New Free Game Demo Available on Steam for Players in 2023

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By

Bruno Yonezawa

Published May 10, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT

Bruno Yonezawa is a Gaming Senior Writer for Screen Rant. He's been practicing professional journalism for over 10 years, and is also a communications specialist. He's played games all his life and turned that passionate hobby into a passionate career, in an industry where he's worked as a writer, editor, analyst, and more.

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If you’re looking for a stylish game to check out for free on Steam, then your pleas may have just been answered with a new demo for an exciting game set to be released soon. The gaming platform has several options for free-to-play players who like to game without having to spend money. You can find entirely free games, as well as demos for games, which are also free experiences. Very soon, Steam will offer a 10/10 game for free, but only for a limited time in May, so you’d better move fast to grab it.

Apart from this upcoming freebie, you can also find a free demo for what is going to be an extremely stylish game, set to arrive soon. Available on Steam, the demo can be downloaded right now, without any costs, and played directly from your library whenever you desire. Of course, this is only a short, partial experience of what the rest of the game will be, but playing it will give you a sense of what is to come with its release.

The protagonist of Lucid fires a pink laser beam.

The demo is for an upcoming metroidvania called Lucid_. Created by The Matte Black Studio and published by Apogee Entertainment, Lucid is a 2D sidescroller that puts you in control of Oenn and throws you into Aedyn, which is described as a “crystal-punk world.” Penn is capable of absorbing abilities that improve his movement and enhance his combat abilities. This is a fast-paced, action-based platformer on Steam.

The indie game has a huge focus on platforming puzzles and airborne combat, as well as challenging enemy encounters, including tough bosses. To deal with such challenges, you’ll unlock different types of Crystal Arts in Lucid, which offer different types of weapons and skills. All of this is represented by a remarkable, colorful neon pixel art style. As a new metroidvania on Steam, you’ll be able to backtrack to unlock new paths after gaining new abilities, and face new opponents as you progress.

_ Oenn fires projectiles against an enemy in Lucid.

According to the title’s product page on the storefront, Lucid_ is heavily inspired by games like Super Metroid, Mega Man X, Donkey Kong Country, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Doom, and Celeste, while its interconnected story is inspired by Princess Mononoke, one of the best Studio Ghibli films. One of the curious aspects about this game is that its score is led by the legendary David Wise, composer of the Donkey Kong Country series, as well as many other games.

We talked to David Wise at Gamescom LATAM 2026 about a plethora of topics, and Lucid is one of his big upcoming projects. The game is expected to arrive on PC this Spring, though a specific release date has not yet been revealed. Even so, you can already try out this new game on Steam for free and get ready for its release by wishlisting it.