The best games on Steam Deck

Steam Deck is quickly becoming my preferred videogame platform because it supports almost every game I play. While I can say some games do benefit more from the portable laptop, there are others. To give you an idea of a play log, I’ve collected a dozen titles that have showcased what makes the Deck so special.

Don’t expect to see some PresumedThere are many contenders for the top spot. Some games are not compatible with Steam Deck. Valve is working to improve Proton which allows Windows-based Linux operating systems to run Linux-based software. This means that while Persona 4. Golden is playable, it’s got enough flaws (the earworm intro song doesn’t play!) It’s been removed from our wish list.

These are 12 games that kept me on my couch, with Steam Deck rather than sitting at my gaming computer.

[Ed. note: All screenshots in this article were taken on the Steam Deck.]

Meet the Steam Deck’s killer app. It’s not perfect — I play on low settings and occasionally experience frame rate dips — but Elden Ring works, and that’s all I need to farm souls (er, “runes”) in FromSoftware’s open-world expansion of its Dark Souls formula. This is You can play the gameThis has kept me up past midnight. I promise myself that I’ll stop once I see what’s at the end of a moss-lined cave or over a burning horizon, but then I see some new curiosity, and suddenly, I’m pummeling my way through another dungeon. My 15 minute grind turned into a 2-hour trip through labyrinthine, dungeons thanks to the convenience of my portable device.

So you’ve dropped half a grand on a portable video game machine capable of powering the most complex and expensive 3D video games on the planet. You can expect to spend dozens of hours playing a $2.99 2D Dungeon Crawler that almost plays by itself. Vampire SurvivorsThe unholy combination of clickers and roguelikes is known as the Gauntlet. The runs last between 10 and 30 minutes, pair well with audiobooks or podcasts, and take about 10-15 minutes. The developers have discovered the formula for a perfect portable game, but for the time being, you can’t find this one on Switch or smartphones.

Play in the best location Dragon Quest 11Over the years, things have changed. In 2018, the JRPG that would end all JRPGs was launched on Steam and PlayStation 4. A year later, a Nintendo Switch Definitive Edition added additional content so it could be enjoyed on the move. In 2020, the Definitive Edition was released on Steam. However, this version did not have the same portability as the Switch version. Players had to make a choice between convenience and visuals. People can have it all with the Steam Deck.

Available on the Nintendo Switch.

My blurb for Polygon’s best games of the 2010s applies to why Nier: Automatabelongs to every Steam Deck

Nier: AutomataThis is the one game that I find myself most drawn to instead of other open-world games and forgettable shooters. I think about it every week partly because its soundtrack is my favorite writing music, partly because its toys litter my desk, and mostly because it’s just that good. Although you must beat it at least five times, in retrospect, I wish that I could have had the opportunity to replay it more than five hundred times.

Volition built a Mars simulator for open-world terror in 2009 A bald space bro uses a hammer, construction-grade explosives and a machete to destroy landmarks and government offices. Red Faction, unlike its open-world colleagues, emphasized chaos and fun. Publisher THQ planned to convert Red Faction into a “transmedia” property, but little materialized beyond a mediocre sequel and a made-for-TV movie. The closest we’ve seen to a spiritual sequel is 2020’s TeardownThe indie game of heist, ‘The Blocker’ invites you to explore buildings built with chunky voxels. You should also install TeardownCheck out my Steam Deck.

Available on the Nintendo Switch.

Zero Escape: Nonary Games

Nine hours, nine persons, nine doorsAnd Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward These were the two most loved visual novels for the Nintendo DS and 3DS. Sony and Nintendo no longer support online shops for Vita or DS, so the 3DS online storefront is closing in 2023. Meanwhile, Nonary GamesThe bundle of the titles is still available on Steam today, just like it was when it first launched in 2017. There’s no danger that it will disappear anytime soon.

Spelunky HD kept my PlayStation Vita within arm’s reach long after Sony gave up on the cult portable. Mossmouth was the developer who ported last year. Spelunky and its sequel to the Nintendo Switch — and I finally moved my Vita into its long-term home in my storage bin of gaming artifacts. I won’t say the Steam Deck is a better home for Spelunky than the Switch, just that it’s another portable home. Every portable computer that is capable of playing Spelunky must be able and willing to play Spelunky.

Available on the Nintendo Switch.

Wildermyth made Polygon’s top 10 games of 2021 list by reimagining the D&D experience without the need for a part-time Dungeon Master. The combat is clever enough (your magic can convert any object into a deadly weapon), but I especially cherish its creator’s dedication to characters. They find partners and enemies, acquire weapons, battle scars and age to death. The quests can be broken down into 10 to 15 minute episodes that include story and combat. This makes it easy for you to fill any time gaps. The controls on Steam Deck do take a little practice, but the game has benefited from an active community of modders and storytellers, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see improved user-made control settings soon.

2004 Half-Life 2 helped launch Steam, attracting thousands of players to Valve’s then-unproven video game ecosystem. For joining Steam, users could get a first-person shooter which was well ahead of its time. Today, Half-Life 2 (and its pair of supplemental episodes) works as another example of Valve’s magic. It took me just a few seconds to get into City 17 after I had downloaded a PC game that I purchased nearly twenty years ago.

But what if Hideo Kujima wrote his opus but the majority of people thought it was a boring walking simulator? It happened, Reader! Death StrandingThis is my favorite game of the decade. It’s an amazing mix of all that you would expect to find in a Kojima Game: serious criticisms of capitalism, the problems of democracy and terrifying premonitions about global pandemics, earnest criticisms of capitalism, the hardships of democracy and a gig economy which has to support society, as well as enough mommy issues for a lifetime worth of therapy. It’s also fun. This game is very entertaining!

No, you don’t get to shoot much stuff, nor do you conquer the giant open-world map. However, you can help make the world more accessible for other players and build bridges and roads that are eventually destroyed by nature. Other games may ask you to be the world’s ruler. Death StrandingThis reminds you all that we are all just tourists, waiting to take off from this rock. Oh, and did I mention the poop bombs?

Plenty of folks didn’t give the game a shot on PlayStation 4 or PC. Perhaps the Steam Deck makes the game more accessible enough for a few curious players to give it a try. Death Stranding’s sticky, inky depths.