The 5 weirdest Steam Next Fest demos you can still play

There really is a game about everything

Last year, there were over 21,000 games released on Steam. So far this year, there have been more than 11,000, so it's likely 2026 will end with even more in total. A lot of them are, let's face it, a bit naff. Others are excellent and worth your time, including some of the best Steam Next Fest demos, but they don't push the boat out.

Amongst all those games are some which are so strange and unlike anything you've ever seen before, while still being absolutely top-quality video games. During the recent Steam Next Fest, many of these had demos available, so we've found the best of the bunch. Here are the five best weird Steam Next Fest games that still have demos you can download now.

5 Project P.I.T.T

Project P.I.T.T is the Steam Next Fest demo that I have spent the most time in over the last week or so, and I am delighted the demo is still available even though the event has finished. It's repetitive, dumb, and ultimately, you're a slave to capitalism. But there's something about the gradual progression of producing more and more rubber ducks that has me hook, line, and sinker. Make ducks, feed the ducks to an ominous pit, earn money to buy tools to make more ducks, rinse and repeat. It's addictive as hell.

4 Penguin Colony

I would've loved to be in the room when developer Origame Digital came up with the idea behind Penguin Colony. This is a retelling of H.P. Lovecraft's story At the Mountains of Madness, from the perspective of a penguin. You’ll explore 1930s Antarctica and uncover a mystery driving Nazi occupying forces into madness, thanks to an ancient and inconceivable being.

3 Brekekekex

All my homies hate frogs, right? At least, if you do hate frogs, Brekekekex is the game for you. The premise is simple: duel human-size frogs with nothing but a spear in fast-paced, hard-to-master combat, in order to harvest their eyes. This game doesn't take itself too seriously either (how can it, with that premise), with hilarious dialogue from the get-go, when the first froggy victim deems themselves king of the dock. And hey, you even get to be the frog after a little while.

2 Trees Hate You

Trees Hate You has been doing the rounds on social media for a little while now, because every single moment is so clippable. You are an average person, running around a forest where every tree looks normal, but is actually out to kill you. Some will have guns, others will sprout from the ground beneath you, some will chase you, and some will come crashing down from the sky. This is a game for masochists, but it's so funny.

1 Desktop Explorer

Desktop Explorer isn't the first game to do the whole “game within a computer interface” presentation, but if the demo is anything to go by, it is one of the best. This Windows 95-esque desktop holds an incredibly creepy mystery, and it's up to you to solve riddles and figure it out. Open various pieces of outdated software, play strange minigames, and get to the bottom of it all with the "help" of a Clippy-inspired notepad pal.