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Steam Next Fest Roundup: October 2026 Edition

Posted on October 22, 2026 by Aywren

I haven’t been involved in many of the Steam Next Fests lately for a number of reasons.

1. Sometimes I was too busy with other things to be aware a Next Fest was happening and I simply missed it.
2. I don’t really like how playing demos alter the game count in my Steam end of the year review, so I try to stay away from them when I can.
3. And lastly… lately, many of the Next Fest demos have been rampant with vibe coding and AI, which I don’t like to support.

This time around, however, I was alerted to the Fest the day it started and I saw a number of games that are on my wishlist featured. So, I decided to give a few of them a go.

Here’s what I’ve got:

My Little Ranch

I’ve been big into idle and companion games lately. These are games that don’t take much time or attention and just sit at the bottom of your screen while you work on other things while it makes progress for you.

My Little Ranch is one such game, but with a horse ranch theme. So, of course, you know that would earn a spot on my wishlist.

Not only is there raising and breeding horses (the game notes there’s over 160,000 possible combinations!), but you care for horses, let them run as a herd, race them, and find horses of different rarities.

I didn’t spend much time with this demo as it only took me about 20 mins of going through the tutorial to know this was exactly what I expected this game to be, and is something I wanted to play. I’ll certainly be picking it up once it releases in a few weeks!

Little Writer Desktop Companion

Another idle/companion/productivity type game, Little Writer is an aspiring writer who sits in the bottom corner of your screen and types as you type. You set them up to write their next short story or great novel, and then it’s up to you to type words that motivate this to happen.

As a matter of fact, my little writer just finished his first manuscript while I was writing the above paragraph! Woot!

If only it was that easy to get published!

Anyhow, you can upgrade the writer’s quality and writing speed as you make more money, which makes it easier for the writer to earn money. A fun little productivity encouragement that is playing out exactly as I expected it to. Will certainly pick this one up and put it to use!

Character House

Similarly, Character House is also a desktop companion game. I’ve actually been playing with this for longer than the Next Fest, but since it’s a demo and I wanted to write about it anyway, I’ll lump it in here.

This desktop companion is surprisingly flexible in that it allows you to make a number of characters based off anything you please. They then roam around your desktop as you do other things. I think the full version will allow your characters to visit with friend’s characters, too.

I made these characters based on my Spot of Mummery story – you can see a little of how varied their designs can be. As you spend more time with them, you can allow them to interact, and they will level up to unlock more emotes and information/personality elements you can fill in on their character sheet.

You also unlock new clothing and accessories to customize characters with the longer you leave the app running. Super cute and fun to provide company while you’re working on something else – just check in every 45 mins or so for rewards!

Gate Guard Simulator

Okay, finally. A game I actually played that wasn’t an idler.

Gate Guard Simulator has been on my wishlist for a while. I just thought the concept was fun, and it turns out to be just as quirky as I was hoping for.

It’s a game along the lines of Papers, Please (in terms of gameplay), where you are the gate guard for a medieval castle. You check the papers of those wishing to be admitted and turn away anyone with suspicious credentials, or that don’t meet the rules the king has laid down (which can change over time).

There’s a lot of humor and fun nods to pop culture references, none of which I’m going to spoil here. I played for about two days of in-game time before I quit because I’d seen enough to know I was going to enjoy this game and didn’t want to spoil anything further.

Something fun to check out if you’re looking for something different to play!

So far, those are the demos I’ve played this Steam Fest! Have you played something I should check out? Let me know!

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