History Main / SelfContainedDemo

* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'' has tutorials that are unconnected to the game's campaigns, like Phoenician settlers or Roman soldiers.

* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'': [[invoked]] A cut-down promotional version of the first game, variously known as the "Raider Retreat" or "OEM" edition, contained the first four missions from the regular game and a fifth completely new one, which would later turn out to be [[DummiedOut cut content]] that was removed from the release version for being [[DifficultySpike unreasonably hard for that point in the game]] and not doing much to advance the plot.

* An now-removed free iOS-only version of ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' contained levels that weren't in the full version. That was until 2015, when the ability to unlock (nearly all of) the first four chapters via watching ads was introduced, leaving those 24 levels as an [[TheArtifact artifact of an past time]].

* The demos for ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' and ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' both feature unique trials with different victims and murderers, and in the case of V3, characters who don’t appear in the actual game.

** ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' had a demo named ''Half-Life: Uplink'', featuring a level that did not appear in the main game.

Most video game demos simply use aspects of the game. Sometimes these demos use the first level of the game and sometimes they'll use random levels. In contrast, self-contained demos are not levels from the game itself. They use non-canon stories or side-stories to give you a feel of the game without spoilering anything or reusing a level.

* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'' had the demo ''Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt'' that was included in Nintendo DS packages. It has several differences with the final game notably the fact that there actually were Metroids in the demo and had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2N1SXoVOp8 a secret cutscene.]]

[[folder: First Person Shooters]]
* ''Half Life'':
** ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' had a demo named ''Half-Life Uplinked'', featuring a level that did not appear in the main game.

* ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'''s demo at E3 2003 was an original level set in what became the New Mombasa levels. While the core mechanics demonstrated in it (dual wielding, vehicle hijacking, and enemy Brutes) were kept in the final game, the demo levels ran on an entirely different engine that was said to crash if the player went just the slightest OffTheRails.

* The ''VideoGame/JediKnightIIJediOutcast'' [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Jedi_Knight_II:_Jedi_Outcast_demo demo]] was about investigating an enemy base that had no connection to the game itself.
* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'' had the demo ''Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt'' that was included in Nintendo DS packages. It has several differences with the final game notably the fact that there actually were Metroids in the demo and had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2N1SXoVOp8 a secret cutscene]].

* "KITCHEN", "Beginning Hour", and "Lantern", for ''Videogame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard''. None are referenced in the finished game, and "KITCHEN" is the only one that clearly ties into the canon story (accounting for one character's death which we know happened but otherwise don't see take place).

[[folder: Misc]]
* In the demo for VideoGame/{{Lemmings}} 2: The Tribes, four exclusive levels are featured, one of which is similar to one of the same name in the full version, but with slight differences.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' had a downloadable demo where you played as the male lead (named "Sun" in the demo). It features him arriving in Alola with his mom, but it's depicted in a completely different from the actual game. In the demo Sun receives a Greninja with an exclusive ability called Battle Bond, allowing him to turn into Ash Forme after defeating an enemy Pokémon[[note]]It's actually implied that this is [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Ash's own Greninja]], since the ability, the nearly-identic moveset and his birthdate being set on the date the episode where Ash got his Froakie first aired in Japan[[/note]], and then has to complete an Island Trial exclusive to the demo, set in Ten Carat Hill and featuring a Totem Hakamo'o. Completing the demo also allows to transfer the Greninja in the final game, alongside a bunch of items you get doing multiple subquests after completing the demo's main plot.

* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'': A cut-down promotional version of the first game, variously known as the "Raider Retreat" or "OEM" edition, contained the first four missions from the regular game and a fifth completely new one, which would later turn out to be [[DummiedOut cut content]] that was removed from the release version for being [[DifficultySpike unreasonably hard for that point in the game]] and not doing much to advance the plot.

* The demo for ''VideoGame/BookwormAdventures'' acts as a prequel for the game, explaining how Lex and Professor Codex first came across the Magic Pen. Notably, the final boss is Odin, who, despite being the TopGod of Norse mythology, is weaker than many of the other bosses in the full game. Go figure.

* ''VideoGame/SilentHills'' had one of the most prolific single cases of this in the form of ''PT'', which was quietly released on the Playstation Store masquerading as an indie game before the TwistEnding revealed that it was a '''P'''layable '''T'''easer for a new installment in the ''Franchise/SilentHill'' franchise. However, ''Silent Hills'' was later cancelled, meaning that ''PT'' now exists as its own island -- given how the demo is [[GenreShift mechanically unlike any other previous game]] (first-person exploration horror instead of third-person SurvivalHorror gameplay) and has such [[BottleEpisode a cerebral yet localized plot]], it's not even known exactly how representative of the final game it would have been.

* ''VideoGame/SilentHills'' (aka ''PT'') was meant to be this to a new ''Franchise/SilentHill'' game. However the game ended up [[{{vaporware}} being cancelled]] and eventually ''PT'' too was pulled from Playstation Store.