The first big breakout of Steam Next Fest is a Souls-y dungeon crawler that's coming for Dark and Darker's crown

Dungeonborne
(Image credit: Mithril Interactive)

As Steam Next Fest gets into full swing, players are flocking to Valve's platform in droves to try out Dungeonborne, a dark fantasy dungeon crawler that looks set to offer a Dark and Darker-style experience, minus the legal woes. 

Developed by Mithril Interactive, Dungeonborne is a first-person PvPvE adventure that sees you delve into the depths of a perilous medieval castle in search of riches. You can go it alone or team up with others to overcome the treacherous dungeons and formidable foes that stand between you and all that shiny loot. What's more, you'll have to make it out alive to claim your rewards, so while venturing deeper will lead more valuable trinkets; it also increases the likelihood that you'll meet your doom and ultimately come away empty-handed.

A demo for Dungeonborne has just been released as part of Steam Next Fest, and players have already been sampling its intriguing dungeon-crawler extraction combo in their thousands.

At the time of writing, it's sitting at the top of Steam DB's most-played demos chart with 12,637 players currently in-game and a concurrent player peak of 17,096, which was reached yesterday. Comparatively, in second place is the Hollow Knight-esque metroidvania Deviator, with an all-time player peak of 12,319, followed by Warcraft and StarCraft devs' upcoming RTS game Stormgate with 5,146, putting Dungeonborne well ahead of the competition. Dungeonborne also tops SNF's 'Trending upcoming' chart, and is #8 on its wishlist chart.

Steam Next Fest kicked off yesterday and runs until February 12, so you've got just under a week to try the Dungeonborne demo out for yourself. And there are plenty more exciting tiles on offer besides, including Never Grave, a new co-op roguelike that's sure to please Dead Cells fans, Arco, a stunning "simultaneous turn-based" tactics game, and physics-based farming sim Southfield.

Keep up to date with all the year's biggest and best titles in our guide to new games 2024.

CATEGORIES
Anne-Marie Ostler
Freelance Writer

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and 12DOVE. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.

Read more
The First Berserker: Khazan protagonist
Steam Next Fest hasn’t even started, but I’m already obsessed with the subtly Soulslike demo for this “hardcore” action RPG with over 3,000 reviews of its own
Shape of Dreams heroes stand around a fire
Someone combined Diablo and League of Legends for a roguelike co-op MOBA with Risk of Rain energy, and it deserves the hype it's getting in Steam Next Fest
Standing below the imposing Monolith in Empyreal with a glaive equipped, this is a piece of key art from the game
This looter slasher mashes up Remnant 2 with shades of Final Fantasy 14 and lashings of special moves, all in an action-packed Steam Next Fest demo
A hangar door opens, throwing two mechs into close-quarters battle in Mecha Break
PvP shooter Mecha Break is dominating Steam Next Fest with player numbers matching Marvel Rivals and GTA 5 even as it suffers mostly negative reviews
Rise of Rebellion
An apparent ex-FromSoftware dev has a janky action RPG in Steam Next Fest, so obviously I had to play it – and yep, the opening shot is straight out of Dark Souls
A screenshot of the upcoming Xbox series X game, The First Berserker: Khazan.
Steam Next Fest's biggest Soulslike is about to jump from PC to PS5 and Xbox, and everyone seems to love the demo just as much as we did
Latest in Action
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Dark Souls 2 fans remind Death Stranding 2 director Hideo Kojima that he won’t be taking the DS2 acronym that easily
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima says Death Stranding's themes of connection came about because "I thought I lost everything when I became alone nine years ago"
Beyond the Ice Palace 2
After 37 years, this Commodore 64 classic returns with a new Metroidvania sequel that gives serious old-school Castlevania vibes
Fortnite's Lara croft skin in front of a building
Fortnite has had Tomb Raider's Lara Croft locked away in battle pass exclusivity jail for almost 4 years, but she's reportedly getting a new skin very soon
The Last of Us 2
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann sounds like he's contemplating the end of his career: "When is it time to stop?"
Screenshot of Neil in Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima says he chose Death Stranding 2's Solid Snake lookalike because he needed an actor who "would surpass" Mads Mikkelsen
Latest in News
Dragon Age 2
Veteran Dragon Age dev says one big delay is better than several small ones: "You are laying band-aid on top of band-aid on top of band-aid"
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Dark Souls 2 fans remind Death Stranding 2 director Hideo Kojima that he won’t be taking the DS2 acronym that easily
Minecraft Diamond Armor
Minecraft Pocket Edition got its name because one of its devs was a big "Nintendo nerd" who wanted to pay homage to the Game Boy Pocket
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima says Death Stranding's themes of connection came about because "I thought I lost everything when I became alone nine years ago"
Monster Hunter Wilds trailer screenshot showing a young woman with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail smiling slightly, pumping her left fist in the air
Monster Hunter Wilds' infamously confusing menus spare no player, not even Gemma's voice actor herself: "This is honestly what I’m struggling with the most"
Death Stranding 2 kiss
Hideo Kojima says "it was very difficult to direct" Death Stranding 2's big kiss scene, but Norman Reedus thinks "it was niiice" locking lips with Léa Seydoux