Gaming

Steam's letting users try indie games for free for the next five days

59

free demos available to play

Ars Technica

PC Gamer Magazine/Future/Getty Images

Gaming platform Steam announced a virtual game festival on Wednesday. Until 10 a.m. PT on March 23, gamers can access 59 demos and featured indie games for free, Ars Technica reports. Many of these games were meant to be presented at GDC, which was canceled to stem COVID-19 transmission. Though initially postponed, the gaming conference recently announced it would switch over to streamed talks and awards ceremonies on Twitch.

Baby, it’s COVID-19 outside — As work slows down or stops altogether for many, people are turning to games and their Netflix queues to pass the time and escape reality. On Sunday, Steam hit a record number of global players online with more than 20 million people logging on. As the U.S. rolls out social distancing measures, numbers are only expected to increase.

What can you play? — You can take all of the following (mostly Windows-only) games for a spin. The titles in bold are already launched and available for download:

  • We Are The Caretakers
  • Duster
  • Hundred Days Winemaking Simulator
  • HyperParasite
  • Neon Noodles
  • Filament
  • Going Under
  • We Should Talk
  • Sons of Ra
  • Backworlds
  • Mystic Pillars
  • Tunche
  • Quench
  • Evan's Remains
  • Pushy Pully in Block Land
  • Later Daters
  • Lord Winklebottom Investigates
  • Chicory: A Colorful Tale
  • Heavenly Bodies
  • Vigil: The Longest Night
  • Mighty Fight Federation
  • Aeolis Tournament
  • Haven
  • Garden Story
  • Raji
  • Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl
  • Recompile
  • Spiritfarer
  • Klang 2
  • Jack Axe
  • When the Past was Around
  • Operencia: The Stolen Sun
  • Elemetals: Death Metal Death Match
  • Divisadero
  • Eldest Souls
  • A Space for the Unbound
  • Retrograde Arena
  • Kung-Fu Kickball
  • She Dreams Elsewhere
  • Embr
  • Curious Expedition 2
  • Coffee Talk
  • Liberated
  • Roki
  • Rising Hell
  • Moncage
  • Neverinth
  • Plasticity
  • Superliminal (available for sale elsewhere)
  • Tinytopia
  • Cloudpunk
  • Skatebird
  • Disc Room
  • Say No! More
  • Drill Man Rumble
  • Necronator: Dead Wrong
  • Scourgebringer
  • Hazel Sky
  • The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos