Steam Next Fest June 2026 is still underway, and as I promised, following up on my first article dedicated to the event, here’s the second batch of demos I recommend checking out, and, in a way, I’m recommending them to myself as well, since there are still a few I haven’t had the chance to try personally.
I have to be honest: I was expecting a little more from this event. I was hoping a few completely unknown titles would emerge, something genuinely new to discover. Don’t get me wrong, there’s definitely plenty worth trying, but I would have appreciated just a bit more of a spark.
That said, here are 15 interesting titles you can try out and add to your wishlist.
Dunebound Tactics
Developers: Terahard Ltd
Platforms: PC
Release Date: Coming soon
Available on Steam
Let’s start this second part of my Next Fest Recap with Dunebound Tactics, which mixes roguelite structure, tactical RPG combat, caravan management, and survival choices across a harsh desert crossing.
Players lead a band of survivors through Imperial-controlled lands, gathering Elios to power their ship while dealing with factions, resource pressure, and narrative events.
The hook comes from destructible and reshaped terrain. Cover can be destroyed, moved, or turned into new defenses, while mines, traps, ice pillars, explosive pillars, and caravan skills open space for more flexible encounter planning.
15 classes, 16 traits, more than 50 modules, and 38 enemy classes, which suggests a demo worth trying.
Stories of Somnia
Developers: Lydian Games
Platforms: PC
Release Date: Coming soon
Available on Steam
Stories of Somnia blends JRPG combat with Metroidvania-style exploration. It follows Lumia through a dream world shaped by memory, grief, and a corrupting fog called Gloam.
The Steam page describes an exploration-first adventure with three major regions, dungeon discovery, platforming spells called Arts, and Dreamkin companions that can synergize with Lumia in combat. An intriguing mix to experiment with.
Duo Quest
Developers: 1+1 Studios
Platforms: PC
Release Date: September 16, 2026
Available on Steam
Duo Quest takes a lighter but unusual approach to deckbuilding. It is designed fully around co-op, with two players fighting monsters by answering questions about each other, matching answers, and using that bond to unlock stronger combo cards.
Under the social layer, there is a roguelite deckbuilding structure with procedurally generated levels, random routes, boss battles, artifacts, hundreds of unlockable cards, and five classes with their own card sets.
It is not the typical solo deckbuilder, and that is the point. This is probably the demo to try with someone who usually does not play strategy games, since the relationship questions become part of the combat loop.
Lootbound
Developers: ArtDock
Platforms: PC
Release Date: Q3 2026
Available on Steam
I played it during the play test, and I can easily say that Lootbound is one of my most anticipated here. A tactical loot-management roguelite where each run starts with a single hero before the party forms along the route.
The structure is built around risk selection, equipment choices, and companions. Items only work when equipped, and some have auras that affect adjacent items, so inventory layout becomes part of the build.
There are also mechanics such as armor penetration, exhaustion, armor destruction, and direct damage, shaping how the party handles enemy defenses. It sounds especially suited to players who enjoy the planning layer between encounters as much as the combat itself.
Forsworn
Developers: Resummon Studios LLC
Platforms: PC
Release Date: September 2026
Available on Steam
Forsworn is a turn-based tactics roguelite about stacking party synergies until the game starts to bend around your build. More than 150 items, more than 200 abilities, six unique heroes, and three subclasses per hero, with upgrades that change abilities rather than only raising numbers.
IT is planned for solo play or online co-op, with simultaneous turns designed to keep battles moving.
Here, the appeal is clear: build a party, combine powers, earn Ultimate Charge through actions, and treat defeat as another step in the next run.
Mechs and Muskets
Developers: Belmira studio
Platforms: PC
Release Date: 2026
Available on Steam
I have never heard of it before. Mechs and Muskets has a strong premise from the start: a 2D isometric tactical RPG set in an alternate Napoleonic era where mechanized units change the battlefield.
Players command customizable mechs through turn-based combat, equipping different parts, weapons, armor, and abilities to counter different kinds of enemies. The campaign follows a French soldier during a broader continental war, with story choices tied to the fate of comrades and the military struggle around them.
The interesting angle is the contrast between early 19th-century warfare and mech-based tactics.
Moon Corona
Developers: 不倒龙工作室, Budaolong Studio
Platforms: PC
Release Date: Coming soon
Available on Steam
A deckbuilder who desperately wants to be Dark Souls. Moon Corona is a dark fantasy RPG that mixes deckbuilding, exploration, tactical combat, and story choices.
Players awaken in an ancient temple, travel across the Duchy of Reinhart, collect cards, and build custom decks while uncovering a shadow war involving the crown, church, magic, curses, and lost memory.
Five base classes to start with, more than 40 advanced classes, class-exclusive cards, universal combo cards, and movement-based combat with positioning, dodging, spacing, kiting, terrain kills, and part-breaking.
Hired Blade
Developers: Kobanchik
Platforms: PC
Release Date: To be announced
Available on Steam
Hired Blade goes for the mercenary-company fantasy. Honestly, it could use some polish in both its visuals and UI, but since I have a soft spot for the Battle Brothers formula, I figured it was worth bringing this game to your attention.
Players become the warchief of a hired band, recruit fighters, take contracts, fight bandits and monsters, strip fallen enemies for gear, train recruits, and manage morale between battles. Combat takes place on procedurally generated hex-based maps, while the wider world includes caravans, rival warbands, guards, peasants, towns, and contracts.
There is also a tavern layer, with mini-games used to restore morale before the next job, so, especially if you are fans of Battle Brothers-style RP, you may want to keep this one inside your wishlist.
WILD Tactics
Developers: The Wild Gentlemen
Platforms: PC
Release Date: Coming soon
Available on Steam
Another title I’m following and i suggest to give the demo a try is WILD Tactics. It is set in the animal-populated World of Wilderness, the same broader universe associated with Chicken Police.
This time, the focus shifts to turn-based tactical action, organized crime, squad dynamics, and a noir-flavored city called Clawville. The game features 12 hero characters, 15 story-focused missions, side missions, squad and base management, weapon upgrades, and a social system where relationships between characters can create buffs or debuffs in battle.
That social layer is the part that could give the tactics extra personality. Hate, love, friendship, and shared performance can affect combat outcomes, so party building may depend as much on chemistry as on strategy.
Integrity
Developers: DawnDuck
Platforms: PC
Release Date: June 28, 2026
Available on Steam
Next game is one I follow through my Reddit channel cause the dev usually adds updates there, and one of my up next demos I’m going to try.
Integrity is a turn-based tactics game where vision, terrain, and stamina shape every decision. It moves away from rigid grid combat by allowing freer movement, while still making each action costly.
Movement, attacking, repositioning, and retreating all consume the same stamina resource, so even a small adjustment can change the rest of the turn. The game also uses line of sight, hidden information, terrain manipulation, and skill unlocks based on specific actions or conditions.
With a release date set for June 28, 2026, this demo also works as a near-final check before launch.
Instruments of Power
Developers: Iron Loop Games
Platforms: PC
Release Date: Q3 2026
Available on Steam
Instruments of Power is a turn-based tactical RPG built around custom spell construction. Every spell starts from a catalyst called a Primestone, with its own damage affinity, cost, and skill tree. Players then modify ground patterns, effects, range, energy use, and behaviors through upgrades.
Combat is split between primordial spells that shape the battlefield and ritual spells that consume those effects. Fire spreads, ice creates walls and platforms, thorns clog corridors, lightning hits designated points, and summoned avatars carry the spells you built.
There is also a tether system that acts as a survival clock, since the character’s connection to the world weakens with each round. This is one of the most mechanically distinct demos in the list, and probably the one to try first if you like tactical RPGs.
Don’t Kill Them All
Developers: Fika Productions
Platforms: PC via Steam
Release Date: Q4 2026
Available on Steam
One of the first demos I tried when the June 2026 Steam Next Fest started was Don’t Kill Them All. A turn-based strategy game with base-building where the player leads a clan of Orcs through raids, camp management, and emotional outbursts.
The central mechanic is rage. Orcs gain rage from taking hits, losing resources, or attacking too often in a turn. Once they are close to losing control, extraction may be the better choice, because if every Orc snaps during the same battle, the raid and resources are lost.
Between runs, players build and decorate the camp, craft equipment, develop passions such as cooking or gardening, and shape the clan’s personality.
SoulStream Saga: Chapter 1
Developers: AFTER1MAGE 1NTERACTIVE
Platforms: PC
Release Date: Coming soon
Available on Steam
SoulStream Saga: Chapter 1 is an old-school 2D pixel art JRPG built around a Shared ATB system. The combat focuses on timing, elemental mastery, interrupts, and stance-based weaknesses.
Most actions take time to execute, so interrupting an enemy cast at the right moment can shift the flow of battle. Elemental affinity also changes depending on the skills chosen, which should make skill selection matter beyond simple damage values.
The demo works as a prequel to the full story, with Astarius at maximum level and all skills and magic unlocked, giving players a direct look at the combat system rather than a slow tutorial build. The full game is planned to include three active combat characters, seven recruitable party members, more than 40 hours of story content, unique skill trees, and mini-games such as fishing, treasure hunting, and a trading card game.
Aikyam
Developers: Thousand Stars Studio Inc.
Platforms: PC
Release Date: Coming soon
Available on Steam
Aikyam is a colorful fantasy RPG inspired by Indian cinema, with turn-based battles built around performance, timing, parries, and crowd support.
The village of Aikyam falls into chaos as demons appear and villagers begin to vanish, pushing Vishva, Ramli, and Guruji to rally the community through dramatic dance spectacles and combat.
There is also a village support layer, where acts of kindness and side quests build a crowd that cheers during fights, unlocks cinematic abilities, and can even join with surprise assists.
The Severed Gods
Developers: Topebox
Platforms: PC
Release Date: 2026
Available on Steam
The Severed Gods is a fantasy roguelite RPG about heroes reincarnating to stop the mystic dragon Umbra. The combat system focuses on breaking enemy defenses and targeting body parts across Low, Mid, and High zones.
The Break and Sever system lets players exploit weaknesses, cut off limbs, disable attacks, and change boss stances. Builds revolve around relics that modify basic skills with elements, status effects, multi-hit properties, and other tactical effects.
The roguelite layer resets the world after failure, but NPCs, villages, shops, quests, and routes can evolve based on previous actions.
