With pretty much every live gaming event nixed due to the damn Covid-19 virus, game developers have had to improvise to get the word out about their games. One of these methods; showcase them online at the many, many online events popping up over the next few months. The Steam Game Festival is just one of the first, but from what I’ve seen, it might be one of the biggest.

There are hundreds of games in it, with the majority of them coming this year. The best part? Each game has a demo!

I’ve been keeping my eye on the Mars Agency and StarMancer and both have demos for the event! While I’ve tried the Mars Agency demo before (when it was in Closed Beta), the StarMancer demo’s wholly new to me (and I suspect a ton of others!).

Steam Game Festival

Just browsing the genre section is an exercise in frustration. Not because it sucks…but because there are so many interesting games that I want…nay, NEED… to play!

The worst part of it all is that the demos are just short snippets of gameplay, and you’re going to need to wait however long it takes for the game to get released. Some, like Mars Horizon, aren’t that far off but others, like StarMancer, just have a vague 2020 date.

There are even live streams with AMA with the developers of some games…which is pretty awesome!

On a serious note, I really hope that the Steam Game Festival is held every year, even when Covid-19 is over and done with. I’ve always felt that it was remiss of developers not to release demos to the public during game conventions so that even people who don’t attend can get a taste of the action.

While I do miss attending events like the Tokyo Game Show, I’d say that the Steam Game Festival is pretty damn awesome too, especially since I don’t have to walk around a huge expo hall filled with people with questionable personal hygiene AND queue to try a 5 minute demo.

Sal's been in the industry since the early 2000s. He's written for a ton of gaming and tech publications including Playworks, Hardwarezone, HWM and GameAxis. Recently, Sal served as a juror for the Indie Game Awards at Taipei Game Show 2020. A geek and hardcore gamer, Sal will play everything, on any platform.