TheRetroArcade
Veteran
Posts: 1,965
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
Oh, and cowboy robot wizards. Can't forget those.
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Steam Next Fest has quickly become one of our favorite occasions at PC Gamer as developers of all sizes offer up samplings of their latest work to earn places on our wishlists. The top demos list of the latest Next Fest has provided a particularly rich variety. Since things kicked off Monday, the charts have been topped by gnomish burglary simulators, Vampire Survivors spinoffs, robot cowboy co-op, and more.
At least, that was the case until the Marathon Server Slam unlocked yesterday and immediately rocketed to the top slot on the list, anyway. Ah, well. Far be it from me to deny the allure of an electric teal spacegun. While players flood by the thousands into Tau Ceti shootouts—players who, so far, have much itchier trigger fingers than their Arc Raiders counterparts—let's run down the other previews that pulled the most attention.
At second place in the Next Fest ranking is Burglin' Gnomes, representing the friendslop contingent of the field. In it, you and up to five friends play as a band of ankle-high gnomish bandits with unsettlingly extendable arms and a profound love for blasting cigs, risking gruesome death at the hands of shotgun-toting homeowners and their murderous cats while performing the mischief mandated by the High-Gnome's edict.
After trying their own hand at gnome burglin', our Elie Gould said "it's got all the right stuff to warrant a REPO-like explosion onto the gaming scene: funny little guys, a good dose of horror, death, and a fun soundtrack. I can't wait to play more." A powerful recommendation for pint-sized vandalism.
Sailing into third place is Windrose, an open world pirate survival game pairing base building with Black Flag-style seafaring combat. It's a moodier sort of marauding than your Sea of Thieves fare, but its sea shanties hit home well enough for Chris Livingston to leave "loving the pirate adventure aspect of it" after sinking seven hours into the demo. And he's not alone: The Windrose demo has received over 5,400 Steam reviews, 93% of which are positive.
While Windrose has landed on over 1 million wishlists, its developer Windrose Crew said it's not quite ready to lock in a release date, urging the many eager freebooters now following their work to "please, let us cook more."
Next comes Vampire Crawlers, Poncle's attempt to contort Vampire Survivors...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Steam Next Fest has quickly become one of our favorite occasions at PC Gamer as developers of all sizes offer up samplings of their latest work to earn places on our wishlists. The top demos list of the latest Next Fest has provided a particularly rich variety. Since things kicked off Monday, the charts have been topped by gnomish burglary simulators, Vampire Survivors spinoffs, robot cowboy co-op, and more.
At least, that was the case until the Marathon Server Slam unlocked yesterday and immediately rocketed to the top slot on the list, anyway. Ah, well. Far be it from me to deny the allure of an electric teal spacegun. While players flood by the thousands into Tau Ceti shootouts—players who, so far, have much itchier trigger fingers than their Arc Raiders counterparts—let's run down the other previews that pulled the most attention.
At second place in the Next Fest ranking is Burglin' Gnomes, representing the friendslop contingent of the field. In it, you and up to five friends play as a band of ankle-high gnomish bandits with unsettlingly extendable arms and a profound love for blasting cigs, risking gruesome death at the hands of shotgun-toting homeowners and their murderous cats while performing the mischief mandated by the High-Gnome's edict.
After trying their own hand at gnome burglin', our Elie Gould said "it's got all the right stuff to warrant a REPO-like explosion onto the gaming scene: funny little guys, a good dose of horror, death, and a fun soundtrack. I can't wait to play more." A powerful recommendation for pint-sized vandalism.
Sailing into third place is Windrose, an open world pirate survival game pairing base building with Black Flag-style seafaring combat. It's a moodier sort of marauding than your Sea of Thieves fare, but its sea shanties hit home well enough for Chris Livingston to leave "loving the pirate adventure aspect of it" after sinking seven hours into the demo. And he's not alone: The Windrose demo has received over 5,400 Steam reviews, 93% of which are positive.
While Windrose has landed on over 1 million wishlists, its developer Windrose Crew said it's not quite ready to lock in a release date, urging the many eager freebooters now following their work to "please, let us cook more."
Next comes Vampire Crawlers, Poncle's attempt to contort Vampire Survivors...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?