The Steam Deck, Valve’s ultra-powerful mini-computer, just arrived this year, and while there’s plenty of reason to check out one of the coolest gaming hardware out right now, the sheer number of games, don’t The trouble available on the device is proof enough of its success.
But Steam is a huge market, and not all games perform well on the Deck. While many popular games run fine on the device, some won’t launch, while others will have you chasing through various settings and scrolling through forums and posts. Reddit to find a solution. Fun for tech enthusiasts, but not ideal when you just want a great gaming experience. Valve has made this process easier by labeling certain games as “Verified” on the device, but sometimes that doesn’t always guarantee that the game will run without any problems. no problems.
Read more: The Steam Deck has had a phenomenal first year
Don’t worry, this list will guide you through the best experiences you can have in the first year of your Steam Deck’s life. All but one of these games are verified on the Deck. They work fine on first boot. That said, tweaking some settings here and there can make certain game experiences better for you, so I’ll point that out as relevant. Tweak the settings visually…can’t do it on Switch!
As you probably know, there are relatively simple ways to run non-Steam games on the Deck, but those we’ll deal with another time. This list focuses on great games that you are guaranteed to have instant access to.
Update 12/27/2022: Wrapping up 2022, we’ve now compiled this list of up to 20 great games you can play on the Steam Deck right now. To get to this number, we had to break a rule: We now have two games that are technically not “Verify Deck”, but are still completely playable.
Updated on October 21, 2022: The Steam Deck’s library is constantly growing and so is the list! I’ve added five new games to the main list and a new honorable mention. Nearly all of these games are Deck verified, but I made an exception for a specific title.
