10 multiplayer demos to haul your friends along for this Steam Next Fest, October 2026

Steam Next Fest events are always packed with demos for you to try, but what if you want to have a gaming session with friends? Co-op or party games are always popular, and this October event has no shortage of demos to drag your friends into. I’ve dug deep through the long list of games included in the event and picked out some favorites. 

I’ve played all of these games with my fiancé, so we’re a two-player team, mainly because trying to get four or more people to commit to a time while contending with transatlantic time differences is a logistical nightmare. Still, if a game is fun for two people, I can only imagine the chaos that comes with adding more players into the mix.  

Arctic Drive

Co-op driving survival games are something of a new genre for me, and it was Arctic Drive that made me realize I might actually enjoy the mechanics. You and up to three friends need to fix up a car, head out into the freezing wilderness with your survival supplies, and ultimately try to figure out what happened to your friend and why the world seems to have ended. You can also go it alone if you feel like a solo drive.

Driving through the snow seems like a terrible idea, realistically, but if you throw in some techno music and some ill-advised headbanging at the wheel, things get really fun. There are seemingly endless abandoned buildings to explore along the way, and opportunities to upgrade your car as you go. Plus, if a friend succumbs to hunger or the elements, you can tie their stretcher to the back of the car and drag them along for the ride.

Arctic Drive is set to enter early access on November 25, 2026, and I’m looking forward to getting to the bottom of the weirdness going on. Whether you’re going in solo or taking some friends along with you, the demo is available on Steam right now. 

Samly’s Bookly

Listen, I know sorting games are a dime a dozen on Steam these days, but I like the loop of chaos to order. Sue me; it makes me feel in control of something when life is hectic. Samly’s Bookly is an adorable example of the genre where you and your friends can organize books onto shelves, and those books are so distinct from one another that the guesswork is minimal. 

You can change the color of your little ghostie character, unlock hats, gradually open up larger areas with more books, and eventually restore order to the entire archive. One of my favorite parts of Bookly is the names of the books, with titles like with titles like “The Lady of the Bracelets,” “The Peckish Caterpillar,” and “Charles and the Confectionary Manufacturer.”  Figuring out what the books parody is half the fun. 

Bookly is set to release on October 30, 2026, so there’s not long to wait before we can fill those cold, dark nights with cozy organizing. The demo, which lets you sort the smallest of the rooms, is available on Steam now. 

99 Nights in the Apocalypse

If you enjoy survival games with more than a little chaos, 99 Nights in the Apocalypse is a solid choice for you to try. You and up to four friends can build your base, stock up on supplies, hoard food as if your life depends on it (because it kind of does), and generally try to survive in the post-apocalyptic world. Days are hard, nights are harder, but storms are the hardest of all. 

During our playthrough of the 99 Nights in the Apocalypse demo, we completely decimated the duck population in the first two days, leaving us with no food to keep us alive. On top of that, while we were slowly starving, a storm rolled in, leaving us dodging lightning strikes while desperately chopping enough wood to keep the fire going. Sounds horrible, but we were laughing the entire time. 

99 Nights in the Apocalypse is being developed by Crater Studios and is due to be released in Q4 2026. The demo is available to play right now. Bring some friends along for this one; I can imagine going it alone would be rough, although the duck supply would probably last longer than two days. 

Meet Mary

Meet Mary is definitely the spookiest multiplayer game to grace this list, and the weirdness just doesn’t stop. From walking through the forest to try and find an errant friend to inadvertently finding yourself in an ancient crypt, nothing seems to make sense in the game's world, but a lot of the fun comes from trying to figure out what the hell is going on. 

One part of the demo is particularly bizarre. After your friend gets sucked down into a hole, you stumble upon a giant bunker door in the middle of the forest, with a dead body propping it open. No mention is made of the corpse, but three bunnies creeping up behind the group are apparently enough to send them running into the bunker despite the danger. Admittedly, one of the bunnies is inexplicably covered in blood, and the trio stole the hot dogs, but I think the dead body warrants more concern?!

If you enjoy things on the spookier and weirder side, Meet Mary is one demo you should check out. The game is being developed by Lindops, and the full release is due to come at some point in Q1 2027.

Worst Class Ever

If any game on this list would get more fun the more people you add to it, Worst Class Ever is definitely the one. One of you is a teacher, while the others are students. The students need to act like NPCs and blend in while causing mischief, while the teacher has to figure out which kids are being controlled by players. I can imagine this becoming absolute chaos with more people playing, but even with just the two of us, the laughter never stopped. 

The thing is, this game is harder than you’d think. The NPCs act really naturally, turning to stare at the teacher when he approaches, which is understandable because he’s the creepiest teacher I could possibly imagine. Picking a student and tying them to a pole uses up the teacher's stamina, which is restored by writing on the blackboard, giving ample opportunity for students to cause chaos. 

Worst Class Ever is being developed by 顽核社 (FuncoreClub) and is due to release at some point in Q4 2026. The demo is available as part of Next Fest, and the more people you can bring along, the better. 

Pitchfork

Pitchfork is what happens when you try to form a mob but lack the people to make it mob-like, and end up looking like a couple of malnourished farmers heading down into the sewers. Or at least, that was our experience. I’m sure with more people, it would be considerably more mob-like. Still, even with two players, this was a really fun adventure in the darkness. 

One person acts as the torchbearer, you know, so you can actually see down there, while everyone else arms themselves with whatever weapons they can find. Together, you need to travel through the sewers, defeat enemies, solve puzzles, and avoid falling into poisonous water or mist. And all of that while having to deal with proximity chat and the hilarious wide-eyed reactions of friends. 

Pitchfork is being developed by Manic Games and doesn’t have a release date just yet, but I highly recommend downloading the demo and playing with friends!

Fallbearers

Imagine a Victorian-inspired world where coffins are carried through the streets without their lids, and the corpse inside is inexplicably not strapped down. Fallbearers is the physics-based co-op game that brings that vision to life. You and a friend have to carry a coffin and its incredibly floppy inhabitant through the streets, avoiding obstacles that require some serious communication and leg strength. 

My fiancé and I have not laughed as hard playing a game as we did playing Fallbearers in a very long time. Every movement sends the corpse slipping and sliding around in its box, all while watched by mourners at the side of the road. I mean, can you imagine witnessing such a spectacle? I don’t think I’d ever want to attend a funeral again.

Developed by Bones Brothers, Fallbearers doesn’t have a release date just yet, but the demo is hilarious and won’t take up too much of your time, unless you go back for a second round.

Snackrifice

Snackrifice is a multiplayer game about capturing little demons to feed to a much larger demon, and if I learned anything from the demo, it’s that you should always carefully consider which curse you want to inflict on your next run through purgatory. Failing to do so might result in a particularly troublesome dragon joining you for the ride, and that’s a recipe for disaster. 

But yes, you get to pick your own curses, and the whole dragon debacle was on me for not reading the options thoroughly enough. It’s not as if the curse is the only obstacle, though; you also have to avoid poison pits and navigate the catacombs to get food for the demon waiting back at the base. If you don’t get food, you become food, and nobody thinks that’s a good time. 

Snackrifice is set to release on November 25, 2026, and is being developed by Karnage Studios. The demo is available on Steam right now as part of Next Fest, and I’d recommend bringing friends along, even if it's only to revive you when your next poorly chosen curse comes back to bite you. 

Haunted Paws

In Haunted Paws, you and a friend play as two puppies (or a puppy and a kitten, or even two kittens) to rescue your owner after she's apparently been kidnapped by alien spider creatures.. Specifically designed for co-op play, this is an amazing game for long-distance friends, family, or couples who want a challenge that still feels like an absolute pleasure to play. 

You can design your own dog (or cat), then set out on a two-player adventure into the spider-infested world. Don’t worry, you can make the spiders less spider-like right from the off, which really helps those like me who cannot look at a spider without becoming paranoid there’s one behind them. Together, you’ll solve puzzles and tag team to distract people who stand in your way.

Haunted Paws is being developed by LazyFlock and doesn’t have a release date just yet, but I cannot recommend the demo enough if you have a player two in mind. 

Littermates

Littermates is what happens when a bunch of raccoons (or in my case, two raccoons) take it upon themselves to commandeer a garbage truck and steal trash from the humans. I can definitely see this one being easier with more people, even if just for help seeing over the dashboard while one person steers and another works the pedals. 

You need to hide from the light while stealing trash from different neighborhoods and finding specific items for the raccoons back at base. All in the name of making your fortune and bringing the dream Raccoonopolis to life. Every raccoon NPC is voice-acted, which really brings them to life, and though the controls are challenging to master, the chaos you can bring to the suburban streets is worth it. 

Developed by Blue Base Games, Littermates doesn’t have a release date yet, but I absolutely recommend grabbing some friends and using the surprisingly extensive character designer to create your own litter of chaotic, trash-loving raccoons.