The PC Gaming Show delivered. I now have 7 more demos installed and countless more games on my radar. As always, I have narrowed it down to my 10 favourite reveals of the show!
The games are featured in alphabetical order.
Ascenders: Beyond the Peak
Developer: Ludogram
Release Date: Q3 2026
ASCENDERS: BEYOND THE PEAK is a turn-based exploration roguelite where survival is vertical. Lead a team of alpinists to recover ancient artifacts from cursed peaks, prepare your expedition, evolve your climbers, master rope mechanics, and face H.P. Lovecraft-inspired horrors within the mountain.
Wishlist Ascenders: Beyond the Peak on Steam here. There is also a demo available!
Carcass Clad
Developer: Wrong Organ
Release Date: To be announced
A visceral co-op tank horror game from the creators of MOUTHWASHING. Featuring weighty physical controls, crew the Yksiö with a team of 3. Fuel is limited and ammo is scarce. The city’s saint, long since laid to rest, walks again – gilded and defiled.
Time travel to 1995 in this card-based computer hacking voyage. Take down an evil tech startup and shadowy government agency to become a god to the freaks and geeks of cyberspace. All while being helped by an incontinent virtual pug.
Wishlist Hack 95 on Steam here, and there is currently a demo available!
Locator: The Search for Abigail
Developer: Empty Exhibit
Release Date: To be announced
A Geoguessr-inspired narrative detective puzzle game set on an alien planet. As the Cartographer, you must gather and examine clues to locate missing archaeologist Abigail Lidari and uncover the fate of an ancient alien civilization.
Wishlist Locator: The Search for Abigail on Steam here.
Rivage
Developer: Exnilo Studio
Release Date: 13 Aug 2026
Rivage is an immersive sci-fi puzzle adventure set aboard the A.R.E.S. space station trapped in a space phenomenon. Wake up as Miranda, forced to explore, solve intricate puzzles to unravel the fate of your missing crew.
Wishlist Rivage on Steam here. There is also a demo available!
Signet City
Developer: Jump Over the Age
Release Date: Coming soon
From the creator of Citizen Sleeper, SIGNET CITY is a first-person fungalpunk RPG. You are a parasite, in a city where strange technologies and radical ideas are taking root. Grow into and through its inhabitants, uncover and change their stories, and witness the terminal season of the signet city.
Join the ESS Starseeker crew to explore strange new worlds, working together with friends to complete planet-wide objectives before the station journeys on to new planetary destinations. Collect and unlock powerful tech to help the crew tackle the perils of space!
Wishlist Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions on Steam here.
Star Trek: Outposts Unknown
Developer: Magic Fuel Games
Release Date: 2026
Lead your crew across strange new worlds in this narrative driven outpost builder! Research, explore, and build as you face a mysterious cosmic force that threatens a new ally. Your adventure awaits, Captain!
Wishlist Star Trek: Outposts Unknown on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available!
There Are No Ghosts at the Grand
Developer: Friday Sundae
Release Date: Q4 2026
Inherit a crumbling English hotel and restore it by day—while battling ghosts by night. With a sardonic cat, a talking power tool, and a twisting supernatural plot, this is a musical mystery unlike any other. Will you be able to hold it together while everything around you falls apart?
Wishlist There Are No Ghosts at the Grand on Steam and play the demo here.
Vampire: The Masquerade — ETERNAL WHISPERS
Developer: Flyos
Release Date: Coming soon
Vampire: The Masquerade — ETERNAL WHISPERS is a narrative-driven CRPG set in the World of Darkness. Awaken from decades of torpor into a dark-modern Montreal consumed by political intrigue, buried secrets and personal horror.
Wishlist Vampire: The Masquerade — ETERNAL WHISPERS on Steam here.
The indie showcases of Summer Game Fest 2026 delivered so thoroughly that I think I am going to be working my way through the games all the way up to the Game Awards season!
We are rich in choice, surrounded by creativity and I can’t wait to see how all these games do at release and beyond.
How is it possible to pick only 10 games from so many lovely games featured at the Wholesome Direct 2026? I want to say it isn’t but somehow I have narrowed it down to the top 10 that caught my eye this showcase!
The games are featured in alphabetical order.
Beastfolk Barber
Developer: Safe Flight Games, GameWorks Ventures
Release Date: To be announced
In Beastfolk Barber (code name: Project Salon), you’re a barber in a city full of beastfolk. Chat with your customers, style their look, help them see something new in the mirror… and in themselves.
Welcome to Croakwood, a relaxed town-building and management game where tiny frogs settle into life in the wild woods. Design and create structures, plan and decorate your town, explore an ancient forest filled with secrets, and guide a charming frog community as it grows.
Wishlist Croakwood on Steam here. There is also a demo available!
Design and Conjure
Developer: Tiny Kiwi Games
Release Date: Coming soon
Join Dalia, the Nature Witch, on a heartwarming journey to restore her hometown. Tidy spaces, design magical rooms, solve gentle puzzles, and soothe magical creatures affected by mysterious corruption bringing warmth and peace back to the town. 🌸
Wishlist Design and Conjure on Steam here, and there is currently a demo available!
Dressmaker
Developer: Cozy Lives
Release Date: September 2026
Become a dressmaker! Choose fabric, cut out patterns, and sew them all together to satisfy (or sabotage!) townsfolk in this cozy crafting game inspired by real dressmaking.
Start your new life! Build the farm of your dreams as you discover a world brimming with possibilities. Magic, romance, and adventure all await you in this nostalgic farming / life sim RPG!
Welcome to the tiny world of Fourleaf Fields, a cozy farming life sim where you’re no bigger than a carrot. Grow towering crops, care for tiny farm bugs, and uncover a web of secrets fueled by gossip – solo or online with friends!
Momento is a cozy room decorator with a twist: the choices you make play out over the course of a lifetime! Decorate your room, choose which items are important to you, and discover how the objects you choose will alter the course of the story, in a winding ode to the power of everyday things.
Welcome to your new vampiric life in the magical town of Moonlight Peaks. Raise mystical crops, learn spell-casting and potion-making, and befriend – or even romance – the local werewolves, witches, and mermaids in this heartwarming supernatural life-sim. Eternity awaits!
Wishlist Moonlight Peaks on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available!
Tiny Delivery
Developer: Sinica
Release Date: Q3 2026
Tiny Delivery is a cozy adventure about a small robot courier with a big job and questionable methods. Heartfelt moments, hidden secrets, and a little chaos – all in one route!
Step back into the shoes of a curious photographer and set off on a brand new adventure all about uncovering hidden details, helping friends along the way, and documenting the world’s little wonders in TOEM 2, the sequel to the acclaimed TOEM.
I feel like this showcase truly featured something of the wholesome variety for everyone. If I have any impressions on the demos I will be sure to post them in demo impressions and on the Summer Game Fest 2026 page!
The inaugural Story Rich Showcase is presented by Fellow Traveller, the folk that bring us the LudoNarraCon each year, which happens to consistantly be my favourite steam event. The curation is top class and catered to my tastes, so here are the top 10 announcements that I struggled to narrow down!
The games are featured in alphabetical order.
A Line Held Tight
Developer: Humble Grove
Release Date: Q4 2026
Tensions both political and personal are rising at the Brightworld mining colony. In this dynamic sci-fi visual novel you must decide where your heart and loyalties lie if you’re to shape the future and save yourself.
Wishlist A Line Held Tight on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available!
Am I Nima
Developer: HO! Games
Release Date: 8 Oct 2026
Am I Nima is a psychological-horror game where you must convince your mom that you really are her daughter. Combine words together in your brain and use them to talk. Get her to trust you.
Wishlist Am I Nima on Steam here. There is also a demo available!
Apple Crumble
Developer: Happy Broccoli Games
Release Date: 2026
It’s your grandma’s 84th birthday party and nobody is trying to murder her. Stop suspecting your family members, and don’t worry about the strange man in your bedroom. A new creepy-cozy mystery thriller from the creators of Duck Detective.
14 Hours Productions reveals Burn-9, a spy thriller where you’re not the spy. Safe behind your screen, guide the last survivor of an elite black-ops team in a desperate attempt to salvage a mission gone horribly wrong. Burn-9’s demo is available to play now.
Wishlist Burn-9 on Steam here. There is also a demo available!
Desktop Explorer
Developer: Recurring Dream
Release Date: 17 Jul 2026
Rummage through the abandoned profiles of an old PC to unravel an inherited mystery. What secrets hide in this eerie adventure of cryptic games and outdated software? Who was using this computer? And what happened to them?
Wishlist Desktop Explorer on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available!
Detective Turner: If Looks Could Kill
Developer: Riker
Release Date: 2027
A text-driven noir murder mystery where you literally read the room. Search for clues in the text, photograph evidence, and interrogate suspects to solve the murder of fashion icon Margot Voss.
Wishlist Detective Turner: If Looks Could Kill on Steam here.
Duppy Detective Tashia
Developer: Spritewrench
Release Date: 8 Jun 2026
Help Tashia unravel the case of a heinous murder and find her cell phone in this point & click, mystery adventure based on Caribbean folklore!
Wishlist Duppy Detective Tashia on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available and you can read my full impressions here!
The Hearth & Harbour
Developer: Saltstone Studios
Release Date: 2026
Transform a run-down restaurant and build a new life for yourself in this management RPG. Decide what kind of restaurant you want to create and what kind of person you want to be. As a storm brews outside, every choice you make has consequences.
A 90s fantasy adventure epic from the creator of The Drifter- It’s your first night away from Willows Dene, and you have first watch.
Wishlist The Telwynium on Steam or play the demo here.
Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists
Developer: A Sharp
Release Date: Fall 2026
Recruit your team, choose your path, and descend into hell. Four heroes must overcome the trials of the underworlds in tactical narrative encounters. A new systemic storybook experience blending mythology and surrealism. From the designers of King of Dragon Pass and Six Ages.
Wishlist Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists on Steam here.
A great first showcase and will certainly be my most anticipated in the future. Keep an eye out here and on the Summer Game Fest page as I make my way through more of the demos!
Thinky Direct features, as you may have guessed, games that make you think. Every variety of puzzle that you can imagine, and some that you can’t.
Considering I am so hit or miss with puzzle games – more of a reflection of my thinky abilities and perseverance than the games themselves – I am delighted to have a full, top 10 picks from the Thinky Direct 2026!
The games are in alphabetical order for convenience.
Deductopia
Developer: Nightwell Games
Release Date: Coming Soon
Explore the scenes, find clues, and sort out people, pets, and belongings in this cozy slice-of-life detective puzzle game. Fans of Duck Detective, Little Problems, and The Case of the Worst Day Ever will enjoy this new deduction game for all ages.
Wishlist Deductopia on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available and you can read my full demo impressions here!
Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School
Developer: Coin Crew Games
Release Date: To be announced
Class is (back) in session with Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School! Play in solo or co-op and explore an all-new campus, escape life-threatening puzzle rooms, and unravel a conspiracy as old as the school itself — all before the bell rings.
Wishlist Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School on Steam here. There is also a demo available, you can read my full demo impressions here!
From Ruins – A Detective Adventure
Developer: DigiTales Interactive
Release Date: 2027
A new-gen detective adventure combining deduction gameplay with a gripping story full of twists and turns. Gather clues, establish connections, and solve a series of increasingly challenging cases. Will you uncover the feud that began at the end of the world?
Wishlist From Ruins – A Detective Adventure on Steam here.
Funeral for the Sun
Developer: Nicolás Cid Delgado
Release Date: Coming soon
Search the ashes of an abandoned Latin American town and uncover 500 years of secrets. A non-linear mystery where you travel back in time and untangle the complex history of a community cursed by supernatural forces.
Wishlist Funeral for the Sun on Steam here. There is also a demo available, you can read my full impressions here!
The Granny Detective Society
Developer: Team Empreintes
Release Date: 2026
Play as Madeleine, a retired granny recruited by the Granny Detective Society (basically the FBI… but add dentures). Investigate your neighbors, figure out their names and professions, and uncover all their secrets in this no-murder detective game full of white hair and mugs of tea.
Wishlist The Granny Detective Society on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available!
Hello Again
Developer: Soup Island
Release Date: To be announced
Hello Again is a time-looping adventure about mystical ruins, ancient secrets, and goofy weirdos. Play as a hapless ferret shipwrecked on a strange island, stuck inside a strange time loop. Explore forgotten ruins. Befriend silly strangers. Solve time-bound puzzles. Repeat for the rest of eternity.
A hand-painted adventure puzzle game where language is magic. Explore a mysterious land, decipher ancient scripts, and solve language-based puzzles to uncover the secrets of a lost civilization.
A challenging puzzle adventure about learning an alien language. Explore a strange world and meet its cute inhabitants. Decipher the language and earn their trust. With every word learned, you will uncover more secrets. Can you solve the mystery of this world and decide the fate of the Pikku?
Wishlist Pikku Adventure on Steam or play the demo here.
Servant of the Lake
Developer: Rusty Lake
Release Date: Aug 2026
Death isn’t the end – it’s your last chance. Solve haunting puzzles and make choices that matter as you guide Vale across the underworld. Will regret follow her into eternity?
Wishlist Servant of the Lake on Steam or play the demo here.
What a start to the Summer Game Fest 2026 season, we have had with the Six One Indie Showcase and now the Thinky Direct. I have played 5 demos from the former and now have 5 downloaded from the latter.
All of these games are featured as part of the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase, where there are sales, bundles and even more demos. If I get a chance I might do a further highlight post but for now… go and fill your wishlists!
The summer showcases have begun, starting with the Six One Indie Showcase 2026. Six One Indie are moving to a yearly format for their showcases, and with the addition of Six One Demo Days, I am excited to be dipping my toe back into games coverage.
Mind you, it is only the very tip of my toe. But you know, sometimes that is all it takes to then somehow fall in headfirst. Watch this space! (but not too closely).
The showcase featured a lovely variety of indie games, which made me want to showcase my own list of the featured games that I will particularly be keeping an eye on. And what do you know, that contains a wonderful variety too!
The games are in alphabetical order for convenience.
Black Jacket
Developer: Mi’pu’mi Games GmbH
Release Date: 12 May 2026
Gamble your way out of hell in this blackjack-inspired rogue-lite deckbuilder. Play powerful card combos or cheat to outwit your opponents and earn your freedom. Win their Soul coins! Bribe the ferryman! And uncover the story of those who stand in your way.
Wishlist Black Jacket on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available here!
Deep Pixel Melancholy
Developer: ok/no
Release Date: Q3 2026
Deep Pixel Melancholy is a visual novel about being stuck in a time loop inside a far northern city. Unravel the mystery, and decide whether escaping is really worth it.
Wishlist Deep Pixel Melancholy on Steam here. There is also a demo available. Read about my demo impressions here!
Grave Seasons
Developer: Perfect Garbage
Release Date: 14 Aug 2026
Grave Seasons is a narrative farming sim with a terrifying twist – someone in the town is a supernatural serial killer. Farm, romance, and investigate your way through the unsettling town of Ashenridge.
Relax and unwind by cleaning up the world’s biggest corpses either solo or co-op. In a Cleaning Sim like no other, your job is to slice up and tidy away Kaiju carcasses, leaving the city clean and serene. Until the next Kaiju attack, obviously.
Dopamine-fueled minimalist grid-based game that pushes the boundaries of psychedelic visuals and fast reaction time. KAZ is an action roguelike arcade game where choice of items, buffs, and maluses allows you to unlock cool visuals and themes while showing everybody your skill on the leaderboards
Wishlist Kaz on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available!
Pirofauna
Developer: Petums
Release Date: To be announced
Become a tiny living flame, burn away ghosts, reignite homes, and earn the love of bugs that absolutely adore a little arson 🔥🐛 A short adventure game set in an atmospheric misty forest made entirely of paper.
Sloppy Forgeries is a fast-paced competitive painting game. Practice your skills by butchering iconic masterpieces in one of the few drawing games that measures accuracy pixel-by-pixel in real-time.
Treetopians is a cozy colony simulator where players build vertical villages in the treetops and care for a growing community of villagers with unique needs and personalities.
Wishlist Treetopians on Steam or play the demo here.
Vale’s Echo
Developer: Hollow Beak Games
Release Date: To be announced
Death isn’t the end – it’s your last chance. Solve haunting puzzles and make choices that matter as you guide Vale across the underworld. Will regret follow her into eternity?
Wishlist Vale’s Echo on Steam or play the demo here.
Thinky Direct, Wholesome Direct, Summer Game Fest, Steam Next Fest, and – my own most anticipated event – The Story Rich Showcase are all on the horizon. I am going to be watching along and creating content as often as time, life and inspiration allows.
I am also going to be checking out the demos from some of the games listed above so keep an eye out on my Bluesky/Instagram for any highlights!
Here you can find all of my coverage of the Summer Game Fest 2024, including shows like Guerrilla Collective, Wholesome Direct and Steam Next Fest June 2024.
The Guerrilla Collective was a cracking start to the indie coverage of Summer Game Fest 2024. Here, I am highlighting my 10 favourite trailers from the showcase!
Some of them have demos available right now. I haven’t played any yet – this list is based off of first impressions alone – but if I end up posting any Demo Impressions I will be sure to link them below.
The games are in alphabetical order for convenience!
Beloved Rapture
Developer: Rapturous Studio
Release Date: 2024
Beloved Rapture is an indie jRPG that blends modern themes with classic gameplay. Explore beautiful landscapes, fight in turn-based battles, and uncover many secrets. This mid-length adventure balances both an intimate coming of age story, and larger threats looming over the troubled kingdom.
Wishlist Beloved Rapture on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available!
Chocolate Factory
Developer: Tbjbu2
Release Date: 18 Jun 2024
Build your dream Chocolate Factory among candy cane forests and gumdrop hills to produce the tastiest sweets. A delicious first-person factory automation game with a little exploration and combat. Confectionary conveyor belt heaven awaits!
Wishlist Chocolate Factory on Steam here. There is also a free Prologue available!
Cozy Dungeons
Developer: Them Handsome Fellas
Release Date: To be announced
Explore deadly dungeons, clear them out of enemies and renovate them in Cozy Dungeons, a one-of-a-kind adventure/interior design game!
Let your empathy guide you as you play an exciting action-adventure, creature-saver game. Understand and tame the creatures of Ava and let them lead you through a variety of ecosystems – all in the hopes of saving the planet from a life-consuming infection.
Control your environment, gather your party, and build your best deck to overcome outlaws and supernatural forces, across a rich fantasy world. Watch as your tactical choices and deckbuilding prowess play out through stylish fight sequences.
Wishlist Knights in Tight Spaces on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available!
Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game
Developer: Posh Cat Studios
Release Date: 2024
Little Problems is a Cozy Detective game about solving mysteries around minor inconveniences, everyday misunderstandings, and of course, little problems. This game is not about saving the world; it’s about enriching it, one case at a time.
Wishlist Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game on Steam here.
Neon Blood
Developer: ChaoticBrain Studios
Release Date: Coming Soon
Viridis, year 2053. Growing inequality drives Bright City and Blind City further and further apart until idealistic detective Axel McCoin starts a revolution to change the world in this fast-paced cyberpunk adventure.
A first-person resource management game about running jobs for picky aliens! As Rebots Corp’s newest agent, it’s your task to journey to diverse asteroids, terraform the land, gather resources through bot automation, and fulfill client’s needs! And who knows, maybe you’ll get a raise ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Wishlist Rebots on Steam here. There is also currently a demo available!
The Secret of Crystal Mountain
Developer: Revolutron
Release Date: Coming Soon
Adventure through a land full of mystery and wonder in The Secret of Crystal Mountain, a platforming game about a delivery fox making his way through a magical world, exploring and uncovering secrets.
Wishlist The Secret of Crystal Mountain on Steam here.
Yooka-Replaylee
Developer: Playtonic Games
Release Date: To be announced
Embark on an epic open-world 3D platforming collectathon adventure with Yooka and Laylee! The search for Pagies starts anew in Yooka-Replaylee, the enhanced definitive version of the beloved indie darling with all new challenges, secrets, mechanics, and accessibility options.
With Summer Game Fest 2024 just getting started, I am looking forward to seeing what the other showcases bring in a year that is already panning out to be an all timer for indie games.