These were the 10 most-played demos on Steam this month

(Image credit: Gaming Factory)

The most popular game demo from the recent Steam Next Fest event was also our favorite: the eight-hour demo for survival RPG Enshrouded, which Chris lamented wasn't long enough. The second most popular demo, however, was for a game I'd never heard of.

Here are the top 10 Steam Next Fest demos, all of which are currently still available to download with the exception of the Robocop game:

Steam's got a bigger list of the top 50 demos from the event, but the top 10 is plenty to tussle with on its own. Aside from Enshrouded, we're excited for Sky: Children of the Light, a new-to-PC MMO from the maker of high-concept PlayStation classic Journey, and I've heard surprisingly good things about the Robocop game. Is a sleeper hit based on a satirical '80s sci-fi film in our future? It could be! The Robocop demo's gone now, but the game is out soon, on November 2.

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One demo I didn't hear about during this October edition of Next Fest—which is a somewhat loosely defined event, given that almost all of these demos are still around—was the second most popular among them, Japanese Drift Master. It's no surprise a lot of people tried it, though: It's a great-looking indie racing game on the surface, and who doesn't want to be a drift master?

I gave the 8GB demo a quick try and it's good fun, although my experience was less that of a drift master and more that of a drift apprentice, or drift reckless driving criminal, really. I did a lot of spinning out of control and playing chicken on the wrong side of the street because I kept forgetting I was on Japanese roads rather than American ones.

Car nerds will be pleased to find that tuning variables such as front and rear camber are tweakable. I'm reminded a little of Kanjozoku Game, a smaller, $5 racing game that I tried out and enjoyed last year. We seem to be entering a mini golden age for virtual Skylines and Supras.

City builder Pioneers of Pagonia is also on my radar. Chris wrote about it back in June, and this quote has me curious: "In our game, you don't have to make your people happy. Instead, your people have to make you happy." Finally, a city builder Nero could enjoy.

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.