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STEAM’s Next Fest 2024 is now live, giving PC players a week to try ‘thousands’ of upcoming games for free.

There are free games to play across all genres, with plenty of indie titles that rarely get into the spotlight.

Fellow Traveller

Citizen Sleeper 2 is a must-play demo for fans of narrative-heavy RPGs[/caption]

TiMi Studio Group

Delta Force reimagines a classic tactical shooter series, and the Next Fest demo will showcase its multiplayer modes[/caption]

Running from October 14 to 21, 2024, at 6pm UK time / 1pm ET, Steam Next Fest also features hundreds of developer livestreams, showcasing upcoming titles.

With so many demos to choose from, we figured we’d highlight some of the best demos from Steam Next Fest 2024.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

Citizen Sleeper was one of the best indie games of 2022, and players can finally try a demo of its sequel.

Inspired by tabletop RPGs, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector continues the first game’s story set in a cyberpunk sci-fi world.

While keeping the base dice-based gameplay and well-written narrative of the original, the sequel deepens all existing mechanics and adds new abilities and a bigger world to explore.

Delta Force

The reboot of old-school shooter series Delta Force is also getting a demo at Next Fest, which, unlike previous playtests and betas, is available for everyone to try.

The new Delta Force reimagines the series as an operator tactical shooter with free-to-play multiplayer modes and a new paid Black Hawk Down single-player and co-op campaign.

The demo players can try this week shows off the game’s multiplayer modes.

For more on the game, check out our Delta Force preview from June.

Tavern Keeper

Tavern Keeper is a gorgeous business sim game where you manage your own tavern.

From building it and hiring staff, to decorating the interiors and stocking up on ingredients, the game lets you own the high-fantasy pub of your dreams.

The demo allows you to run a tavern for a few days and get familiar with a lot of the game’s systems and mechanics.

This teaser experience is designed specifically for the demo and will not be part of the full game when it launches sometime in 2025.

Permafrost

Permafrost is a brutal survival game that will put you and your friends in a harsh permanent winter environment.

Solo or in co-op mode for up to four players, the demo lets you learn the ropes of survival by introducing you to the game’s exploration, crafting, building, and hunting gameplay. 

Windblown

Windblown is a new roguelite from the creators of Dead Cells that can be played alone or in three-player co-op mode.

Unlike Dead Cells’ pixel art sidescrolling levels, Windblown features gorgeous 3D levels from an isometric perspective, similar to Hades, another great roguelike.

The game promises lightning-fast action, and you will wield powerful weapons and absorb the memories of fallen warriors to unlock special abilities.

Windblown will launch into early access right after the demo period, on October 24, 2024.

For more gaming news about Valve’s storefront, see a change Steam is making to its checkout process.

DEAR DEIDRE: GETTING old needn’t be depressing, but I’d love to have sex with my wife again before I get too old and lose the ability.

My wife rarely allows me to have sex with her unless it is ‘a special occasion’. She’s 62 and I’m 64. We’ve been together a long time but my love for her has never changed.

We both keep fit. She’s never been with another man apart from me, to my knowledge.

She had a strict upbringing and was an only child.

I always want sex and I try to make her feel good but I can count on one hand the number of times she has initiated it. The answer is four –  when she wanted to get pregnant.

We have two grown-up kids.

I regard myself as a very attentive and talented lover who is always more interested in her pleasure than mine.

I’ve tried for over 30 years for something to spark her sexually but nothing has changed.  I love the bones of her but I’m so scared I will die a frustrated and unhappy man.

DEIDRE SAYS: My guess is that her upbringing has completely tarnished the way she thinks about sex. Sadly, she’s never felt liberated enough to fully understand how wonderful a good sex life can be.

Her parents may have been religious and felt that sex was only for procreation and that ‘good girls’ were never supposed to enjoy sex.

Sex may have been thought of as a taboo subject or dirty in some way. These moral principles are hard to shift.

It is unlikely she is going to change now but she may allow intimacy to resume in other ways – with massage and kissing and touch – if you talk to her about how much you love her and miss having this as part of your lives.

My support pack on Sex Therapy will show you where to find professional guidance to help.

GOLF fans have threatened to “boycott” the Ryder Cup after prices were revealed for the 2025 tournament.

Team Europe will hope to defend their crown against the US at the Bethpage Black Golf Course in New York from September 26 to 28 next year.

The Times

Fans have been left fuming at the ticket prices for the 2025 Ryder Cup[/caption]

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With demand extremely high to watch the iconic event, supporters have to enter a “random selection” ballot for tickets and complete a registration by October 22.

If successful, they will then be presented with a chance to book their spot on the course at some point next month.

But fans have been left fuming after finding out the price of tickets they’re applying for.

The “random selection” ballot only includes “Ryder Cup+” seats.

A single ticket to any of the three days of action are priced at an eye-popping £574 ($750) each.

While the cost of a pass to the practice sessions earlier in the week will set you back between £195 ($255) and £324 ($423)

However, “Ryder Cup+” tickets do include “access to unlimited food and non-alcoholic beverages at all market concessions throughout the grounds and no extra cost”.

But despite the the added benefit of unlimited food and drink, golf fans are still seething with the astronomical prices and took to social media to react.

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One fan raged: “I would like to go on the record now and say that if Europe wins the Ryder Cup at Bethpage because the crowds were turned into a polite snooze fest by the insane ticket prices, it’s going to go down as a massive own goal.”

While another joked: “I need to sign a LIV deal so I can afford Ryder Cup tickets.”

Some fans weren’t taking such a lighthearted approach to the decision.

One even suggested that the event should be boycotted, writing: “We all need to unify and boycott this. Then we can move on to groceries and housing next”.

The 2023 Ryder Cup at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome offered fans a much more reasonable price for general admission.

The Italian event had tickets priced between £38 and £46 ($50 and $60) for practice days.

While weekend tickets were priced at £200 ($264) for the Friday and Saturday and £210 ($275) for the Sunday.

The Times

Fans were able to pack into the stand at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in 2023 thanks to affordable ticket prices[/caption]

DEAR DEIDRE: THE shock of stumbling across my husband’s homemade blue films made the hair fall out of my head – literally.

We’ve been married for 23 years and I thought he was satisfied with our sex life. But judging from the contents of the secret folder I found – he has needed a lot more risk.

When the pandemic happened, my husband seemed to find it so difficult to be in the house with me 24/7.

We were arguing and he became distant. Next, he was sleeping in the spare room. I’d try to talk to him and he’d ignore me. Things went from bad to worse. I didn’t know what to do.

He went back to work and things improved. He owns three barber shops but I don’t work.

Large amounts of cash were disappearing from our bank account, but he always said it was to pay a contractor, or for a new work coffee machine.

He then upgraded his iPad and gave our 17-year-old daughter his old one. 

Tasked with clearing out his old files, I opened a couple of private ones and was so shocked with what I found.

There were lots of explicit films and videos of women engaging in sex acts with him – most of them looked like they were in their early 20s – just a few years older than our daughter. 

At that moment I realised they were sex workers and that’s where all his money had been going. 

I’ve been sick with worry but he’s completely oblivious. He hasn’t even spotted the growing bald patches on my head. I’m not sleeping well and I’ve lost over two stones in six months.

My hair is now coming out in lumps when I shower. I think it’s stress. We are both 47.

DEIDRE SAYS: Alopecia is often brought on by stress so it’s no coincidence that this has happened when you’re coming to terms with this huge change in your marriage.

You must find a moment to talk to your husband and tell him how unhappy you are – and what you found. You weren’t snooping on him but the evidence was there.

Ask why he’s looking elsewhere for attention and why he’s staying with you if he’s so unhappy.

If he insists that things are good, find a local counsellor through BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) (www.bacp.co.uk, 01455 883300) so that you can decide if there’s a marriage worth salvaging.

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