before doing it? then you can pull off those kinds of tricks! the key, the genius, being: that you still have to! practice all you want, but when you do it for real you better get it right. and when you've tested every option, find the one you want, and it does? perfection indeed.
A Song Of Sunlight: this is what you'd get if NieR: Replicant was combined with elements of soulslikes, with 2d rpg games, with a visual novel. it's so damn internally consistent that it almost creates a sense of fate. it's so damn monochrome that every abberration stands out all the more. it's almost lovecraftian in its approach to the megastructure, it's dripping with social commentary, i really hope it has something to say about masculinity becasue if it does and it's saying what i think it is then DAMN that's fascinating. few games feel less like games and more like worlds so quickly, epecially while still having so much gameplay in them.
Sisyphus is a Bug: i do wish there was more to this game. not as in mechanics, but as in places and pathways. and isn't that a compliment? dubbed by its developer a "knowledgevania", in how it actually gives you every ability right from the start, just doesn't clue you in on them, it makes for such a great progression that feels so natural because it actually is! also it's just cute. and i do love games with cute bugs.
Rubinite: now this is a boss fight game and a half. taking gameplay cues from Dark Souls and Hollow Knight, it's a real treat that even with the similarities of its two influences it carves out its own identity immediately. both in narrative- i didn't expect a single thing to happen the way it did and loved every second- and in combat- which is unique in such a fascinating way. giving the player low health, and massive rewards for perfect dodges? genius. You are incentivised to dance on the knife's edge, and oh what a waltz it has in store. only the first two bosses so far, but they're masterclasses. if it can keep that up? oh, this will be epic.
Super Beast World: gain healing and score based on how high your combo is, combo being sustained by getting shinies and kills. it's simple but very, very clever in promoting the exact playstyle that's the most fun: trying to carve a path through all the enemies (not around!) and grabbing every sparkly point you can on a mad dash to the right side of the screen. games like this can feel like you're lacking visual information or control, but not super beast world. it handles so incredibly tightly, and makes for a worthy addition to its genre.
Opus: Prism Peak: prism peak is unsubtle and heartfelt and works perfectly. it's beautiful- of course it is, you've got a camera at all times and they very cleverly incentivise you to take pictures of everything, with how you never know which ones will be called for as sacrifice. but it also won't let you leave without hearing what it has to say. it cares about its story so deeply that it will switch time and format all it needs to make sure it hits. and as such? hit it shall.
Cairn: no climbing game strikes the balance of elements that cairn does, and i can see why. with all the work it must require, i bet The Game Baker's fingertips are in an even worse state than Aava's. it all feels so instinctive, and yet still realistic and detailed. no "climb any surface as long as you've got the stamina", no "control your avatar's body in the least convenient way we could imagine". just a gamified version of what real rock climbing seems to be like: pathfinding while keeping track of your own body and its limits. given all that, it has no peer in what it does. and i doubt it ever will.
Pulse: the first racing game that is also a speedrunning game. you may be asking yourself "isn't that a tautology?" but no! a racing game is about completing a route as fast as possible. a speedrunning game is about finding the fastest route possible. and with pulse, oh boy do you the the tools to do it. a hovercraft that can turn on a dime the instant you lift your finger off the accelerator, a vehicle with a gravity defying warp speed option. you can be fast alright, and you can find that it enables some real weird routes. with its daily level and challenge missions, all critically on a single map that you can master the routes through? it's almost impressive it wasn't done before.
Barrel Roll: Cowboy Bebop, Persona 5- both, along with a host of other influences, seep into this sci fi western and leave it all the richer. they're arguably the reason it's so damn stylish, why the ui is so well designed for both clarity and flair. but the mechanics? that win goes to the devs and no-one else for their inspired idea, one that they truly milk for all it's worth. with the "deck" being the barrel of a revolver, there turns out to be a world of possibilities. the degrees of "hand" management for what is essentially a roguelike deckbuilder, the gimmick minigames that you can utilise, and the whole premise of having to spend bonus turns to reload and draw your cards. it all makes for an inspired concept for gameplay. clever and cool already, i'd say it's fully loaded and ready to go.
