Next Fest Speed Dating- February 2026

Time for another Steam Next Fest Speed Dating extravaganza! Holy fuckballs, though, just going off of the ‘survival’ and ‘open world survival craft’ tags, there’s a fuckton this fest. There’s also, frankly, a ton of shit: AI shit, asset flip shit (not throwing the term around, I mean I literally recognize templates with no changes), empty shit. Blah.

Gird yer loins.

On My Radar

Primal Survival – I’m actually kinda stoked to check this out. We’ve had many, many attempts at primitive survival before (anyone remember Primal Rage??), and it’s always interesting to see how developers approach the time frame.

Why Am I Here – I backed this on Kickstarter, I mentioned it in the last Kickstarter Compass article, I’m stoked to get my hands on a demo and I hope it isn’t shit!

Outbound – A cozy exploration and ‘van-life’ base building title for up to four players, from the same studio that brought us Above Snakes. I’ve enjoyed my time in the playtest!

Don’t Freeze – Oohh I’m actually really stoked to check out this demo, just came across it today.

Dark Switch – I’ve actually been wanting to try this demo forever. Frostpunk was the first builder (though it’s a SOCIETY-SURVIVAL builder) that I ever really loved, and ever since then I’ve been wanting another. (Jurassic World Evolution 2 is another builder type game that I enjoy, but kinda in a derpy “admire my dinos” kinda way.)

Might Be Something

Until North Ends – FUCK YES. YOU KNOW WHY THIS GAME IS HERE?

No Survival talk ANYWHERE. YAAAASS. I love you. Just be what you are. (Which is pretty much a less fleshed out adventure game with biomes, similar to Valheim.)

Wrong Bucket

Highreach – Without getting hands on I can’t pinpoint a bucket, but I saw enough to know it doesn’t belong in the survival bucket. More airships and floating isles, looks a bit stiff and unfinished.

Blossom: The Seed of Life Demo – I really only added this because someone called it “Astroneer ordered on Temu” and I can’t stop laughing. It’s been a long day.

Guardians of the Wild Sky, Witchspire – So many candidates for this bucket instead.

Romestead – Kinda a cute little 2D colony-builder RPG but, to quote my sister, is the survival in the room with us?

Red Flag Parade

Shorekeeper – Apparently based on a Unity template, little effort/changes made?

Dawn of the Dying – I’ll have to set aside time to dig into this, but right now it tweaks my spidey senses. No socials, minimal Steam page work, and some other shit.

Western Rye – Development’s been wildly erratic and looks clunky, communication seems to drift in and out, and spam posts remain up for weeks in the Discord? At this point, expectations should probably stay low.

Among the Trolls – What a fucking disappointment to have a game in development that looked so good, with a team that won an award (though I can’t remember what it was for, the premise or something??) – and then you fire them all before Xmas. Then, after letting the idea/IP languish for ages, you throw a new team on it, post an array of (frankly) boring and underwhelming devlogs, and then drop a demo that…many seem to hate. Below is the newest trailer for the game, but ayy did you know I made a video about the old one years ago? It’s here on my old channel. ( Here’s the new channel, if you want to give it a follow.)

BONUS QUICKDRAW ROUND

ALL IN VAIN – Yanno, I’m pretty sure this is going to end up not being survival at all – despite what the developer described in forum comments – but I thought the trailer actually looked pretty cool, if a bit chaotic/all over the place. Animations seem pretty smooth as well.

Warhounds – I may try this! Looks kinda neat, tbh.

ATMOSFAR – Kinda vibes like another “build, craft, and explore on an alien planet for X reason” game, but yanno, they’re popular.

NEED – This one is kinda quirky, it seems like a resource management title that’s so… maybe through the emphasis on the lower half of the screen with the numbers and the clicking and the whatever…kinda disconnected from feeling anything? I’ll have to try it hands on. They apparently have no trailer on YT, so here’s a picture.

Recap from October 2025 Next Fest

*big inhale*

Oceaneers is still well regarded in playtests/demo, though I HAVE TO FIND TIME to jump in and check it out. I did check out The Legend of Khiimori and it was …honestly quite janky? Perhaps time has improved it! Road to Vostok marches towards an April 7th release, and remains a cool example of the powers of the Godot engine.
Cairn released to huge acclaim and I encourage folks to check it out – I’ll snag it one day. I checked out the Breakfall: Nuclear Winter demo and just found it…fine. It wasn’t bad, though it had quirks, but it didn’t stand out in a look/playstyle niche that houses This War of Mine and Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days. It’s been out four months and has five reviews, which doesn’t bode well.

ANGST: A TALE OF SURVIVAL is adorable, I think it’s quirky – I was supplied a key from the developer and I’ve been enjoying the game on my Steam Deck. BLADESONG released to overwhelmingly positive reviews, though it could use more fanfare so check it out.
Dream Garden ended up being positively reviewed but very small – check it out!

I still haven’t checked out the newest Blind Descent demo, my interest in the game has plummeted as they release more notes/dev logs. And I still owe Bigfoot Life a look, since I was sent a key. Weirdly, THE SIGNAL: Stranded on Sirenis has fallen absolutely silent since that last Next Fest. Giving ASTROBOTANICA a shout-out as a favor to a friend involved in the development.

So, what did you try during Next Fest?