


Simply moving around and auto-attacking sounds like a dreadfully dull premise but as the XP-unlocked weapon upgrades stack up, and the initial trickles of enemies become screen-filling bullet hell hordes, holding back the tide with time-stopping lasers and weaponised Bibles becomes almost hypnotically compelling. It’s a clever, surprising, and unrelentingly charming introduction to your new gadget, not a mention a reminder that Valve should really make more games.Īt the suggestion of several RPS readers (and with the implicit recommendation of, apparently, scores of other Steam Deck owners), I finally got round to playing Vampire Survivors. It’s essentially a free Steam Deck tutorial, designed to help you get used to the controls layout, but is entertainingly administered through a genuinely funny mini-jaunt through a pre-Portal Aperture Science. The short and sweet Aperture Desk Job isn’t just one of the best games to play on the Steam Deck – it should probably be the first one you try. Maybe more so, in some cases.įor more Valve handheld advice from someone who's perhaps spent too much of his thirties playing with one, check out the RPS guides to the best Steam Deck accessories and best microSD cards for the Steam Deck. These, like any game you'll find below, can be just as readily enjoyed between your mitts as they can on a gleaming p gaming monitor. It's also subject to change, hence why I’ve just added a few new games – from thoughtful nostalgia sim Dordogne to RPG megahit Diablo 4. Still, I’m hoping it might be at least a little helpful for new Steam Deck owners who might want some suggestions on what to play first. It’s not an RPS 100-style ranking and it certainly isn’t designed to start arguments in the comments. That’s why, as ever, I’m presenting this list with the proviso that the included games are simply ones that I’ve played and found to work particularly well on the Steam Deck. It’s half the handheld’s appeal in the first place: letting you play big chunks of your existing Steam library in a new, more portable way. In truth, though, there are absolutely heaps of games that run smoothly on the Steam Deck, and can be comfortably controlled by its buttons and thumbsticks (as opposed to strictly a mouse and keyboard).

Installing the worst Steam Deck games? No, idiot, that’s a terrible idea. If you’ve nabbed yourself a Steam Deck, my super-secret, hardware professional top tip is to get installing the best Steam Deck games.
