Essential Steam Deck games...

DHR

DHR

DHR

Soldato
Joined
30 Apr 2003
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I've not delved into Steam in a long while, however as counter intuitive as it may seem we've just had a baby, so I picked up a Steam Deck because I'm not going to be busy enough :cry:

Looking for games that fit the deck format well, that you can pickup periodically, but aren't just mindless grind and huge time investments?
 
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Door kickers action squad, Sky force reloaded, Pinball FX3, Warhammer inquisitor, grim dawn, Mortal Kombat 10/11, Maybe witcher 3 but not sure how this will run and quite in depth.
I have just got a Legion Go S and just started testing the above, apart from withcher 3
 
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there are loads. the steamdeck is capable of playing the majority of pc games. i use mine for anything remotely retrogamey but also the vast number of slightly older games in my library that I didn't get around to which were full on AAA back in the day.
but even games like Helldivers 2 are playable on low detail (however it's far from the best way to play it).
I just started terraria on mine. with the default controls is not v good but the top rated community rated profile is very good
 
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My essential list consists of..

The Binding of Isaac
Dredge
Hollow Knight
Hades
Breakpoint
The Drifter
Ori games
Vampire Survivors
 
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I'll echo Hades, Vampire Survivors and Stardew Valley as games that work really well and also chuck in:

Slay the Spire
Balatro
Brotato

I've got a full gaming PC so I tend to play the 'bigger' games on there but the steamdeck works so well for quick pick up and play sessions and with the 'turn off and turn on instant resume' setup, these type of games are perfect.
 
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Elden Ring / Balatro - the baby will be 16 in no time

I had twins this year and the deck has been an absolutely blessing in the early months
 
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bigmike20vt said:
there are loads. the steamdeck is capable of playing the majority of pc games. i use mine for anything remotely retrogamey but also the vast number of slightly older games in my library that I didn't get around to which were full on AAA back in the day.
but even games like Helldivers are playable on low detail (however it's far from the best way to play it).
I just started terraria on mine. with the default controls is not v good but the top rated community rated profile is very good
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Majority of 2d pixel art ones yes unless you want to play sub 30fps.
 
Fallout 4, Titanfall 2, Doom Eternal (and the older one) play great. Older FPSs like HL2 run brilliantly.

I've not been a fan of the beloved Brotato/Vampire survivor type games.
 
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Noxia said:
Majority of 2d pixel art ones yes unless you want to play sub 30fps.
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imo the steamdeck is (far) more capable than just that. I know it is almost universally hated but I finally started alien colonial marines on it after having since almost launch but not playing. now the launch disappointment has past it's not a bad game imo
 
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bigmike20vt said:
imo the steamdeck is (far) more capable than just that.
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I had the OLED one briefly and found its ability was very overblown, hence selling it. "Runs great on the deck!!!" usually meant you could start the game and get 30fps on 2005 settings for a few seconds before it dropped lower due to too much stuff happening. There was the odd fringe case where a game was well optimised but those are rare.

Edit. This is derailing the thread. My stance remains, stick with pixel art stuff because that's mostly what it can handle-ish. Good for the thing we can't talk about too.
 
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You can also get this "Lossless Scaling" app now on Steam which purports to double your frame rate. People seem to be raving about it on Youtube at the moment. Not tired it myself but I guess of PFS is too low in newish games it would be worth a try. Seems to its own page on Steam so must be kind of official.
 
Noxia said:
I had the OLED one briefly and found its ability was very overblown, hence selling it. "Runs great on the deck!!!" usually meant you could start the game and get 30fps on 2005 settings for a few seconds before it dropped lower due to too much stuff happening. There was the odd fringe case where a game was well optimised but those are rare.

Edit. This is derailing the thread. My stance remains, stick with pixel art stuff because that's mostly what it can handle-ish. Good for the thing we can't talk about too.
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Nah it's good input @Noxia I'm not expecting miracles and aren't that fussy these days unless it's to do with audio/video stuff.

I grew up in the golden pc era of pushing for 25-30fps so am more than happy that way most of the time :cry:

Great suggestions all thanks so much!
 
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I haven't actually played the game still, but I remember testing, I think it was monster Hunter rise and that amazingly ran at 60 FPS. Although I was only testing that in the starter town I never actually got into fights and stuff and it looked really good.

Edit. Oh theres also that thing where 45fps felt/looked good but I think that was OLED model only, something to do with the 90hz screen?
 
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I find mine really good for cRPGs, e.g. Divinity Original Sin 1&2, Wasteland 3, etc. Have just picked up WH40K Rogue Trader for it as well, and looking forward to another play through of BG3. While you said you don't want something with a huge time investment, I found that the turn based nature of those games works well with the whole "pick up and play for 10 minutes" thing. Similarly, I found the civilization games work well for the same reason - you can pick it up, play a turn, put it down whenever you have a few minutes.
 
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Haggisman said:
I find mine really good for cRPGs, e.g. Divinity Original Sin 1&2, Wasteland 3, etc. Have just picked up WH40K Rogue Trader for it as well, and looking forward to another play through of BG3. While you said you don't want something with a huge time investment, I found that the turn based nature of those games works well with the whole "pick up and play for 10 minutes" thing. Similarly, I found the civilization games work well for the same reason - you can pick it up, play a turn, put it down whenever you have a few minutes.
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Oh.. I was going to mention Rogue Trader actually as an example. That game for some reason is even really demanding on my desktop. I tried it on Steam deck and the only way to get it even remotely playable was to use that FSR thing and then it looked like what I imagine having cateracts would.

However, it was probably more jarring as I was playing it on both devices. If I was solely playing on Deck then maybe I'd have gotten used to it, not sure.
 
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Noxia said:
Oh.. I was going to mention Rogue Trader actually as an example. That game for some reason is even really demanding on my desktop. I tried it on Steam deck and the only way to get it even remotely playable was to use that FSR thing and then it looked like what I imagine having cateracts would.

However, it was probably more jarring as I was playing it on both devices. If I was solely playing on Deck then maybe I'd have gotten used to it, not sure.
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I think it only recently got verified - it was previously only "playable" due to performance issues, so maybe they optimised it since you tried it? I haven't actually installed it yet though, so maybe it's still bad :(
 
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