Introduction
The Steam Next Fest is now live, and with it come hundreds of free game demos for you to try! However, this demo-bonanza lasts only from June 15th to June 22nd, so you need to make the most of it! To help you decide which games are worth your time, I have spent the last week or so scouring through emails, Steam posts, and even playing most of the games on this list (and others that didn’t make it), and I have compiled a list of the strategy games that stand out above the rest. Join me, and let’s have a look at each game, why you should play it, and what’s on the demo! These are the ones worth wishlishting and keeping an eye out for!
12 – Corsair Cove
Hooded Horse has been on a monumental roll as of late, releasing hit after hit after hit, with MENACE and Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era being two of the best strategy games of 2026, and massive sales success, with the latter having sold over one million copies already. Coming out on July 31st is Corsair Cove, a new pirate-haven-builder published by Hooded Horse, which will see players building a sprawling base, building ships, and then exploring and conquering the seas. The main feature of the game is the limited space that you have to work with and the verticality. There’s a meaty demo available, which will let you experience both the city-building aspect as well as the combat, and the quality on display is already pretty fantastic.
11 – Dunebound Tactics
Here’s a game I hadn’t heard about before I started doing research for this Steam Next Fest article. Developed by Terahard, Dunebound Tactics puts players at the helm of a sand-traveeling apparatus, as they navigate a desert wasteland in search of a new existence, and in good adventurous fashion, the journey is filled with perils and combat, and it’s a game better described as a mix between the exploration of Sunless Sea and the combat of XCOM. Everything in the game is about a mysterious substance called Elios, which is used as fuel for your ship and your abilities on the battlefield, and all living things have it. If you’re thinking about using your enemies as fuel for your ship, that’s actually something you can do in the game. In fact, if you don’t have enough fuel on your ship, maybe that permanently injured teammate will be useful one last time.
10 – Panzer Strike
The strategy genre is so prolific these days that we have come to the point where we have games being developed that aim to capture the feeling of late 90s and early 2000s real-time strategy titles. Enter Panzer Strike, a self-described “authentic RTS” that aims to capture the essence of games like Blitzkrieg and Sudden Strike. The game is also set in World War 2, and having played two missions, I must say that I was impressed with the sheer scale of it, and its beautiful presentation. It’s undeniable that this is a great-looking game, with extremely high-quality sprite work. The game feel is also on point, and it plays very much like a direct successor to the aforementioned games. However, the game still needs a little bit of work, especially with the way unit controls and their pathfinding work, which can be quite finicky. It’s worth giving a go, especially if you were around the heyday of World War 2 RTS.
9 – The Guild: Europa 1410
The Guild series of games has been a bit of a downer lately, with The Guild 3 not being very well received at all. Hopefully, this new entry is going to be substantially better. Just in case you’re not up to par with what The Guild is, it’s a game set in Medieval Europe where you plot your way to power by means of building a massive business enterprise and increasing the influence of your family. Of course, things don’t end with the business side of things, and as you get wealthier, you’ll find yourself dragged into the muddy politics of the time. The Guild – Europa 1410’s main attraction to someone like me, who loves medieval games, is the unique premise of not using military means to fix every problem.
