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Running until February 13th, you've again got a while to cram in trying out as many demos as possible in Steam Next Fest - February 2023 edition. Not only is there plenty to play but this also kicks off a full week of developer livestreams and chat, which you can see on the event page.

Valve also did a fresh trailer for the event:

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Just a few of the demos that are worth looking at. As always I try to push out some of the less-obvious stuff, to give some gems a chance to shine. These all have Native Linux support too:

Now for some more personal picks (playable with Proton):

  • Planet of Lana - a cinematic puzzle adventure framed by an epic sci-fi saga that stretches across centuries and galaxies.
  • Desynced - a sci-fi survival strategy game where you gather, build, explore and fight to survive using fully customizable units and behaviors.
  • Plan B: Terraform - Terraform a lifeless rock into a lush and habitable world.

Be sure to leave a comment if you find a particularly good demo for Linux Desktop and/or Steam Deck!

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Event, Misc, Steam
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
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Philadelphus Feb 7, 2023
I tried getting Plan B: Terraformer to work but the best I could get (with Proton 7.0-6) is an unresponsive black screen with music over it. Lower Proton versions I tried had the launcher claiming it couldn't find Steam and wouldn't even start the game, Proton Experimental showed a "Failed to initialize player" error box. Any tips on getting it to run? It looks like something right up my ally. I'm on Debian stable with NVidia.

Edit: adding "PROTON_USE_WINED3D=TRUE %command%" to the launch options got it running with Proton Experimental. Now to test it out!


Last edited by Philadelphus on 7 February 2023 at 3:32 pm UTC
Liam Dawe Feb 7, 2023
Quoting: PhiladelphusEdit: adding "PROTON_USE_WINED3D=TRUE %command%" to the launch options got it running with Proton Experimental. Now to test it out!
Had no problem here with Proton 7, ran out of the box.
BTRE Feb 7, 2023
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I played a few demos yesterday and, overall, there's a lot of stuff that's interesting. Also a few metroidvanias that are borrowing heavily from Hollow Knight

Still, I'd add to Liam's list Gravity Circuit and Takara Cards which are both native and have proven to be fun.
whizse Feb 7, 2023
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I tried out COVEN. At first I was all "Another Blood Clone? Witch please..." but it was alright. Not as big budget as Dusk perhaps but still fun. You get to eat corpses (also cheese!), have a lantern hanging from your head?, and there is bullet-time!

Linux native and Deck-ready.
Pengling Feb 8, 2023
Thanks for highlighting Hot Heat Reset - maze games (usually maze-chase games, specifically) are one of my jams, so I'll have to try out the demo for this one.
Anza Feb 8, 2023
Bit of shame that I have too many other things to do than play demos right now. Maybe I could still try to play few.
robvv Feb 8, 2023
Quoting: whizseLinux native and Deck-ready.

Yes, they don't advertise the Linux build of Coven on the Store Page but it's there and a blast to play! The game is a little too dark by default so I push the brightness slider all the way up, but aside from that I'm enjoying hacking the bad guys and eating corpses.

Looking forward to the full release
Kuduzkehpan Feb 9, 2023
Desynced
Plan B terraform works out of the box. Thus very hard mechanics to play with.
14 Feb 11, 2023
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Nice suggestions. I added a couple to my wish list.
Nezchan Feb 11, 2023
Tiny Life has been on Itch for quite a while now, I've had my eye on it. Not that I ever played The Sims in the first place, but this seems like a good implementation of the idea.
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