How long should a game demo be, and what goes in it?
2 min read
By Eduardo Orellana ·
Long enough for a player to understand the game and want more, short enough that they stop wanting it: for many indie games, 15 to 60 minutes. Put in the core loop at its best, one memorable moment, and a clear ending that points to the full game, with a wishlist prompt on the last screen. Leave out long tutorials, the whole first act of a short game, and anything unfinished. Valve suggests turning achievements off in demos.
A demo is an advert you can play
Its job is not to show everything, but to make a player wishlist. The best demos end at a moment of wanting more: a new mechanic just unlocked, a boss just revealed, a door just opened.
Should your game have one?
Most do, and Next Fest requires one. A demo gives players a reason to try a game from an unknown developer, gives creators something to play, and lets Steam email your wishlisters once when it launches. The exceptions: very short games, where a demo gives away too much, and games whose appeal is a twist that a demo would spoil.
How long
- 15 to 30 minutes for arcade, puzzle and action games built on a tight loop.
- 30 to 60 minutes for games that need time to show depth: strategy, simulation, RPGs.
- Replayable demos for roguelikes: one character or biome, played as many times as people like.
Measure it on testers, not on yourself.
What to put in, and what to leave out
- In: the core loop at its best, one memorable moment, a clear end, a wishlist prompt.
- Out: a long tutorial, half-finished systems, the twist.
- Achievements: Valve recommends turning them off in demos and granting them after purchase.
- Saves: share Steam Cloud saves with the full game so progress carries over.
Turning demo players into wishlists
Put a wishlist button on the main menu and the last screen. End on anticipation. Send Steam's one-time demo email to wishlisters within two weeks of launch. Collect feedback in the demo and act on it publicly.
Where Flockbay fits
Flockbay builds your game on Godot, and its playtest links send the demo build to testers first, with crashes, frame times and play time reported back. Playtest links are free in beta until 1 December 2026.