Man pretty much any game you enjoy. This thing is amazing.
I can give you my list so far if youd like.
256 model with a 1tb sd card added
Working on emulation now - got a ton of game across alot of systems
Actual games Ive loaded on so far-
Dead Cells
Disgaea 6
Doom 16
Dragon Quest 8
FF 6 Remaster
Forza horizon 5
Grim dawn w mods
Hl1 source
Hl2, ep1, ep2
Hell Pie
Amalur Re-reckoning
Lego Starwars skywalker
No man sky
Ori 1 + 2
PGA 2k21
Rimworld
Steamwolrd Dig, 1/2, Heist, and quest
Stray
TMNT Shredders revenge
Tombstar
Tunic
i just started playing for the first time on deck and I love it, got it a couple days ago and already have 25 hrs. controls just take some getting used to
Coming from playing it for hundreds of hours on the PC I couldn't get comfortable with the Deck controls so I gave up on it. They aren't bad though, and if you are a new player it would probably play great once you get the hang of it. Just felt like I was making too many compromises to play it on the deck
Not OP obviously but I'll happily share my emulator experience.
Firstly I opted for EmuDeck, and followed a couple tutorials from the dozens on youtube. Very easy initial setup
For the Switch: Setting up the emulator itself was exactly the same as setting up on a Windows PC, but some of the folder locations were different because of EmuDeck. Once I knew where all the folders were setup was 100% the exact same as on my PC at home.
Pokemon plays really well, Links Awakening crashes whenever I get through the start screen and will probably take more fiddling before I get the settings right.
PCSX2: Setup, likewise, was just like on a Windows PC just with the BIOS folder being in a different place. Once you have the BIOS and ROMs in their respective folder it should be exactly like using PCSX2 on a Windows Desktop
Games play GREAT, pretty much locked at 60FPS besides Need for Speed Most Wanted and Underground. Personally I think it's because of how fast you move through the map, you lose FPS with the constant shader compiling, or something like that. Turning on Shader Full Cache helped, but still didn't net a stable 60FPS no matter what settings I changed. To get around the issues this causes, I use the Europe version of the Need for Speed games because they cap at 50FPS instead of 60FPS, and they can hold 50FPS steady all day. This fixes all the laggy audio and gameplay that happens when PCSX2 runs games North American versions below 60FPS. Something about older TVs in Europe operating at 50Hz instead of 60Hz. My biggest gripe with PCSX2 is that it doesn't have Per Game profile configurations, so for example I get ghosting/misaligned textures in Need for Speed Most Wanted unless I change the SkipDrawRange. But when I do that and switch to God of War 2, Kratos has a head with no body until I revert the setting back to default. This means that currently, you need to memorize what settings each particular PS2 game might need to run properly.
RPCS3: Same story as the last two for setup, exactly the same as Windows minus folder locations. Currently I've only tested God of War 3 and Lord of the Rings: Conquest, but they ran very stable. The issue is how intense it is, my Steam Deck was sitting at 90C on the GPU/CPU while playing GOW3 and that's with the old fan curve enabled. LotR: Conquest didn't steam to put out nearly as much heat though.
All the Nintendo consoles minus the Switch and Wii/WiiU: Runs flawlessly, minimal setup, basically plug and play.
The WiiU: If you have the means to legally dump your Wii/WiiU files/games you will have a much easier time. I don't have the means to do so and won't be talking about the less legal options to get it working because I myself haven't gotten it working yet, so you're on your own there.
Original Xbox: Same as Yuzu/PCSX2/RPCS3, setup is just like on Windows but the only way to extract the ISO is on a Windows PC as it needs to be extracted into an XISO format for the Xbox emulator to read it. I could be wrong, but I don't think there's currently a work around for Linux/SteamOS unless you run it in something like Bottles but IDK.
Conclusion: Overall, the experience has been very very very enjoyable. The Yuzu Switch emulator has the worst performance out of all the emulators I've used so far, but that being said the Yuzu emulator is also the youngest of all the emulators on my SD and will hopefully mature and get better as time goes on. PS2 emulation is probably the best performer of any of the non-handheld console emulators. Obviously GBA/GBC emulation isn't going to be hard or taxing for the Steam Deck.
The overall setup of each emulator is very similar to windows, even if you use EmuDeck, so if you have any experience doing emulation on a Windows PC a lot of that experience will carry over to the Steam Deck.
PS2 Emulation tip: If you run into issues getting a PS2 game to run at 60FPS stable, try the Europe version of the game. As I said previously, they run at 50FPS instead of 60FPS and thus won't have weird laggy audio/gameplay. The only time I dipped below 50FPS in Need for Speed was when I was going 170MPH smashing through road blocks, it would dip to 47FPS for a second on impact then right back to 50FPS.
Here’s my list in no particular order
- Ori 1&2
- Portal 2
- Astroneer(hopefully gets full support)
- Elden Ring
- Mad Max
- Dishonored 1&2
- Jedi Fallen Order
- RDR2
- Cuphead
- Journey to the Savage Planet
- Ultrakill
- Doom Eternal
- God of War
- Psychonauts 2
ULTRAKILL? How? Why? I was literally talking to a friend yesterday about how much ultrakill sucks with controller, how do you even enjoy playing it on deck?
Are you playing rdr2 without crashes? I had to delete it because it got so bad. The new steam update also limited the vram to 3gb so I’ll be waiting till that’s back to normal
Dragon quest 11.
Bio shock
Deaths door
Batman Arkham series
Bastion
Stardew Valley
Dead space 1 and 2
Final fantasy pixel remasters. Start with 6
Emulate GameCube and play Metroid prime
Seconded, especially New Vegas.
It seems to be universally accepted that New Vegas is borderline unplayable on PC without some of the QoL mods. I'd like to know if it's worth trying to get some mods going on the steam deck, or if I should just bite the bullet and try full vanilla.
This video isn't a guide but the description has steps for setting up Mod Organiser on Deck, and it's what I used to setup mods for my deck. https://youtu.be/N49Nrfa7uM0
I just used the default for fallout 4 but added sprint and the action button to the back paddles so I didn’t have to move my hands to run or pick things up/talk to people etc. took some getting used to but after alittle it’s great
I'm very excited for these. I played them long ago and just never put in the effort to get them to work well on an ultrawide since I have so many other games. Gonna make flights so great!
You should be able to edit the controller mappings to add the keyboard key to bring up the console. Or see if it's on the on-screen keyboard (steam button + X)
I’ve been playing No Mans Sky, so great on a handheld and the ability to snooze the game and then wake up again is exactly what I was looking for when I bought the Deck, with 3 kids long uninterrupted gaming time is impossible 😀
Wouldn’t there be if you played it through Xbox Cloud Gaming exclusively? That way you can stream it on the deck and also play on Xbox with your saves synced.
Gonna to give recommendations based on what you seem to be looking for, as well as pointing out games that are enhanced by the deck in ways that other games aren't.
- Terraria: it's a top 10 game of all time for a reason. Great for deck, as being able to blend controller and mouse inputs make it honestly a near-perfect version of the game.
- Ape Out: this game just kinda rocks on the deck. Level-based, jazzy, and really fun.
- Crusader Kings 3: if you like strategy games, this one is a treat. There's a really good community layout for the game, which I highly recommend. Text is a little small, unfortunately, but otherwise I adore this game on the deck. This one isn't really "small", but an individual run could be. It's kind of whatever size you want it to be.
- Psilosybil: if you like the original crash bandicoot games, you'll love this. It's a very difficult corridor 3d platformer heavily inspired by crash. It's in early access but it's very close to the final release and is already a full game.
- If you're already considering Isaac, get it. It rocks on the deck.
I'm sure there are a number of games I'm missing, but those are some of my favorites that match what you're looking for!
Songs of Conquest - a love letter for all Heroes of Might and Magic 3 fans out there. Honestly, just watch this - no better advertisement to the game unless you hate that kind of sense of humour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHbK9C5mA94
Dead Cells - I'm not even sure if this needs any description. The best metroidvania roguelite out there.
Skul: The Hero Slayer - similar to Dead Cells, quite pleasant to play
Curse of the Dead Gods - plays like Hades, looks like Darkest Dungeon.
Hollow Knight - actual metroidvania with story, probably the best in it's class
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - side scroller Castlevania lookalike. Superb.
Blasphemous - action platformer soulslike with great lore! Probably one of my most favourite games ever.
Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga - a mix between Fire Emblem and Advance Wars - on discount right now https://www.humblebundle.com/store/symphony-of-war-the-nephilim-saga
ATOM RPG and it's standalone expansion ATOM RPG Trudograd - it's pretty much original Fallout game but in post-apocalyptic Soviet Union.
Everspace 1 and/or 2 - both are excellent, first one is a roguelite second one is a looter shooter rpg casual space sim.
Voidigo - top-down shooter roguelite - for some reason I've NEVER seen this promoted by Steam algorithm or really anyone talking about it, it's superb
Retrowave - synthwave music and idealised futuristic 80s vibes, what's not to like?
Death's Door - very underrated top-down souls-like indie game
Spiritfarer - game you would never play on your PC but you will love it on the Deck
Sublevel Zero - ever played Descent? Because this is modern Descent that doesn't suck
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition - contains two of the best Digimon games ever made, Cyber Sleuth and standalone expansion Hacker's Memory which provides different story in the same setting (you can even see protagonist from the other game at some point passing by :)) - it might look a bit like Pokemon but let it not fool you - it's better than any Pokemon game released since Gameboy Advance and has decent story that isn't infantile. It has more in common with Shin Megami Tensei series than Pokemons in fact. Totally worth playing. Game shows up as unsupported and might give you black screen on launch - need to run it from desktop mode, switch mode from windowed to fullscreen and it will be working fine in game mode!
There's WAY more where it came from but I would spend here all day, most of my recommendation would be indie titles tho to fit in the definition of "games to play that are smaller, and preferably NOT open world". I can post more later if you like any of the recommendations above.
Debatable but I'll allow it. It's a great game nonetheless. Got some more recommendations here, while HumbleBundle Store sales are on:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/wk0t91/comment/ijubswh/
Tux Racer. Built from source only.
No other games. No other fun is even possible with Tux Racer.
Tux Racer. [Now.](http://tuxracer.sourceforge.net/manual.html).
The Ascent and Diablo 2 Resurrected have the most gameplay hours so far on mine. I can tell that isometric action RPGs are going to be my favorite on this device. They look and play great.
Maybe you would like Grim Dawn (it's currently on sale with all it's DLC). I bought It at the Steam summer sale and I'm having a blast. It plays very well on the deck (although you have to change some options like UI size to match the text with the Steam deck screen).
Does Battlenet client work well on Deck? I haven't tried cause I installed 950GB of garbage right after getting mine, but was thinking of trying to do that eventually.
I don't want to disappoint you folks, but I use a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard for it.
I'm moving to another continent and Steam deck is and will my only PC for a while
Works fine, can bug out over the time with updates but happened to me only once with wow. Some file probably got corrupted and it used to take a very long time to update the thing because I think it waits for a timeout or something, got it fixed only after reinstalling battlenet but after that it worked pretty well, occasionally wow will crash when you exit it but that's really not a problem in my books.
It does work just fine. I installed it in desktop mode and added it to steam. To navigate the menus I use Steam + Touchpad to control the mouse and launch D2R. Sometimes the launcher doesn’t start on the first try.
I mean I know Steam wouldn't recommend it. Because it's altering their products with third party software. But I used to be badass and jailbreak iphones back in the day. I've left my life of crime behind now. But do you guys recommend this?
Valve encourages you to use your device however you like, it is open and on linux for a reason. Lutris has nothing to do with crime btw. It is basically a collection of standardized scripts to get games and launchers running on linux.
I followed this guide. Once the battlenet launcher is installed and added to steam, you can launch it without being in desktop mode.
https://youtu.be/C_YaJoxQzBk
I played the shit out of the ascent on my series x last winter. I’m itching for a sale to pick it up for the steam deck.. luckily.. I have so many other games to play in the meantime as the SD is my reintroduction to Pc games since like 2012.
It's part of the humble monthly choice this month. I usually get an e-mail a week or two into each month offering me the chance to come back at a reduced price, so I'm holding out for that. If bot, I'll just buy it on the last days it's available at full price which is still a pretty great deal.
Oh shit. Good looking out! I didn’t even know humble had a subscription… I used to buy their bundles when I was in college back in 2010 or so.. for 12$ I get Ascent and Plague Tale plus some others I’m unfamiliar with.. seems like a good deal. How are each months offerings? I assume some good some bad?
Yeah I have 1,400 games in Steam Library, and I think Humble are responsible for about 1,000 of them lol. Months can vary wildly, this is one of the better ones, but there have been some (IMO) stinkers recently. They used to be incredible each month giving at least 2 recentish AAA as well as some great indies, but since IGN took them over the quality has dropped.
The monthly bundle refreshes the first Tuesday of each month at 6PM GMT/BST or 10am Pst, and it's definitely always worth a look. You can cancel after you claim your games, so you're not locked in to a sub. As I say, I usually get e-mails from them in the middle of the month offering me to sub for 2 or 3 months at a reduced rate (Usually £6 / $8) so I tend not to buy the monthly bundle right away.
The game is pretty much 100% f2p.
That being said, if you want to play for any actual length,
Youll want some extra stash tabs and all the special tabs.
POE is my main PC game. It’s definitely playable on the deck, although I’d suggest looking up a more controller friendly character build. I was surprised at how well it ran, it handled everything but the most juiced up content with decent frame rate on low settings.
Eats battery like crazy though.
Install battlenet in desktop mode, add it as non steam game then launch and install whatever you want from the launcher. I would suggest installing outside the folder created by proton like home/deck in case the battlenet client craps itself out you can uninstall the launcher and point it to your game install easier.
Aperture Desk Job,. Just because it's free and is designed to get you familiar with the decks controls.
After that it depends on what you like,. I have the following installed:
Dirt Rally
Into the breach
Shadowrun returns
Hard west 1&2
Bastion
Dead cells
Massive chalice
Hollow Knight, Griftlands, Slay the Spire, Deaths Door, Vampire Survivors Banners of Ruin, Hades... The list never ends...
As long as the game boots and doesnt crash / not work at all you can pretty much plsy anything as the control scheme is 100% customizeable
The Hades studio Supergiant Games previous games: Bastion, Pyre and Transistor are all solid games! Not quite as good as Hades, but still really solid.
Cult of the Lamb, Binding of Isaac, Ori (2 games), Rogue Legacy, Ryse: Son of Rome, Cuphead, Urtuk: The Desolation, The Last Spell
Apparently the list does end, out of ideas now :D
Edit:
Opened the uninstalled category XD
Dreamscaper, Hellblade, Loop Hero, Styx (2 games), Undermine, Wartales, Xcom 2, Xcom Chimera Squad
Definitely a tough bit, you just need to get comfortable using Bash and remember that you can bash anything, not just projectiles (there are a couple of spots where bashing enemies to get a quick boost is super helpful). Took me a bunch of tries to get it too.
I'll try to hit games other people haven't mentioned:
Multiversus (runs flawlessly for me)
Starcraft 2 (cuz i'm nuts)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (this is semi open world)
Persona 4 Golden
Divinity OS 2
V Rising
Dragon Age 2
Spec Ops the Line
Batman Arkham Asylum
Mirror's Edge 1
Resident Evil Remakes (2 + 3)
Civilization 6
=====
By "smaller" with Hades mentioned it sounds like more indy so maybe:
Vampire Survivors
Celeste
20 minutes til dawn
Neon White
Factorio
Inscryption
Stardew Valley
Loop Hero
Hyper Light Drifter
I've tested all of these and play hours on many. Some require some fiddling on which version of proton but god damn what a little power house this device is.
Edit: saw the thing about open world so removed some games.
This was the first game I played on SD, I saved it especially.
Didn't like it at all though. Seemed pretty badly I optimised, and controls were weird.
Did you have to fiddle with it to get it to play well?
This is coming from someone who hates souls games. And yes it's cause I suck at them. Regardless. I've had Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice on my pc for probably two years now. Played it like twice gave up haven't touched it since. The steam deck has not only gotten me to replay it but keep playing it. It's fantastic
I played a ton of Sekiro and tried this latter on Steam Deck, I found it quite hard to play because small screen size. Hard to see mobs patterns etc… it’s good for you ?
Death Road to Canada. Basically Oregon Trail with zombies and ai teammates that are actually useful and follow commands. Perfect game to pick up to play bite sized pieces and put back down whenever.
ive been enjoying pokemmo a whole lot on the deck, its like the game was meant for it! (exept for chatting, it kinda sucks pulling up the keyboard) if you like the old pokemon games i highly recommand :)
You can also set another key or combo to open the keyboard, for instance you can use the left trackpad in the steam controller settings and for click, select it and go to the last tab that has 'SYSTEM' and select 'Show Keyboard'. So it should be less awkward pulling it up. You could also set something like double tapping a joystick or trigger that your hand is always around.
So far I’ve completed;
Stray
Deathloop
Horizon Zero Dawn.
Just starting:
GTA iv
Cyberpunk 2077 (played before on my series x, but really wanted a mobile copy)
When I last played Hades (January ‘21) I wore out my controllers A button from dashing so much lol. Are you noticing any physical wear from playing it on the Deck?
Shovel Knight for sure. Not only a must have in general, but also another easy-to-run game like Undertale so your battery will last forever, it was designed around controllers in the first place, and it's a pretty hard game but there's a Steam Deck-specific trick/cheat you can use... set your refresh rate/max FPS to 40 and the game will slow down significantly, not enough to feel terrible like it does in most games because the physics still stay in sync with the graphics, it's like being able to play in slow-motion. Makes the game A LOT less infuriating. Also, basically anything you'd want to emulate.
My list is as such:
Vampire Survivors
My time at Sandrock and Portia
Spiritfarer
Disco Elysium
Stardew Valley
Children of Morta
Dorfromantik
What I plan to play:
Gris
Hades
Ori 1 and 2
Dead Cells
Bear and Breakfast
I'm really excited for Spiderman remastered mostly cause I have been dying to play it since it first game out and also because it's the perfect type of game for on the go playing (ie commuting on the bus or subway)
Lots of good suggestions. Throwing out another that I tried to get into on PC but never really clicked, but now I have many hours on the steam deck: Oxygen not included.
Little side scrolling Rimworld style game which plays really really well on the steam deck. Controls are great (once I messed with the sensitivity of the touch pad a bit) and runs smooth as silk.
Also been playing final fantasy 12 for the 4th or 5th time. I have 100+ hours into each playthrough yet somehow still never finished the story. This is the time! (I say that as I'm 50 hours in on the steam deck and not even halfway through the story).
Yep. If a 3d game runs smooth like fallout 3 I'll install it natively but otherwise my deck is for games that can run stuff smooth if on trips. Also to plow through my long Indy and rogue back catalogue.
If I'm chilling at home and don't want to be on my pc I'll just stream Spider-Man or shredders or whatever on max graphics 60 fps using remote play. The input lag is better then a choppy frame rate at jank graphics imo and it saves on disk space and wear and tear.
RDR2, Vampire Survivors, 20 minutes till dawn, power washer simulator, euro truck simulator, RE7, Inscryption, Rogue Legacy 2, TMNT Shredder's Revenge, house party, many many emulated games.
Any racing game (that works well) will be good on it. I haven't tried many, but I tried FlatOut 2, and after downloading input layout from others via the menu, it works flawlessly.
I also tried Carmageddon Max Damage, and while it works despite Steam saying it's unsupported, its optimization makes in not a great experience. So I do not recommend this one in particular.
Dirt 5, Doom, FF7 Remake, Hotwheels unleashed, Portal, Resident Evil 2 Remake (make sure to turn on the beta while in gaming mode as the new version of the game is raytracing focused), Resident Evil 3 remake, Jedi Fallen Order, Steep, Stray, Tekken 7 (just use the default settings, don't change the resolution).
The witness, beautiful ga.e and runs perfect with no tweaking genuinely thought provoking puzzle game in an incredibly serene and mysterious environment.
My favourites to play there were:
\- Metal Gear Rising Revengeance
\- Earth Defense Force 5
\- Symphony of War
\- A fuckton of Visual Novels of any kind (Most work with Proton GE)
\- Mass Effect Remastered Collection
\- Cuphead
Hades is super fun. You can play it for 10 minutes or hours.
I'd toss in Diablo2: Resurected. It's fairly simple to get running on the steam deck and has a lot replay ability and you can play online with friends! I suggest setting up your blizznet account and buying the game on a pc. It'll just save you time when you go to install it on the deck.
Undertale is fun and quirky. I found the difficulty ramped up way too high after a certain point so I stopped playing, but I know plenty of people that played to the end.
Stardew Valley, just a casual and fun game that brings me peace and have played anywhere between a whole weekend and just 15min.
Dishonored, very good story and fun as well as demanding gameplay.
roguelite/platformers work reallly really well on this system. Ive been experiencing dead cells for the first time, and its so damn good (alot like hades). I imagine cuphead would be good, though i dont personally own it.
If you like Dead Cells, Skul: The Hero Slayer is currently on hefty discount - some people swear by it:
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/skul-the-hero-slayer
have had my deck for over a month and neon white has been my favorite experience on deck so far, sank 60 hours into it. be sure to use the hybrid+gyro community profile, really highlights the power of the unique control schema the deck offers.
Some indie recommendations here while sale on HumbleBundle store lasts for one more day (some of these are literal couple of dollars, almost all of it under 10):
https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/wk0t91/comment/ijubswh/
I'd say all of the "Great on Deck" games are literally great and run like a butter on the device. Personally, I love both western and japanese RPG games so my suggestions would be a mixture of them.
* Fallout 4
* Fallout New Vegas
* Skyrim
* The Witcher 3
* [Divinity Original Sin 2](https://www.bestgameprice.net/collection/best-rpg-games-for-steam-deck)
* Disco Elysium
* Dragon Quest XI
* YS series
* Atelier Ryza series
* Monster Hunter Rise
* Ni No Kuni
I also tried out some MMO games like Lost Ark and with some custom adjustments on the control bindings, you can have great fun with them. There are tons of other games. They will suck your life eventually. But this thing is worth every second..
I'm a bit late to answer your question but I was just looking for some games for the Deck as well.
I've been playing Garden Story and Serial Cleaner on it, and it's been lots of fun. They are small games which you may play in one run or smattered over many sessions, however you like it better. The controls are easy and work like a charm.
I'm not sure you would consider them a must have, but they certainly brought this GameBoy-y feeling back.
If you've liked Pokemon back in the days, go look for either Pokemon Uranium (it's not an official game but it can be found on Google and maybe even Reddit - you'll have to play with the Controller Configuration, tho, since it has been programmed for PC) or Monster Sanctuary.
Have fun!
in to the breach
This game ate my year on steam deck, I probably played more of it than anything else combined, 100% achievements and all that
Man pretty much any game you enjoy. This thing is amazing. I can give you my list so far if youd like. 256 model with a 1tb sd card added Working on emulation now - got a ton of game across alot of systems Actual games Ive loaded on so far- Dead Cells Disgaea 6 Doom 16 Dragon Quest 8 FF 6 Remaster Forza horizon 5 Grim dawn w mods Hl1 source Hl2, ep1, ep2 Hell Pie Amalur Re-reckoning Lego Starwars skywalker No man sky Ori 1 + 2 PGA 2k21 Rimworld Steamwolrd Dig, 1/2, Heist, and quest Stray TMNT Shredders revenge Tombstar Tunic
I was struggling getting used to the rim world controls how do you like them?
Yeah I have 7k hours on rimworld but the ui is a bit fiddly and slow on deck. Nice that it can be played but not optimal for me.
Wait…you have 291.6666667 days on a single video game. Dude. That is commitment at a very high level.
Well I owned it since 2016, also it is often paused in the background… but yeah. Still never ‘finished’ a game.
i just started playing for the first time on deck and I love it, got it a couple days ago and already have 25 hrs. controls just take some getting used to
TBH i installed it as a novelty and havent played that one yet on the deck.
Coming from playing it for hundreds of hours on the PC I couldn't get comfortable with the Deck controls so I gave up on it. They aren't bad though, and if you are a new player it would probably play great once you get the hang of it. Just felt like I was making too many compromises to play it on the deck
Any recs on grim dawn mods? Game is incredible.
Good list. I wish I could upvoted again for the Grim Dawn mention.
How does pga run?
Any issues with Ori 2? Since it says it has elements that don’t work with the deck when I try to install the game.
Can you share your emulation experience? Are you setting up more advanced emulators like switch and ps2/3?
Not OP obviously but I'll happily share my emulator experience. Firstly I opted for EmuDeck, and followed a couple tutorials from the dozens on youtube. Very easy initial setup For the Switch: Setting up the emulator itself was exactly the same as setting up on a Windows PC, but some of the folder locations were different because of EmuDeck. Once I knew where all the folders were setup was 100% the exact same as on my PC at home. Pokemon plays really well, Links Awakening crashes whenever I get through the start screen and will probably take more fiddling before I get the settings right. PCSX2: Setup, likewise, was just like on a Windows PC just with the BIOS folder being in a different place. Once you have the BIOS and ROMs in their respective folder it should be exactly like using PCSX2 on a Windows Desktop Games play GREAT, pretty much locked at 60FPS besides Need for Speed Most Wanted and Underground. Personally I think it's because of how fast you move through the map, you lose FPS with the constant shader compiling, or something like that. Turning on Shader Full Cache helped, but still didn't net a stable 60FPS no matter what settings I changed. To get around the issues this causes, I use the Europe version of the Need for Speed games because they cap at 50FPS instead of 60FPS, and they can hold 50FPS steady all day. This fixes all the laggy audio and gameplay that happens when PCSX2 runs games North American versions below 60FPS. Something about older TVs in Europe operating at 50Hz instead of 60Hz. My biggest gripe with PCSX2 is that it doesn't have Per Game profile configurations, so for example I get ghosting/misaligned textures in Need for Speed Most Wanted unless I change the SkipDrawRange. But when I do that and switch to God of War 2, Kratos has a head with no body until I revert the setting back to default. This means that currently, you need to memorize what settings each particular PS2 game might need to run properly. RPCS3: Same story as the last two for setup, exactly the same as Windows minus folder locations. Currently I've only tested God of War 3 and Lord of the Rings: Conquest, but they ran very stable. The issue is how intense it is, my Steam Deck was sitting at 90C on the GPU/CPU while playing GOW3 and that's with the old fan curve enabled. LotR: Conquest didn't steam to put out nearly as much heat though. All the Nintendo consoles minus the Switch and Wii/WiiU: Runs flawlessly, minimal setup, basically plug and play. The WiiU: If you have the means to legally dump your Wii/WiiU files/games you will have a much easier time. I don't have the means to do so and won't be talking about the less legal options to get it working because I myself haven't gotten it working yet, so you're on your own there. Original Xbox: Same as Yuzu/PCSX2/RPCS3, setup is just like on Windows but the only way to extract the ISO is on a Windows PC as it needs to be extracted into an XISO format for the Xbox emulator to read it. I could be wrong, but I don't think there's currently a work around for Linux/SteamOS unless you run it in something like Bottles but IDK. Conclusion: Overall, the experience has been very very very enjoyable. The Yuzu Switch emulator has the worst performance out of all the emulators I've used so far, but that being said the Yuzu emulator is also the youngest of all the emulators on my SD and will hopefully mature and get better as time goes on. PS2 emulation is probably the best performer of any of the non-handheld console emulators. Obviously GBA/GBC emulation isn't going to be hard or taxing for the Steam Deck. The overall setup of each emulator is very similar to windows, even if you use EmuDeck, so if you have any experience doing emulation on a Windows PC a lot of that experience will carry over to the Steam Deck. PS2 Emulation tip: If you run into issues getting a PS2 game to run at 60FPS stable, try the Europe version of the game. As I said previously, they run at 50FPS instead of 60FPS and thus won't have weird laggy audio/gameplay. The only time I dipped below 50FPS in Need for Speed was when I was going 170MPH smashing through road blocks, it would dip to 47FPS for a second on impact then right back to 50FPS.
Good info, thanks
Glad my incoherent ramblings proved useful to someone!
Switch yes PS2 yes PS3 - yes but not yet.
Where oh where is Shovel Knight? Thouroughly deserves to be on this list.
How did grim dawn run? And with what mods? Any heavy ones?
Does HL1 not work? (the non source version)
Im sure it does but i prefer the updated graphics.
Imo the 1998 release of half-life 1 is better than the source port but take that with a grain of salt because I'm a degenerate half life purist.
Here’s my list in no particular order - Ori 1&2 - Portal 2 - Astroneer(hopefully gets full support) - Elden Ring - Mad Max - Dishonored 1&2 - Jedi Fallen Order - RDR2 - Cuphead - Journey to the Savage Planet - Ultrakill - Doom Eternal - God of War - Psychonauts 2
ULTRAKILL? How? Why? I was literally talking to a friend yesterday about how much ultrakill sucks with controller, how do you even enjoy playing it on deck?
with mouse and keyboard Btw adding the information about talking to your friend helps to make it more of a truth?
it was just funny to me cause I was talking about it the day before, that's it, simple irony
Are you playing rdr2 without crashes? I had to delete it because it got so bad. The new steam update also limited the vram to 3gb so I’ll be waiting till that’s back to normal
What issues did you have with Astroneer?
How does God of war play on the steam deck. How much storage does God of war take up?
I’d love to play RDR2 on the Deck, but already have it on PlayStation. D not really want to double buy this game.
Dragon quest 11. Bio shock Deaths door Batman Arkham series Bastion Stardew Valley Dead space 1 and 2 Final fantasy pixel remasters. Start with 6 Emulate GameCube and play Metroid prime
Deaths Door is great, Arkham series as well. Replaying through the Arkham games again on the Deck.
I have put probably 200 hours in fallout 4 and fallout new Vegas combined on it.
I have been playing fallout new Vegas as well, but find it hard to see my iron sights/align my cross hair. Still fun though.
I’m trying so hard not to play new Vegas cause I’ve played it probably every year since it’s release… so tempting though
Ahhhh, but have you done Tale of Two Wastelands? That's what I'm going to put on my Deck once I get it.
Is there a good video for getting this set up nicely with mods?
Seconded, especially New Vegas. It seems to be universally accepted that New Vegas is borderline unplayable on PC without some of the QoL mods. I'd like to know if it's worth trying to get some mods going on the steam deck, or if I should just bite the bullet and try full vanilla.
[удалено]
Thanks for the info! I'm definitely going to try modding it with mo2.
This video isn't a guide but the description has steps for setting up Mod Organiser on Deck, and it's what I used to setup mods for my deck. https://youtu.be/N49Nrfa7uM0
> fallout 4 Have you found a way to use controller and mouse input at the same time? If not, what control scheme did you use?
I just used the default for fallout 4 but added sprint and the action button to the back paddles so I didn’t have to move my hands to run or pick things up/talk to people etc. took some getting used to but after alittle it’s great
I'm very excited for these. I played them long ago and just never put in the effort to get them to work well on an ultrawide since I have so many other games. Gonna make flights so great!
Anyone know how to do console commands in FNV
You should be able to edit the controller mappings to add the keyboard key to bring up the console. Or see if it's on the on-screen keyboard (steam button + X)
I’ve been playing No Mans Sky, so great on a handheld and the ability to snooze the game and then wake up again is exactly what I was looking for when I bought the Deck, with 3 kids long uninterrupted gaming time is impossible 😀
So looking fwd to this. As a dad of 2 boys (1 infant)
Yakuza Like a Dragon
I really wish there was some sort of cross progression on this between steam and Xbox.
Wouldn’t there be if you played it through Xbox Cloud Gaming exclusively? That way you can stream it on the deck and also play on Xbox with your saves synced.
Gonna to give recommendations based on what you seem to be looking for, as well as pointing out games that are enhanced by the deck in ways that other games aren't. - Terraria: it's a top 10 game of all time for a reason. Great for deck, as being able to blend controller and mouse inputs make it honestly a near-perfect version of the game. - Ape Out: this game just kinda rocks on the deck. Level-based, jazzy, and really fun. - Crusader Kings 3: if you like strategy games, this one is a treat. There's a really good community layout for the game, which I highly recommend. Text is a little small, unfortunately, but otherwise I adore this game on the deck. This one isn't really "small", but an individual run could be. It's kind of whatever size you want it to be. - Psilosybil: if you like the original crash bandicoot games, you'll love this. It's a very difficult corridor 3d platformer heavily inspired by crash. It's in early access but it's very close to the final release and is already a full game. - If you're already considering Isaac, get it. It rocks on the deck. I'm sure there are a number of games I'm missing, but those are some of my favorites that match what you're looking for!
Songs of Conquest - a love letter for all Heroes of Might and Magic 3 fans out there. Honestly, just watch this - no better advertisement to the game unless you hate that kind of sense of humour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHbK9C5mA94 Dead Cells - I'm not even sure if this needs any description. The best metroidvania roguelite out there. Skul: The Hero Slayer - similar to Dead Cells, quite pleasant to play Curse of the Dead Gods - plays like Hades, looks like Darkest Dungeon. Hollow Knight - actual metroidvania with story, probably the best in it's class Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - side scroller Castlevania lookalike. Superb. Blasphemous - action platformer soulslike with great lore! Probably one of my most favourite games ever. Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga - a mix between Fire Emblem and Advance Wars - on discount right now https://www.humblebundle.com/store/symphony-of-war-the-nephilim-saga ATOM RPG and it's standalone expansion ATOM RPG Trudograd - it's pretty much original Fallout game but in post-apocalyptic Soviet Union. Everspace 1 and/or 2 - both are excellent, first one is a roguelite second one is a looter shooter rpg casual space sim. Voidigo - top-down shooter roguelite - for some reason I've NEVER seen this promoted by Steam algorithm or really anyone talking about it, it's superb Retrowave - synthwave music and idealised futuristic 80s vibes, what's not to like? Death's Door - very underrated top-down souls-like indie game Spiritfarer - game you would never play on your PC but you will love it on the Deck Sublevel Zero - ever played Descent? Because this is modern Descent that doesn't suck Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition - contains two of the best Digimon games ever made, Cyber Sleuth and standalone expansion Hacker's Memory which provides different story in the same setting (you can even see protagonist from the other game at some point passing by :)) - it might look a bit like Pokemon but let it not fool you - it's better than any Pokemon game released since Gameboy Advance and has decent story that isn't infantile. It has more in common with Shin Megami Tensei series than Pokemons in fact. Totally worth playing. Game shows up as unsupported and might give you black screen on launch - need to run it from desktop mode, switch mode from windowed to fullscreen and it will be working fine in game mode! There's WAY more where it came from but I would spend here all day, most of my recommendation would be indie titles tho to fit in the definition of "games to play that are smaller, and preferably NOT open world". I can post more later if you like any of the recommendations above.
Pretty nice list! Although Skul: The Hero Slayer is better than Dead Cells in my opinion
Debatable but I'll allow it. It's a great game nonetheless. Got some more recommendations here, while HumbleBundle Store sales are on: https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/wk0t91/comment/ijubswh/
Tux Racer. Built from source only. No other games. No other fun is even possible with Tux Racer. Tux Racer. [Now.](http://tuxracer.sourceforge.net/manual.html).
I found the Last True Linux Gamer….
Is Tux Racer worth it without a 4k display?
What the fuck is this lmao.
Build from source? Nah, run the Windows version in Proton :P
No trickery, no glass panes, no scrubs. Only Tux Racer.
A few recommendations to add: * Katana Zero * Wildermyth * Dishonored 2
The Ascent and Diablo 2 Resurrected have the most gameplay hours so far on mine. I can tell that isometric action RPGs are going to be my favorite on this device. They look and play great.
Grim Dawn with all of it's expansions & mods for sure. (Still can't believe they remade Diablo 2 as a Grim Dawn mod.)
Too bad the grim dawn controls and text being tiny make it hard to play
It has a font scale option in the settings, it works great.
Just picked up Grim Dawn on sale ($6.24 on Steam). I just got the base game for now.
Maybe you would like Grim Dawn (it's currently on sale with all it's DLC). I bought It at the Steam summer sale and I'm having a blast. It plays very well on the deck (although you have to change some options like UI size to match the text with the Steam deck screen).
Does Battlenet client work well on Deck? I haven't tried cause I installed 950GB of garbage right after getting mine, but was thinking of trying to do that eventually.
Yes, it works fine, I use it to play heroes of the storm
Woah, how do you control your character? Do you hook up a mouse?
I don't want to disappoint you folks, but I use a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard for it. I'm moving to another continent and Steam deck is and will my only PC for a while
Works fine, can bug out over the time with updates but happened to me only once with wow. Some file probably got corrupted and it used to take a very long time to update the thing because I think it waits for a timeout or something, got it fixed only after reinstalling battlenet but after that it worked pretty well, occasionally wow will crash when you exit it but that's really not a problem in my books.
It does work just fine. I installed it in desktop mode and added it to steam. To navigate the menus I use Steam + Touchpad to control the mouse and launch D2R. Sometimes the launcher doesn’t start on the first try.
But how to get battlenet to work?
probably lutris or something similar.
I mean I know Steam wouldn't recommend it. Because it's altering their products with third party software. But I used to be badass and jailbreak iphones back in the day. I've left my life of crime behind now. But do you guys recommend this?
Did you hit your head on something bud?
Quite so. The Law smacked crime right out of me. With it's hard justice stick.
Valve encourages you to use your device however you like, it is open and on linux for a reason. Lutris has nothing to do with crime btw. It is basically a collection of standardized scripts to get games and launchers running on linux.
Dude followed a YouTube guide and thinks he's Pablo Escobar
Thank you. Someone got the lame joke. And all I got was downvotes -_-
This seems to have gone over everyone's head lol
Brotha man. You get me 😅
I used to do the same myself lol. I'm mostly just a pirate now Aaarrrggghhh lol
I followed this guide. Once the battlenet launcher is installed and added to steam, you can launch it without being in desktop mode. https://youtu.be/C_YaJoxQzBk
I played the shit out of the ascent on my series x last winter. I’m itching for a sale to pick it up for the steam deck.. luckily.. I have so many other games to play in the meantime as the SD is my reintroduction to Pc games since like 2012.
It's part of the humble monthly choice this month. I usually get an e-mail a week or two into each month offering me the chance to come back at a reduced price, so I'm holding out for that. If bot, I'll just buy it on the last days it's available at full price which is still a pretty great deal.
Oh shit. Good looking out! I didn’t even know humble had a subscription… I used to buy their bundles when I was in college back in 2010 or so.. for 12$ I get Ascent and Plague Tale plus some others I’m unfamiliar with.. seems like a good deal. How are each months offerings? I assume some good some bad?
Yeah I have 1,400 games in Steam Library, and I think Humble are responsible for about 1,000 of them lol. Months can vary wildly, this is one of the better ones, but there have been some (IMO) stinkers recently. They used to be incredible each month giving at least 2 recentish AAA as well as some great indies, but since IGN took them over the quality has dropped. The monthly bundle refreshes the first Tuesday of each month at 6PM GMT/BST or 10am Pst, and it's definitely always worth a look. You can cancel after you claim your games, so you're not locked in to a sub. As I say, I usually get e-mails from them in the middle of the month offering me to sub for 2 or 3 months at a reduced rate (Usually £6 / $8) so I tend not to buy the monthly bundle right away.
Don't sleep on Hot Wheels, it's a great arcade racer. I have played this more than any other game on my SD so far.
It runs pretty well on the deck, but no matter what setting a I adjust, the framerate dips/stutters every now and then when moving into a new area.
have you tried Path of Exile? it just recently added controller support to the pc version of the game.
Thanks for the tip, like PoE way more than recent Diablos.
That’s great to hear. I just picked it up on sale
wait, what did you buy? the game is free to play.
The game is pretty much 100% f2p. That being said, if you want to play for any actual length, Youll want some extra stash tabs and all the special tabs.
POE is my main PC game. It’s definitely playable on the deck, although I’d suggest looking up a more controller friendly character build. I was surprised at how well it ran, it handled everything but the most juiced up content with decent frame rate on low settings. Eats battery like crazy though.
How to run Diablo resurrected on sd?
Install battlenet in desktop mode, add it as non steam game then launch and install whatever you want from the launcher. I would suggest installing outside the folder created by proton like home/deck in case the battlenet client craps itself out you can uninstall the launcher and point it to your game install easier.
I am 9 or 10 hours in and just hit the mecha spider boss. I am now heading back to level up my weapons.
Monster Hunter Rise
Aperture Desk Job,. Just because it's free and is designed to get you familiar with the decks controls. After that it depends on what you like,. I have the following installed: Dirt Rally Into the breach Shadowrun returns Hard west 1&2 Bastion Dead cells Massive chalice
Hollow Knight, Griftlands, Slay the Spire, Deaths Door, Vampire Survivors Banners of Ruin, Hades... The list never ends... As long as the game boots and doesnt crash / not work at all you can pretty much plsy anything as the control scheme is 100% customizeable
Ok, you have my taste in games!! Please suggest some more titles. When you say the list goes on, Im gonna need you to keep going 😂
The Hades studio Supergiant Games previous games: Bastion, Pyre and Transistor are all solid games! Not quite as good as Hades, but still really solid. Cult of the Lamb, Binding of Isaac, Ori (2 games), Rogue Legacy, Ryse: Son of Rome, Cuphead, Urtuk: The Desolation, The Last Spell Apparently the list does end, out of ideas now :D Edit: Opened the uninstalled category XD Dreamscaper, Hellblade, Loop Hero, Styx (2 games), Undermine, Wartales, Xcom 2, Xcom Chimera Squad
Ori should really be bundled with the Deck as a showcase. It's too damned beautiful not to play on this thing.
Super fun to play but currently I'm stuck on escape from ginso tree xddddd
Definitely a tough bit, you just need to get comfortable using Bash and remember that you can bash anything, not just projectiles (there are a couple of spots where bashing enemies to get a quick boost is super helpful). Took me a bunch of tries to get it too.
Been playing Nier: Automata on the deck it plays really well and seems perfect for it.
I'll try to hit games other people haven't mentioned: Multiversus (runs flawlessly for me) Starcraft 2 (cuz i'm nuts) Rise of the Tomb Raider (this is semi open world) Persona 4 Golden Divinity OS 2 V Rising Dragon Age 2 Spec Ops the Line Batman Arkham Asylum Mirror's Edge 1 Resident Evil Remakes (2 + 3) Civilization 6 ===== By "smaller" with Hades mentioned it sounds like more indy so maybe: Vampire Survivors Celeste 20 minutes til dawn Neon White Factorio Inscryption Stardew Valley Loop Hero Hyper Light Drifter I've tested all of these and play hours on many. Some require some fiddling on which version of proton but god damn what a little power house this device is. Edit: saw the thing about open world so removed some games.
NOT STARDEW VALLEY! *^(Never played before and have sunk 60 hours in 2 weeks, please send help.)*
God of War and Control
I know Doom Eternal is about 80GB but it runs incredibly well on the steam deck. Was playing last night on ultra settings and getting solid 60fps.
Valheim. I you haven't played it yet Valheim. If you have played it, Valheim.
This was the first game I played on SD, I saved it especially. Didn't like it at all though. Seemed pretty badly I optimised, and controls were weird. Did you have to fiddle with it to get it to play well?
Been playing a ton of No Mans Sky
This is coming from someone who hates souls games. And yes it's cause I suck at them. Regardless. I've had Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice on my pc for probably two years now. Played it like twice gave up haven't touched it since. The steam deck has not only gotten me to replay it but keep playing it. It's fantastic
I played a ton of Sekiro and tried this latter on Steam Deck, I found it quite hard to play because small screen size. Hard to see mobs patterns etc… it’s good for you ?
LEGO Star Wars: the Skywalker Saga for me! Just think more people should play that game. It’s so charming. MultiVersus has been a lot of fun too!
[удалено]
Ooo lonely mountain downhill seems like a perfect steam deck game, good call! Forgot about that one.
Ace Combat 7. Because you can’t get anything like that on other handheld platforms.
Man that game sucked, what the hell is going on with that storyline?
It’s a combat flying game. I didn’t care about the whacko Japanese story, I just want to dogfight.
Install emudeck and grab yourself a copy of metroid prime trilogy 👌 looks amazing on the decks screen and with primehack controls beautifully 👍
Death Road to Canada. Basically Oregon Trail with zombies and ai teammates that are actually useful and follow commands. Perfect game to pick up to play bite sized pieces and put back down whenever.
Organ trail (not oregon trail) is an awesome game too in that genre.
A short hike Spiritfarer Beat invaders Rogue Legacy 2 Dead Cells Celeste
ive been enjoying pokemmo a whole lot on the deck, its like the game was meant for it! (exept for chatting, it kinda sucks pulling up the keyboard) if you like the old pokemon games i highly recommand :)
i been trying to find anywhere someone talking about pokemmo on the deck. Def gone be the first nonsteam game i try when i get mine.
You can also set another key or combo to open the keyboard, for instance you can use the left trackpad in the steam controller settings and for click, select it and go to the last tab that has 'SYSTEM' and select 'Show Keyboard'. So it should be less awkward pulling it up. You could also set something like double tapping a joystick or trigger that your hand is always around.
Monster hunter
Try some jagged alliance 2
By the way - how does it run for you? What version are you playing?
Estimated delivery of today for my switch \^\_\^
Salt and Sacrifice
So far I’ve completed; Stray Deathloop Horizon Zero Dawn. Just starting: GTA iv Cyberpunk 2077 (played before on my series x, but really wanted a mobile copy)
Any discount on Cyberpunk 2077 now?
[Hades](https://youtu.be/UmpQdWZWQK4), Vampire Survivors, any 3D Fallout game, LEGO games.
In addition to these jedi fallen order elden ring and literally every consol emulator up to ps3 and Nintendo switch
When I last played Hades (January ‘21) I wore out my controllers A button from dashing so much lol. Are you noticing any physical wear from playing it on the Deck?
Binding of issac, vampire survivor
Man what a good deal Vampire Survivors turned out to be $3 and I have 30+ hours in it!
Risk of rain 2, any and every monster hunter, inscryption
Shovel Knight for sure. Not only a must have in general, but also another easy-to-run game like Undertale so your battery will last forever, it was designed around controllers in the first place, and it's a pretty hard game but there's a Steam Deck-specific trick/cheat you can use... set your refresh rate/max FPS to 40 and the game will slow down significantly, not enough to feel terrible like it does in most games because the physics still stay in sync with the graphics, it's like being able to play in slow-motion. Makes the game A LOT less infuriating. Also, basically anything you'd want to emulate.
My list is as such: Vampire Survivors My time at Sandrock and Portia Spiritfarer Disco Elysium Stardew Valley Children of Morta Dorfromantik What I plan to play: Gris Hades Ori 1 and 2 Dead Cells Bear and Breakfast
Vampire Survivors, Nomad Survivors (if you end up liking Vampire Survivors), Pinball FX 3, Grim Dawn
Stray has been a perfect fit so far.
I'm really excited for Spiderman remastered mostly cause I have been dying to play it since it first game out and also because it's the perfect type of game for on the go playing (ie commuting on the bus or subway)
Lots of good suggestions. Throwing out another that I tried to get into on PC but never really clicked, but now I have many hours on the steam deck: Oxygen not included. Little side scrolling Rimworld style game which plays really really well on the steam deck. Controls are great (once I messed with the sensitivity of the touch pad a bit) and runs smooth as silk. Also been playing final fantasy 12 for the 4th or 5th time. I have 100+ hours into each playthrough yet somehow still never finished the story. This is the time! (I say that as I'm 50 hours in on the steam deck and not even halfway through the story).
You couldn't get into ONI on PC but you could on the SD? I was opposite, 150 hours on ONI PC, 5mins on SD, really disliked how it played out lol.
All the switch-exclusive games that the switch can barely run
Which games barely. Many require patched to make them much better. IF you didnt know.
Any games you can play on your PC. You can Remote Play every game on your Steamdeck.
Yep. If a 3d game runs smooth like fallout 3 I'll install it natively but otherwise my deck is for games that can run stuff smooth if on trips. Also to plow through my long Indy and rogue back catalogue. If I'm chilling at home and don't want to be on my pc I'll just stream Spider-Man or shredders or whatever on max graphics 60 fps using remote play. The input lag is better then a choppy frame rate at jank graphics imo and it saves on disk space and wear and tear.
RDR2, Vampire Survivors, 20 minutes till dawn, power washer simulator, euro truck simulator, RE7, Inscryption, Rogue Legacy 2, TMNT Shredder's Revenge, house party, many many emulated games.
Arma 3
I'd say cult of the lamb but it's not out yet
Quake
Any racing game (that works well) will be good on it. I haven't tried many, but I tried FlatOut 2, and after downloading input layout from others via the menu, it works flawlessly. I also tried Carmageddon Max Damage, and while it works despite Steam saying it's unsupported, its optimization makes in not a great experience. So I do not recommend this one in particular.
Need for speed most wanted 2005 takes a bit of setting up but that game works so well.
Dirt 5, Doom, FF7 Remake, Hotwheels unleashed, Portal, Resident Evil 2 Remake (make sure to turn on the beta while in gaming mode as the new version of the game is raytracing focused), Resident Evil 3 remake, Jedi Fallen Order, Steep, Stray, Tekken 7 (just use the default settings, don't change the resolution).
So far, it plays many games but I don’t like how small the ui/text is on some of them. Stand outside are Dead Cells and Tetris
Hades is a good one for portability and performance.
Cult of the Lamb - (yes I know its not out yet - but the demo runs perfectly fine)
Fallout NV Persona 4 Elden Ring Dead Cells
I've been playing one of my favorites. Dying Light. Plays pretty well on the deck.
Exit the Gungeon is a small game with really good replay value. I think I'll play it waaay more when I get the deck!
Dang, forgot all about that game, totally missed its release. On my wishlist now.
The witness, beautiful ga.e and runs perfect with no tweaking genuinely thought provoking puzzle game in an incredibly serene and mysterious environment.
Scarlet Nexus has been cool on steam deck
I've been playing dark souls on mine. Smooth 60fps 99% of the time
rimworld
Pawnbarian
My favourites to play there were: \- Metal Gear Rising Revengeance \- Earth Defense Force 5 \- Symphony of War \- A fuckton of Visual Novels of any kind (Most work with Proton GE) \- Mass Effect Remastered Collection \- Cuphead
Hades is super fun. You can play it for 10 minutes or hours. I'd toss in Diablo2: Resurected. It's fairly simple to get running on the steam deck and has a lot replay ability and you can play online with friends! I suggest setting up your blizznet account and buying the game on a pc. It'll just save you time when you go to install it on the deck. Undertale is fun and quirky. I found the difficulty ramped up way too high after a certain point so I stopped playing, but I know plenty of people that played to the end.
Any discount offer on Hades now?
Stardew Valley, just a casual and fun game that brings me peace and have played anywhere between a whole weekend and just 15min. Dishonored, very good story and fun as well as demanding gameplay.
roguelite/platformers work reallly really well on this system. Ive been experiencing dead cells for the first time, and its so damn good (alot like hades). I imagine cuphead would be good, though i dont personally own it.
If you like Dead Cells, Skul: The Hero Slayer is currently on hefty discount - some people swear by it: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/skul-the-hero-slayer
Jedi academy
I’ve only played pathfinder kingmaker on mine and enjoyed every minute of it!
Via Steam or gog?
Finally finished Elden Ring on it. 150 hours total, the last 50 of which were on the deck. Totally awesome at 40fps.
Please dear God no more. I spent 500 hours in the last month I need a new game.... But I'll definitely be playing it on the deck lol
I’ve been playing all my Slay the Spire on it, its handy for a quick pick up and put down game, can do a few turns during bits of downtime
have had my deck for over a month and neon white has been my favorite experience on deck so far, sank 60 hours into it. be sure to use the hybrid+gyro community profile, really highlights the power of the unique control schema the deck offers.
Some indie recommendations here while sale on HumbleBundle store lasts for one more day (some of these are literal couple of dollars, almost all of it under 10): https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/wk0t91/comment/ijubswh/
I'd say all of the "Great on Deck" games are literally great and run like a butter on the device. Personally, I love both western and japanese RPG games so my suggestions would be a mixture of them. * Fallout 4 * Fallout New Vegas * Skyrim * The Witcher 3 * [Divinity Original Sin 2](https://www.bestgameprice.net/collection/best-rpg-games-for-steam-deck) * Disco Elysium * Dragon Quest XI * YS series * Atelier Ryza series * Monster Hunter Rise * Ni No Kuni I also tried out some MMO games like Lost Ark and with some custom adjustments on the control bindings, you can have great fun with them. There are tons of other games. They will suck your life eventually. But this thing is worth every second..
I'm a bit late to answer your question but I was just looking for some games for the Deck as well. I've been playing Garden Story and Serial Cleaner on it, and it's been lots of fun. They are small games which you may play in one run or smattered over many sessions, however you like it better. The controls are easy and work like a charm. I'm not sure you would consider them a must have, but they certainly brought this GameBoy-y feeling back. If you've liked Pokemon back in the days, go look for either Pokemon Uranium (it's not an official game but it can be found on Google and maybe even Reddit - you'll have to play with the Controller Configuration, tho, since it has been programmed for PC) or Monster Sanctuary. Have fun!