As a new, first time steam deck owner, what are the must have games?

Also any first timer tips are appreciated

23 comments

Mostly, it's the must-have Indie darlings, with a sprinkling of AAA fodder.

I've loved:

Rimworld

Yakuza 0

Slay The Spire

Dave the Diver

Dredge

I've found that I enjoy playing offbeat adventure games on the deck more than I did sat at a PC. Detention, Norco, Loretta, To The Moon, that sort of thing is perfect for playing in bed, propped against the pillows.

I'm personally a huge fan of project zomboid, though I had to tweak the controls a little to make it work well.

I'm sure Stardew Valley is a perfect match for the deck, but I've played it too much already.
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My pick

(Casual) Vampire survivors - Hades - Cup head

(Castelvania style) Hollow knight

(Open world) Cyberpunk 2077- Red Dead redemption- Elden Ring- Witcher 3

(Story) Control

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Vampire Survivors is basically mandatory at this point.

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The Binding of Isaac and Brotato are my most played by far. Both are on sale currently. Just one more run...

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Koikatsu

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Pick the genre you like and get started. I prefer the deck for short term bursts so I have all my roguelikes on it. Also bg3 for when the craving sets in.

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Do you have an existing Steam Library? Tons of games are verified on the deck. Anything with controller support is great.

If you haven't played them: brotato, Hades, and Stardew Valley are all perfect on the deck, off the top of my head

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- Ive never been on the steam website, so no library. Controller support, will my nintendo switch pro controller work with the deck?
  
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  It will, but he meant games that have control schemes designed for controller inputs, because that's the easiest way to get started with the deck in handheld.
  
  Steam input is extremely powerful and can be set up to make pretty much anything playable with the inputs the deck provides, but because the game won't tell you the controls (and you might need to manually set it up), it's more of an adjustment.
  
  While I ignore "deck verified", if you want to stay safe until you're more comfortable, valve's "great on deck" part of the store/library is pretty helpful.
  
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  Whilst I've got no particular suggestions for it, I'd suggest taking a look at humble bundle, they do games bundles (and other book/asset bundles) at very good prices, normally focusing on a genre/publishes/studio/franchise. This is how a lot of people get going with steam and start to build a library of games, the bundles are often cheaper than the listed price of a single game.
  
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  it should be supported.
  
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My must haves so far, have been Celeste, timelie, crosscode, and one step from eden.

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- Thanks
  
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I mean im a first time owner as well so take it with a grain of salt but I have played and enjoyed cyberpunk, starfield, baldurs gate, and harry potter.

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Any roguelikes you like. Though my picks for games would be Vampire Survivors, Slay the Spire, Dead Cells, and risk of rain 2.

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- How do you play Hotline Miami on controller? Feels awful, IMO, or I just suck at it.
  
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I have been enjoining Hollow Knight.

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My must haves would be

Enter The Gungeon - even if you aren’t great at it, the fact that it launches DIRECTLY into challenging gameplay means it works great on the go. You only need 4 minutes to get into the meat of enter the gungeon and I think in that way it is really elevated by being in mobile format.

Spelunky 2 - a modern classic, same point as above

Monster Train (my pick of the two) or Slay The Spire - ya knowww

Halls Of Torment - if you are into bullet heavens like vampire survivors

Idk hard to give recommendations without knowing more what you are into!

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I really enjoyed playing through Tunic on my Deck. I imagine Corpse Party (2021) would also be a great Deck game (I played the game before I got mine.)

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slay the spire brotato skyrim

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Project zomboid Boltgun Civ6

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Both of the Ori games

Celeste

Circuit Superstars

Forza Horizon 5
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I have been enjoining Hollow Knight.

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Besides maybe competitive shooters (and you can still try, and do well with practice), and games with many keyboard inputs (Terraria for me), anything you'd play on a normal PC. Not much changed in games I play since I got the Deck. And games like easier shooters (Borderlands) or mouse reliant games (flash games, in my case) still play well, so it really does seem like it's only those two specific types I mentioned.

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Dave the diver, great fishing game.

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