New Demos on Steam: Four interesting new games are currently available to play

Demos are rare in the AAA space, but free demos of upcoming games are gaining popularity in the indie gaming space. New demos have hit Steam this week, allowing you to try out four interesting unreleased indie games for free and without commitment.

Ages

The first of these four games is The Alter (beta) from Polish developer and publisher 11 Bit Studios, also responsible for Frostpunk, among other things. However, it’s not a dystopian survival game; instead, the developers describe The Alter as an emotional sci-fi game that offers a mix of adventure, survival, and base-building. Players take on the role of worker Jan Dulski, who is stranded on a distant and deadly planet. He’s lost and alone, but the unreal setting allows him to create alternate versions of himself, the eponymous “alterations.” Alter is scheduled to come out in 2024, but no specific date has been set yet.

iron cell

The second game worth mentioning is Ironhive (beta) from Brazilian developer Wondernaut Studio. It’s a 2D deck-building strategy game where players must ensure the survival of their colony on a dying world. Unsurprisingly, it’s all about building public buildings, infrastructure, defense, acquiring resources, and keeping the colony stable—with its steampunk setting, Ironhive is definitely reminiscent of the aforementioned Frostpunk from 11 Bit Studios, but it complements the deck-building and other roguelike mechanics. Ironhive currently doesn’t have a release date.

Symphony

Third, it follows Jump'n'run Symphonia (demo) from developer Sunny Peak. The laid-back indie game combines familiar platforming mechanics with a musical setting, which the orchestral soundtrack also aims to take into account. In this case, too, a release date is not yet known.

The first dwarf

Fourth and finally, it’s worth mentioning the role-playing game First Dwarf (Beta) from Polish developer and publisher Star Drifters. Players — unsurprisingly, they’re dwarves — end up on flying islands in an open fantasy game world where they need to build a base. Resources can be collected in a magical mech suit, which also comes in handy when fighting threats. First Dwarf shares its world with Driftland: The Magic Revival and Nomads of Driftland. The title has been playable in Early Access since June, but is now also part of a free beta.