Here’s some interesting Native Linux demos in Steam Next Fest Oct 26

Steam Next Fest’s October 2026 lineup includes a welcome selection of demos built to run natively on Linux. The games below span adventures, tactical shooters, roguelites, RPGs and experimental hybrids, offering plenty to sample without relying on a compatibility layer.

At the time of selection, none of these titles displayed a generative AI disclosure on their Steam pages. Availability and platform information may change during or after the event.

Heir of the Dog

This comedy point-and-click adventure embraces eccentric British humor and Victorian intrigue. After consuming his uncle’s mysterious concoction, Cummerbund Bandersnatch begins transforming into a monster. Players must solve puzzles, alter time and investigate a secretive London society while searching for a way to reverse the condition.

Half Grip

Racing and roguelike combat collide in a demanding game designed around one-handed controls. Steering, firing and reloading must be managed while hurtling through dangerous pixel-art courses filled with armed opponents. Its Linux demo is available despite not being prominently advertised as native.

Gothic Steel

A heavily armed tank stands between civilization and an overwhelming horde in this grim, retro-styled survivor-like shooter. Players recruit crew members, improve their vehicle and gradually assemble a devastating mobile fortress. This demo also supports Linux natively, although that detail is not clearly promoted.

Of Dice and Minions

Poker dice provide the foundation for this unusual roguelite auto-battler. Each turn involves keeping or rerolling dice to form useful combinations, recruit creatures and counter enemy formations. The resulting army then fights automatically as players attempt to descend through 100 increasingly hostile floors.

Tin Coffins

Players enter the battlefield as Talon-22, the newest combat clone in a line of disposable soldiers. This cel-shaded mech roguelite delivers compact, deadly squad engagements across procedurally assembled urban war zones. Enemies use suppression, flanking maneuvers and defensive positions, while every death sends another version of the protagonist into combat.

Melvor Idle 2

The sequel expands its relaxed idle-RPG formula with additional skills, tougher battles and a larger world to develop over time. Quests offer more insight into the setting’s history, while long-term progression remains suitable for both active sessions and background play.

DEEP SIX

Set after the First World War, this stealth-action game makes the environment as dangerous as the enemy. Weather, daylight, noise, movement and positioning can all expose the player. Limited equipment encourages careful decisions when infiltrating locations, sabotaging military machinery, rescuing allies and confronting elite troops.

Night Cart: The Immortal Plague

This first-person gothic journey follows a carriage driver traveling through plague-stricken Transylvania with an immortal companion. Along the road, players explore abandoned places, defend themselves from desperate attackers and investigate ancient mysteries connected to the elusive Count Saint Germain.

ATOM RPG 2

The post-apocalyptic CRPG series returns with a vast open-world survival adventure set across the Caspian Wastes. Its mix of narrative choices, crafting, vehicles, unusual encounters and sandbox exploration can be experienced alone or cooperatively. Fans of the setting may also find fresh reasons to revisit the first game, which has received additional downloadable content.

Letterbane

Vocabulary becomes a combat system in this dark fantasy roguelite. Players draw enchanted letter stones and arrange them into words that determine their attacks. Items and elemental interactions add strategic possibilities as each run introduces stronger and more varied opponents.

Passion

Presented with a 16-bit-inspired look, this story-focused JRPG combines noir investigation, comedy, horror and surreal imagery. Exploring a peculiar town leads to dangerous dungeons and tactical, active-time battles where preparation, timing and status effects can decide the outcome.

Voivod: The Nuclear Warrior

This aggressive action game unfolds inside a disintegrating science-fiction nightmare. Biomechanical creatures roam unstable environments as the protagonist searches for pieces of a shattered identity. Its shifting landscapes and post-apocalyptic imagery create one of the festival’s stranger and more unsettling Linux-native demos.

Collectively, these demos show the variety still possible within native Linux gaming, from word-building combat and idle progression to mech warfare and classic point-and-click puzzling.