From The Bunker Gets a Free Steam Demo as Survival Fest Opens

From The Bunker , a survivor-management game from four-person independent studio DEM Games, released a free demo on Steam on Monday, timed to the opening of Steam's PvE Survival Crafting Fest. The full game is separately available now on Steam in Early Access, giving new players a way to try before committing to the existing release.

Leading Survivors Through a Viral Outbreak

A viral outbreak has emptied a quiet southern town, forcing the survivors into an abandoned bunker in the forest. Players take on the role of the group's leader, making daily decisions about who eats, who works, and who goes outside.

Each survivor arrives with distinct strengths, weaknesses, and needs, and their physical health, mental state, and willingness to fight for the group all trace directly back to how well they're managed. Neglect someone, and they may leave; make the wrong call and they may not survive at all.

The bunker itself functions as the other half of the experience, a forgotten shelter players gradually turn into somewhere people can actually live while infected, hostile factions, and desperate looters press in from outside. Building out the refuge includes generators for electricity, boiler upgrades for clean water, barricades against infected hordes, and traps set for nighttime raids.

Expeditions and Over 300 Narrative Events

Beyond the bunker, players can send survivors to search ruined streets, abandoned shops, and military depots for weapons, food, and medicine, weighing the risk of each expedition against what the group actually needs to survive. More than 300 narrative events force hard calls throughout a playthrough, with different outcomes and endings depending on the choices made along the way.

From The Bunker is a single-player game. The Steam listing notes it's still being actively developed as a work in progress, with DEM Games continuing to build out new modes and mechanics based on community feedback. The free demo is available now on Steam alongside the existing Early Access release.

This story was originally published by GameDaily on Sep 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the Games section. Add GameDaily as a Preferred Source by clicking here.