Vampire life sim Moonlight Peaks is creeping near but if you can't wait for launch day to play, well, you don't have to: there's a new demo over on Steam right now. My fellow farmlife sim players have been looking forward to this dark but cute twist on the genre for a few years now and with the release date scheduled for July, now's a great time to take a quick look on a handy 'try before you buy' basis.

Moonlight Peaks has had a couple demos over the past few years since its reveal and, as announced at the Wholesome Games showcase today, it's swapped in yet another bigger, better version for you. Past demos haven't had much story content or the character creator and were focused on smaller bits of decorating or farming in short bursts.

A rep for the game told PC Gamer that this demo will be largely similar to the one I played 6 hours of last month, though you'll start with a partially upgraded farm instead of from scratch. It will "cover the same content" though, they say, so presumably that means you get to see the start of the story where the werewolves, witches, vampires, and seers in town are all at odds with each other slinging spells and insults equally liberally. You'll be able to meet most of the cast, begin farming, and learn how to cast spells and shapeshift.

Based on my experience playing, that should be the bulk of what farmlife simming fans need to decide whether you're into Moonlight Peaks enough to buy it at launch. I found all the basics plenty competent—snappy tool animations, easy menus, and cute character designs—so it's down to whether the comically toxic bantering and the directed main quest (rather than open-ended goals as in Stardew Valley) are to your taste.

Do be aware: Moonlight Peaks strongly advises that you use a gamepad to play, though I tried a bit of keyboard & mouse and didn't find it played poorly that way.

You can find the Moonlight Peaks demo on Steam, which is also where you'll be able to buy it when it launches on July 7.