A heatwave won’t stop us at Thumb Culture from soaking up as many of the hottest demos as possible when Steam Next Fest rolls around. Running from June 15th to June 22nd, approximately 4,200 game demos took part in this year’s summer fest. And so, with a fan on max setting and Pepsi Max Cherry in the fridge, I dove into my thrice-yearly deliciously difficult task of choosing just five favourites (and three honourable mentions) to highlight as shining stars. Here are this fest’s Top Five:
Bunderkin: The Ocular Eclipse
Developer: Studio Zubio
Publisher: Studio Zubio
Genre: Stealth Platformer
Planned Release Date: TBA
Platforms: PC
If you’ve been pining for the sass of Jak & Daxter, the stealth of Sly Cooper, and the visuals of Wind Waker, Bunderkin: The Ocular Eclipse looks set to be your dream come true! Set over a 3-day time loop, BeeDee the Bunderdragon—outcast of Bunder Hollow—is desperate to sneak into a rare festival celebrating the Ocular Eclipse. But something is amiss, and BeeDee may be the only one to save the Hollow.
As the Bunderdragon himself, you jump, roll, sneak, and tightrope your way through the village in an attempt to join the party and later prevent calamity. Interact with weird and wonderful Bunderkin, who of course don’t trust you, learn their routines, and find out different ways to uncover more of the mystery. Acquiring various masks from different sources opens up new avenues, as well as weapons to give you an extra edge. You’ll certainly fail, but each attempt gives you another piece of the puzzle, figuratively and literally.
The mix of cel-shaded & 3D animation is superb, the controls are slick, and sass & suspense are off the charts. If the stars align, this time loop tale looks set to scratch that colourful 3D platformer itch that’s been brewing since the early 2000’s.
Wishlist/follow it here: STEAM
Cat Secretary
Developer: Good Story Guild
Publisher: Good Story Guild
Genre: Adventure/Simulation
Planned Release Date: 2026
Platforms: PC
AI takeovers can get in the bin, and we all know kitties make everything better. Cat Secretary takes this quite literally and explores both in adorably hilarious fashion. You are a stray cat who ends up being hired as secretary at DOX, a company under threat of AI replacing its employees. To quote the Steam tagline: “Save the company! Stop the AI takeover! Boop all the office supplies!”
By day, you’ll take on office tasks in a suitably feline manner to boost staff morale: sort files without scattering the papers, calibrate the router with your paws, fill the coffee pot with the water hose in your mouth. By night, you’ll explore the upper floors, foiling the robot sentries and finding out the company’s inner workings. As you solve employee problems, the more upgrades you earn to breathe new life into the place, and earn yourself a purr-motion. A mouse by the name of Senior VP Benjamin Gouda will also give you Q.U.E.S.T.S. (Queries Undergoing Extensive Secretarial Treatment) to complete over several days. But the real challenge will be to stop your head exploding into candy every few seconds!
Little Kitty, Big City meets Office Simulator but kicking AI’s resource-sapping butt? Say less!
Wishlist/follow it here: STEAM
Fading Echo
Developer: Emeteria
Publisher: New Tales, Com2uS Holdings
Genre: Action-Adventure/Platformer
Planned Release Date: 21st July 2026 (PC)
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Forever a sucker for bright colours and elemental powers, a game that involves both is inevitably going to make eyes at me. Emeteria’s Fading Echo has this power this year and it’s shaping up to be a kaleidoscopic thrill. The world of Corel is being consumed by an evolving miasma known as The Paradox Corruption. Only ‘One’, a young aetherbender with volatile powers, can stop the spread and restore Corel’s realities, if she can survive the changing elements.
Become the living embodiment of water in this comic book-style action platformer. With One’s newly discovered aether powers, you can turn into a ball of water to slip past barriers, slither along pipes and reach different areas. But from soft water comes the raging flood! Unleash crushing waves and momentum-based combos to obliterate and scatter your enemies. Environmental elements mix things up even more with different effects. Toxic puddles weaken enemies and make you jump higher, lava turns you into steam and slowly burns your enemies. Getting creative is vital to survival in battle. And as you explore different realities of different areas of Corel, elements may change and puzzles may evolve, and so must you.
Bright colours? Check. Satisfying combat and platforming? Check, check. Baldur’s Gate 3’s Samantha Béart as One? Check, check, CHECK! And less than 3 weeks to release too!
Wishlist/follow it here: STEAM | PS STORE | XBOX STORE
PHASE ZERO
Developer: SPINA Studios
Publisher: SPINA Studios, SUPERHOT PRESENTS
Genre: Survival Horror
Planned Release Date: 2026
Platforms: PC
Low-poly fixed-camera horrors are making a thoroughly deserved comeback, and PHASE ZERO made its Next Fest entrance in delightfully tongue-in-cheek style! In the remote post-industrial harbour town of Flint Peak, a snow storm has set in, and so has a parasitic illness which is grotesquely infecting the townspeople. Survivors have to scavenge what they can, rely on their wits, and pray they survive long enough to escape.
A pastiche of the golden horror oldies we know and love, you must navigate through decimated streets and building corridors using beautifully smooth tank controls. Those things don’t go together, you say? O, ye of little faith! Detailed pre-rendered backgrounds set the scenes with fleshy masses oozing from the walls and hellish creatures stalking your every move. Resources are scarce, naturally, and item & logic puzzles will litter your path. Balancing supplies, sharp puzzle-solving, and even sharper reflexes will be the difference between survival and becoming a monstrosity’s next appetiser. But you’ll find some respite in sporadic save rooms, complete with familiar item storage and a soothing yet ever so slightly discordant musical theme to briefly put you at ease.
PHASE ZERO proudly wears its heart on its sleeve, and having started my hundred-and-umpteenth playthroughs of Resident Evil 3 and Dino Crisis, I’m waiting with open arms! Just from behind the sofa.
Wishlist/follow it here: STEAM
Silver Pines
Developer: Wych Elm
Publisher: Team 17
Genre: Survival Horror
Planned Release Date: 8th October 2026
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
Perhaps you prefer your survival horror homages in a side-scrolling style? With detailed background planes and impressive rotoscope-esque animations, maybe? What a coincidence! Silver Pines by Wych Elm has all of these things AND will be coming in time for Halloween. Private investigator Red Walker is tasked with tracking down musician Eddie Velvet, bringing him to the dilapidated backwater town of Silver Pines. A storm warning is in effect, and the wind is blowing in a decidedly unnerving direction. There are more things to fear out there than just the weather…
Like PHASE ZERO, Silver Pines wears its influences loud and proud, but with a slightly different approach. Opting for a metroidvania style of exploration, you must guide Walker through the rundown town, solving puzzles to unlock different routes and uncover new information. But of course—you guessed it—nightmarish terrors walk the forgotten streets, and they’re not about to make your investigation easy! Either use your limited weaponry or ammunition to fight your way through or dodge your way around and save your scarce pickups. Every move counts.
From my safe spot behind the sofa, there’s room for another horror throwback in my open arms. Spooky season 2026 is shaping up to be a blinder already!
Wishlist/follow it here: STEAM | PS STORE | XBOX STORE
Honourable Mentions
- Lou’s Lagoon – Tiny Roar – 27th August 2026
- Otterly Lost – Soulworks Interactive – September 2026
- Paranormal Research Society – catskulls – TBA
And that’s a wrap! My wishlist has now doubled, and hopefully yours has a few new additions. Got a favourite that wasn’t on the list? Drop a comment and share the indie game love.
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