JAPAN GAMING & ENTERTAINMENT 
PixelJunk Monsters 3, Q-Games’ tower defense game marking the 20th anniversary of its PixelJunk Monsters series, has its first playable demo out on Steam. The demo is available only during Steam Next Fest, Steam’s online demo festival.
PixelJunk Monsters 3 Gets Its First Demo, Available Only During Steam Next Fest
You run around the field, dance to build towers, and fight off the monsters that attack. The hand-drawn art is shown in 4K, and the game adds roguelike elements. Play solo, or with a second player online or locally. English is supported, and there is no release date yet.
Source
4Gamer.net (October 20, 2026) / Dengeki Online (October 20, 2026) / Steam “PixelJunk Monsters 3” (accessed October 20, 2026) / Q-Games announcement (accessed October 20, 2026)
A Video Creator Reads the Super Mario 64 Pedestal as “Eternal Star,” Not “L is Real 2401”
Retro game video creator mochi64 analyzed the text on the pedestal of the star statue in Peach’s Castle in Super Mario 64. The analysis concludes that the top line reads “Eternal Star” and the bottom line “We hope so.” That differs from the long-rumored “L is Real 2401,” and Nintendo has not confirmed this reading. To match the 32×32-pixel image, mochi64 drew text in about 470 1990s-style fonts and 4,583 modern ones, scaled each rendering down, and measured how far it was from the in-game image. The closest match was an Adobe font from 1990, and “Eternal” was the best fit among about 1.24 million candidates. The last word, “so,” is less certain than the others. The code and results are on GitHub, and mochi64 is asking for other readings.
Source
Game*Spark (October 20, 2026)
From South Korea, SLAM TANK Is a Tank Action Game That Rams Instead of Shooting, and Its Demo Is Out
South Korea’s Next Stage is developing the tank action game SLAM TANK, and a demo is out on Steam. The tank never fires its gun. It fights by ramming and by swinging its cannon barrel to strike. You run, drift, and dodge with perfect timing, chaining normal and special attacks into combos. The cost of the damage to the machines you smash becomes your score, and you compete on online leaderboards. You pick from a balanced tank, a fast but fragile one, and one with high attack power but poor maneuverability. In the demo, you can duel a boss: a train loaded with weapons. The demo is part of Steam Next Fest. The game supports English and has no release date yet.
Source
AUTOMATON (October 20, 2026) / Steam “SLAM TANK” (accessed October 20, 2026)
Culdcept BEGINS Launches on Steam October 28 With Three New Versus Maps
Culdcept BEGINS, Neos Corporation’s blend of board game and card game, launches on Steam on October 28 with English support. The Steam version adds three versus maps and 10 deck covers. You roll dice to move across the board, claim territory, and fight with Creature, Item, and Spell cards. The Nintendo Switch / Nintendo Switch 2 version has been out since July. A demo is on Steam, and during the Steam Next Fest now underway, it includes one of the new maps.
Source
Game*Spark (October 20, 2026) / Dengeki Online (October 20, 2026) / Culdcept BEGINS English official site (accessed October 20, 2026) / Steam “Culdcept BEGINS” (accessed October 20, 2026)
Roguelike Chocolate Parade, Where You Roll Sweets Into Battle, Launches on Steam in November
Chocolate Parade, a roguelike action game made by Browser Land and published by WorldMap, launches on Steam in November and supports English. You roll sweets around to fight, and you recruit allies to grow your “parade.” A waffle that fires a machine gun and a Baumkuchen that shoots lasers are among the weapons. Co-op supports up to three players online or two offline (two gamepads required). A demo with four stages is on Steam, and the game is taking part in Steam Next Fest.
Source
4Gamer.net (October 19, 2026) / Steam “Chocolate Parade” (accessed October 20, 2026)