7 Steam Next Fest games you need to wishlist

Polygon RSS Feed✍ Ford James📅 June 22, 2026⏱ 4 min read(3 months ago)

Overview & Key Takeaways

These are the seven games we're wishlisting after playing a whole host of Steam Next Fest demos.

Steam Next Fest has come to a close, and while plenty of the best demos will still be available to download, some of them will have already disappeared by now. We spent much of the event playing as many games as possible, however, to flesh out our wishlists and get a taste of what's to come throughout the rest of 2026 and beyond.

From truly unique, innovative games that are pushing the boat out both figuratively and literally, to others that simply master their genre and are incredibly polished, here are the seven games we're wishlisting after Steam Next Fest. Note that this list is in no particular order.

1 About Fishing

A character wearing a yellow raincoat stands with a fishing rod in a cave. Image: The Water Museum/Playstack

If vibes are what you're after, PSX-inspired horror game About Fishinghas them in droves. And the title isn't lying: you'll do a lot of fishing. You need to solve a years-old murder mystery in rural Japan, all while catching and selling fish via motion-based fishing controls. It's almost as if Silent Hill's combat was replaced with fishing, and it's glorious.

About Fishing is scheduled to release later this year.

2 Good Heavens!

A sandy town with a red statue in the middle in Good Heavens! Image: Nowhere Studios

Survival games are a dime a dozen, and they're starting to get a little stale. However, if mechanical innovation is lacking, where else can the genre improve? Good Heavens!nails it: humor. This is an isometric survival game in the style of Don't Starve, but the dark, unforgiving setting is replaced with hilarious writing, wacky characters, and an aesthetic straight out of a modern cartoon.

Good Heavens! will be released in August.

3 Empulse

The player grappling to a wall in Empulse while two teammates shoot at a mech. Image: 1047 Games

It's a little feature-bare compared to what a Respawn-developed Titanfall 3 would probably look like, but Empulseis the next best thing. Coming from the developers of portal-FPS Splitgate, Empulse is a shooter where movement is just as vital as accuracy, and you’ll be flying through maps with unbridled speed and using enormous mechs to control the arena. You can read more about Empulse in our preview.

There's not long to wait for this one: Empulse will be available from Thursday, June 24.

4 Over The Hill

A convoy of off-road vehicles make their way to a lodge in Over The Hill. Image: Funselektor Labs

Over The Hillcomes from funselektor, the developer behind fantastic minimalist racing games such as Golden Lap and Art of Rally. Now the team has decided to opt for non-competitive driving, giving players a vast open world to explore at a much more leisurely pace. Grab some pals and head out on an expedition into the wilderness, rolling over various terrain and in gorgeous weather conditions. As we described it in our preview, it's the perfect antidote to the chaos of Forza Horizon 6.

Over The Hill will be out later this year.

5 Blood Dungeon

A minotaur in Blood Dungeon with pink bats around him. Image: Messhof

It takes something truly special for a roguelike to stand out these days, and Blood Dungeonis one example of how to do that. From the creators of Nidhogg, this is essentially Spelunky meets Vampire Survivors: a cave-exploring, auto-shooting bullet hell where you must stay alive for as long as possible and discover various secrets along the way.

There's no confirmed release date for Blood Dungeon yet, as it's marked as just "coming soon" on Steam.

6 No Such Place

The player in No Such Place equipped with a rifle inside a building. Image: ChillyRoom

No Such Placegives tremendous Control vibes, as you are an agent within the Unknown Research Consortium (URC). You must explore a variety of anomalous zones, gather information and resources, all while dealing with hostile creatures. For an isometric game, it has a highly detailed gunsmith system that allows for weapon customization, and you can also play with your friends in co-op.

No Such Place is due to be released later this year.

7 Virtue and a Sledgehammer

A person in Virtue and a Sledgehammer standing with a sledgehammer in their hands. Image: Deconstructeam/Devolver Digital

Virtue and a Sledgehammeris the perfect example of when you're not entirely sure what you've just played. There's very little to compare it to, and it asks more questions than it answers. That's often publisher Devolver Digital's trademark, though: games that are doing something different. Wielding just a sledgehammer, you must destroy the environment (your childhood town), robots (android replicas of your neighbors), and memory fragments to uncover a tale about "family, traditions, and being a misfit," according to the Steam page. You can read more about Virtue and a Sledgehammer in our interview with the devs back in May.

Virtue and a Sledgehammer will be released later this year.