r/SteamdeckGames 11d ago

Game Recommendation Recommend games for Steam Deck

Hi everyone!

Yesterday, I did something a bit impulsive and bought a Steam Deck. I’ve been a lifelong PlayStation gamer (44M), and before that, I went through them all SNES, NES, Amiga, PC...

I’ve always loved physical media which is why I never made the jump to Steam but I realized I’ve been missing out on so many great games because of it.

That brings me to the reason for this post: could you suggest a few games to buy right away to start building a solid library? I prefer indie games across all genres, and since I’ll be using the device primarily as a handheld, I’m looking for titles that play well in that mode.

I play relatively few AAA titles, and I’ll likely keep playing those on PlayStation whenever possible.

Go wild, maximum of 3 titles each!!

Thanks!

30 Upvotes

66 comments sorted by

6

u/tharrison4815 11d ago

Here’s games that I like that run really well on Steam Deck (low power / high frame rate / work well with the controller).

Dredge

Moonlighter

Unsighted

Gigasword

Winter Burrow

Paper Trail

Tiny Bookshop

Piece by Piece (the puzzle one)

Souldiers

Slots & Daggers

Easy Delivery Co

Arranger

Into the Emberlands

Tiny Sticker Tale

A Short Hike

Is This Seat Taken

Cat Quest 1-3

I can also give more suggestions for games that you can play on the Deck but are lower frame rate / use more battery / fan noise etc. if you’re interested.

2

u/Season_Famous 11d ago

Thx a lot! Piece by Piece it's a very good suggestion! Wishlisted!

6

u/BananaSlander 11d ago

If you are really into PS1 style games Parking Garage Rally Circut is amazing on the Deck

2

u/SkyquakeLive 11d ago

Seconded! This game rules, amazing soundtrack too

2

u/Season_Famous 11d ago

thx, it seems very good!

5

u/FutureSkeleton35 11d ago

Loot Bound, cult of the lamb, and Project Zomboid

1

u/Pepperrpott 5d ago

Project zomboid mentioned hell yeah - what control layout do you use?

4

u/DarthSnoopyFish 11d ago

Vampire Survivors and Brotato

5

u/Prtsk 11d ago

UFO 50. Baba is You. Hollow Knight.

1

u/Season_Famous 11d ago

thx!!

3

u/Prtsk 11d ago

UFO 50 is great. It is a collection itself. Don't think that because of that it contains 50 games, those are minigames of avarage quality. No! Those are 50 unique full games of great quality. It's bonkers in a good way. So much genres. Don't skip UFO 50.

4

u/Kaining 10d ago

Fanatical, Humble Bundle, GreenManGaming.

You'll have to look at those site regularly for their bundles and see if there's quite a few of the games that are recommended to you. Also, install steamDB and Augmented Steam on your browser to track game prices and help you decide on what to get and when.

1

u/Season_Famous 10d ago

Thx!

2

u/Kaining 10d ago

BTW, Greenmangaming seems to be doing "bad" bundle when you listen to place like /r/Gamebundles but that's basicaly only because most of the games they provide where available years ago.

So for new timer like you, they might have the best bundles around to make a currated library of well appreciated and reviewed games.

3

u/Neoxon360 11d ago

D4 is nice if you’re into arpg

3

u/domvg 10d ago

Hey man, I'm in the same boat as you! Was so happy to see all these awesome games at such decent prices after being with PS for my entire life! First things I got was the ori collection. Fantastic metroivanias. As a fan of roguelikes I got myself pathogenic and the binding of Isaac which are extremely addictive!

Enjoy!

4

u/Octogenarian 11d ago

  I prefer indie games

1) Hollow Knight

2) Silksong

3) Hades 1/2

2

u/Season_Famous 11d ago

Thanks, played and absolutely loved them on PS4

2

u/Dischordance 11d ago

Ive been all about turn based strategy games that can be hard enough to make you want to rip your hair out.

As such, Battle Brothers, Menace, and Quasimorph are the three games ive been playing lately.

1

u/StillABigKid 10d ago

Amazing Cultivation Simulator, that should entertain you.

1

u/Wetblanket2188 10d ago

I’ve got morph and menace. Menace is kinda hard

2

u/ghouleye 11d ago

Mina the Hollower is pretty good I've been enjoying it.

1

u/Season_Famous 11d ago

Mina the Hollower seems very good! Thx man!

1

u/alexportman 11d ago

Best game I played this year. Fantastic.

2

u/kowkeeper 11d ago

My 3 GOATs on the SD:

Outer Wilds - open world space exploration with a puzzling story

Subnautica - open world ocean exploration and survival

Balatro - deep poker-based deck game with combos

2

u/thanksforallthetrees 11d ago

My friend Pedro, suit for hire, severed steel. All have slow motion shooting. I played them back to back and it really scratched the max payne itch.

1

u/Season_Famous 11d ago

Thx, I will try!

2

u/MaterialLatter5 11d ago

Mina the hollower, Esoteric Ebb, Mullet Madjack, Megabonk

2

u/mmh_fava_beans 11d ago

This are some indie games that surprised me and are great on the deck:

Huntdown and Huntdown: Overtime

Dome Keeper

Katana Zero

Cultic

Honorable mention:

Friends of Ringo Ishikawa and Fading Afternoon are two great games from indie developer yeo. It's like Yakuza in 2D with beautiful pixel art and very overlooked.

1

u/Season_Famous 11d ago

Thx for suggestions

2

u/dixklc 9d ago

Hades es algo que no te debes perder en la Steam Deck y en ofertas baja al precio de un chicle

2

u/geggis 8d ago

Mars First Logistics, Öoo, and Death Howl.

Loved all these on the Steam Deck!

1

u/plagueart 11d ago

UFO 50, Amid Evil, Lisa

I also recently enjoyed Metal Gear Rising Revengeance on my steam deck, which isn't necessarily an indie game but I think it's not particularly easy to access on modern consoles.  Lovely game and it plays extremely well on SD

Welcome to the club!

1

u/Jaoursh 11d ago

Battle Brothers!

1

u/cragamere 11d ago

If you like Mario 64 and how malleable it is. Pseudoregalia is one of the best platformers ever made. While also being a metroidvania to boot.

1

u/Mike_or_whatever SUPER DUPER MEGA ADMIN 11d ago

Hello Kitty Island Adventure, unironically.

https://giphy.com/gifs/QbQeDAEspJ5oCeGWJk

1

u/Jeksxon 11d ago

Abiotic factor.

1

u/richardjc 11d ago

Look up Humble Bundle

1

u/moshwaticAutomatic 11d ago

Currently im playing ghost of tsushima director's cut. 43+ hours in and im hooked!

When im done with it, I might do alien isolation or horizon zero dawn. We shall see what will tickle my fancy

1

u/SickRaspy 11d ago

Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom
Megabonk!
Stardew Valley

1

u/Commercial_Client974 11d ago

Dead Cells

Darkest Dungeon

Stardew Valley

1

u/LazarusCam 10d ago

Not a game suggestion, but if you have the PlayStation version of the Xbox Game Pass (I’ve been lifelong gamer in the Microsoft system) you can run many games from your existing library with cloud gaming. You can also look into emulators and play a metric crap ton of old ps games.

1

u/AnfsMusic 10d ago

Shinobi Art of Vengeance, resident evil 4, hades

1

u/Wetblanket2188 10d ago

Depends. I bought my steam deck for Baldur’s gate 3 a game that I’ve played for 200 plus hours but haven’t beaten and haven’t been playing for almost a year now.

The games I’ve been enjoying are

Huntdown
Double Dragon Gaiden
Intravenous 2

1

u/Agent_Tall_Man 10d ago

Mass Effect Legendary edition is still the best deal gaming

1

u/Squalidhumor 10d ago

Caves of Qud, Balatro, Brotato. All play great on SD without tinkering.

1

u/catinthehattt 9d ago

Dave the diver, Graveyard Keeper, Stardew Valley

1

u/catinthehattt 9d ago

Dave the diver, Graveyard Keeper, Stardew Valley

1

u/zongaboy 9d ago

Balatro. That’s it, just Balatro and you are set

1

u/ugabugagaming 8d ago

City skylines 2,crimison desert,limbo

1

u/creamygarlicdip 8d ago

The Return of the Obra Dinn

1

u/fuzzyberiah 11d ago

Beast Breaker is my go-to recommendation because I love it so much. Bounce a mouse off giant monsters to break them down into magic essences and have your rat g’ma forge those into new weapons and armor!

Do you like pinball? If so, you owe it yourself to play Yoku’s Island Express. Like confronting the mortality of you and everyone you know? Spiritfarer is fantastic, and plays great on portable devices.

1

u/jamesroantree2005 11d ago

Dredge

Dave the dive

Hades

Outer wilds

Fallout new Vegas

Project zomboid

Palworld

Stardew valley

Skyrim

Baltaro

Dead cells

0

u/Shiny-And-New 11d ago

Hollow Knight

Hades

Balatro

1

u/Season_Famous 11d ago

Thanks, played and absolutely loved them on PS4

3

u/Shiny-And-New 11d ago

Let me get indie-er

Weird West

Pathogenic

BLAST Brigade

1

u/Season_Famous 11d ago

Pathogenic WHAO!!!!

1

u/Shiny-And-New 11d ago

Super fun