No particular order are the games that I played the demo of and then actually wish-listed after uninstalling:

edit: Oh and I wanted to mention these all ran well on CachyOS with no tinkering except Toxic Commando.

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/2426530/Nova_Roma/

If the price is right on release, Nova Roma is a very fun city builder. I put 2.3 hours into the demo! This one really expects you to think ahead with where you place roads and buildings to keep things efficiently staffed and stocked. Citizens get tired if they have to walk too far, dropping morale. There are gods you have to keep happy like Pharaoh.

Another focus is water mechanics with some physics too. You can divert water flowing on the map and use gravity to your advantage. Citizen morale is mostly based on proper housing and food/goods variety. There is also some light military game-play, again, sort of like Pharaoh. You can scale difficulty to your liking regarding military and hostiles.

Why do I say if the price is right? I built 50% of the tech tree in 2.3 hours, which is 100% in the demo the rest is locked out. I thought that wasn’t enough myself, but if the game is $30 I don’t mind then if I spend less time with the game total.

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/4401030/A_game_about_sucking_up_ghosts_with_a_Vacuum_Demo/

Wait…which one am I taking about next? I’m not telling. I like both though BTW ;)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3955580/SCOPECREEP_Demo/

This is is pretty casual, but the ladder climb unga bunga unlock grind is pretty satisfying. You just hover over ghosts to kill them and level up so you can kill ghosts better. Arcade game kinda. Good look and sound to it with a simple song that drills into your skull like BALL x PIT.

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/4319990/Freefall_95_Demo/

Fucking bonkers. You are falling out of a plane that exploded in the sky. You were not planning this. You’re going to die when you hit the ground! …Sooo, may as well go out stylin’ right? Sudden Death skydiving. Stunting off plane debris and building combos. You get some air control here too. Good stuff.

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/2537470/Vultures__Scavengers_of_Death/

It’s a Tactical Turn Based RPG, but Resident Evil 1 on PS1 style. I don’t have to say anything more.

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/4354730/John_Carpenters_Toxic_Commando_Demo/

Closest thing to Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 I’ve played since then so far. The game-play is mostly great, so is the sound design and set piece gimmicks and the turret sections. The demo doesn’t have the crazy zombie horde populations you see that happen later in the game trailer. The AI is okay, but has some misses like not being able to pick up special weapons. The game is ALWAYS ONLINE. Big flaw. (I’ll still buy on a steep discount with all the DLC and patches later tho NGL) Stop Killing Games. Ran well on my computer, was a bit of a shit to get working with Proton but ProtonDB had my back.

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/3823370/Beyond_Words/

From the creators of irrelevant games that have nothing to do with Scrabble Balatro. It’s flawed but…WELL…I have a crippling addiction to Scrabble and this is fun despite the shitty graphics.