Steam Deck – The Best Steam Deck Verified Games To Play
Steam Deck has now been released and gamers everywhere that want a punchy, console equivalent portable experience have been flooding to purchase Valve’s shiny new lump of gaming silicon en masse. A wonderful piece of kit, we’re primarily devoting this handy Steam Deck guide to the best Steam Deck games that money can buy, in addition to providing a comprehensive list of Steam Deck verified games to boot.
Steam Deck Release Date – When Did Steam Deck Come Out And How Can I Get One?
The Steam Deck release date was officially confirmed as February 25, 2022. Valve have also confirmed that pre-order customers had three days from the Steam Deck release date to collect their hardware, with those customers failing to do so resulting in that Steam Deck unit being reallocated. Since the Steam Deck release date, Valve has sought to make as many Steam Deck units available as possible in order to meet demand. However, Valve admits that more Steam Decks won’t be available until Q3 2022 and any Steam Deck orders placed right now won’t be fulfilled until then at earliest. The Valve Steam Deck can be ordered from the official Steam Store.
The Best Steam Deck Games – What Are The Best Games To Play On Steam Deck?
Being a fixed specification platform, Steam games have to be specially verified by Valve in order to be deemed fit to run on Steam Deck and by ‘run’, Valve means an individually curated experience that is tailored to the controls and performance specification of the platform. This means no keyboard or mouse inputs by default and a level of technical performance that doesn’t make your eyes roll into the back of your head. Sure, there are many games that are ‘playable’ on Steam Deck to varying degrees of quality, but it’s really the Steam Deck verified games that will give you the best experience. With more games being verified seemingly every week, we’ve picked out the cream of the crop – five of the best Steam Deck verified games that you can play right now.
Not just a bonafide Game of the Year candidate for 2022 but potentially also one of the greatest open world action RPGs ever made, From Software’s Elden Ring perfectly intertwines the masterful third-person combat that Dark Souls series is known for together with a breathtaking open world where revelation and discovery lurk around every corner.
Perhaps most notably of all, Elden Ring runs extremely well on Valve’s Steam Deck, kicking out an impressive performance profile that will trigger raised eyebrows alike from PC and console owning folks. Elden Ring on the move? The future is here. Thank you Steam Deck.
Playing arguably one of the greatest PlayStation exclusives ever made in handheld form is something of a revelation, not least because it essentially feels like you have a PS4 in your hands (let’s shed a tear for the PlayStation Vita, please).
A boundlessly opulent action adventure that sees all-time violent lad and titular God of War Kratos pop off to the realms of Norse mythology for a bit with his plucky offspring, God of War blissfully blends satisfyingly thudding combat, irresistible exploration and a supremely compelling narrative filled with no shortage of engaging characters to create one of the finest games you can play on the Steam Deck right now.
Arkane Studios’ stupendously stylish take on Groudhog Day-esque assassinations that unfold on a hedonistic island in which its lead characters are trapped in a deadly time loop is a superb game to play on Steam Deck.
Oozing 1960s style retro-futurism out of every digital pore and providing players with seemingly endless creative latitude with which to take advantage of its central time-bending mechanism, Deathloop is a cracking and innovative first-person shooter adventure that sits at the apex of what Dishonored developer Arkane Studios has been able to achieve. Got a Steam Deck? Get Deathloop. It’s that simple.
Hideo Kojima’s wonderfully bizarre post-apocalyptic adventure about a conflicted courier that must ward off a seemingly hidden evil while attempting to reconnect the remains of humanity is a great fit for Valve’s Steam Deck.
Deftly mixing in satisfying exploration and an esoteric traversal system with the sort of genre bending narratives that Kojima is known for, Death Stranding looks great and plays great on Steam Deck.
Easily one of the best roguelikes of the last decade, Twin Motion’s Dead Cells plays sublimely on Valve’s shiny new lump of portable gaming silicon.
Cast as an eternally reanimated warrior that must carve, shoot and blast their way through a randomly generated labyrinthe of prisons, catacombs and fallen kingdoms, Dead Cells is a pitch-perfect blend of platforming and Metroidvania gameplay beats that nobody else has really managed to match in the years since its release.
A Complete List Of Steam Deck Verified Games
Beyond the previously mentioned list of superb Steam Deck verified games, there are many, many more games that are playable on Valve’s handheld wonder. Covering a wide range of genres and games, here is a currently complete list of Steam Deck verified games. Let’s take it from the top.
Steam Deck Verified Games A-F
8Doors: Arum’s Afterlife Adventure
A Plague Tale: Innocence
ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN
A Story About My Uncle
A traveler’s photo album
Aeterna Noctis
Alien: Isolation
Aliens: Fireteam Elite
Amnesia: Rebirth
Animal Super Squad
APE OUT
Apex Legends
Aragami
Art of Rally
Automobilista 2
Baba Is You
Babble Royale
Banner Saga
Banner Saga 2
BattleBlock Theater
Bayonetta
Beacon
Before We Leave
Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery
Big Farm Story
BIT.TRIP Presents… Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
Blacksad: Under the Skin
Blasphemous
Blue Fire
Boomerang X
Bridge Constructor Portal
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling
Business Tour – Board Game with Online Multiplayer
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
Carto
CarX Drift Racing Online
Castle Crashers
Cat Quest
Cat Quest 2
Caveblazers
Celeste
Chasm
Chernobylite
Chorus
Circuit Superstars
Cloudpunk
Clue/Cluedo: The Classic Mystery Game
Control Ultimate Edition
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
Crush Crush
Cuphead
Curse of the Dead Gods
Cyber Hook
Dark Deity
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
DARK SOULS 2: Scholar of the First Sin
DARK SOULS 3
Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition
Darksiders Genesis
Daymare: 1998
Dead Cells
Dead Estate
DEATH STRANDING
Death Trash
DEATHLOOP
Death’s Door
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles
Demon Turf
Desperados 3
Despot’s Game: Dystopian Army Builder
Devil May Cry 5
Disco Elysium – The Final Cut
Dishonored
Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
DOOM 2
DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition
DRAGON QUEST XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Digital Edition of Light
Drawful 2
Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour
Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance
Dying Light
Eastward
Edge Of Eternity
Elden Ring
ELDERBORN
ENDLESS Space – Definitive Edition
ENSLAVED: Odyssey to the West Premium Edition
Enter the Gungeon
Epic Battle Fantasy 5
Everhood
Evil Genius 2: World Domination
Evil Within
Evoland
Evoland 2
Fable Anniversary
Fae Tactics
Falconeer
Fallout Shelter
Fantasy Blacksmith
Farm Together
Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark
FINAL FANTASY 1-4
Final Fantasy IV (3D Remake)
FIGHT KNIGHT
FINAL FANTASY V3 – REMASTERED
Fire Pro Wrestling World
Firewatch
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Football, Tactics & Glory
Fox Hime Zero
FTL: Faster Than Light
Furi
Steam Deck Verified Games G-L
Gang Beasts
Gas Station Simulator
Ge*it*l Jousting
Ghost Exorcism INC.
Ghostrunner
Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions
God of War
Graveyard Keeper
GRID
Griftlands
Grim Clicker
GRIME
GRIS
Guacamelee! 2
Gunfire Reborn
Hades
Half-Life 2
Happy’s Humble Burger Farm
Haven
Heave Ho
Heavenly Bodies
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Hellish Quart
He*t*i Bad Girls
He*t*i Girl Hime
HITMAN
HITMAN 3
Hollow Knight
Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition
HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED
Hotline Miami
House Flipper
Human: Fall Flat
HUNTDOWN
HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed
Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms
Idle Wasteland
INSIDE
Into the Breach
Intravenous
Ion Fury
ISEKAI QUEST
Isekai Succubus ~My Genderbent Saga in Another World~
Jackbox Party Pack 1 & 2
Journey
Journey To The Savage Planet
Jump King
Katamari Damacy REROLL
Katana ZERO
Kingdom Rush Vengeance – Tower Defense
Kingdom: Classic
Kitaria Fables
Kynseed
Last Evil
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
LEGO Jurassic World
LET IT DIE
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
LEGO Movie – Videogame
Lethal League Blaze
LEGO NINJAGO Movie Video Game
LEGO Star Wars – The Complete Saga
Life is Strange (Remastered)
Life is Strange 2
LIMBO
Littlewood
Loop Odyssey
Luck be a Landlord
Steam Deck Verified Games M-R
Mad Max
Majikoi! Love Me Seriously!
Manifold Garden
Mark of the Ninja: Remastered
METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Metal Unit
Mini Motorways
Minoria
Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae
MO:Astray
Monster Sanctuary
Mordheim: City of the Damned
Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition
Mortal Shell
MudRunner
Muv-Luv (マブラヴ)
Muv-Luv Alternative (マブラヴ オルタネイティヴ)
My Friend Pedro
NBA 2K22
NEKOPARA Extra
NEKOPARA Vol. 0
NEKOPARA Vol. 4
Nexomon
Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
Nidhogg
NINJA GAIDEN: Master Collection
No Longer Home
Nobody Saves the World
Noita
Nuclear Throne
Obduction
OCTOPATH TRAVELER
Oozi: Earth Adventure
Orcs Must Die! 3
Ori and the Blind Forest
Outward
Overcooked! 2
Paint the Town Red
Paradise Killer
Pathologic 2
PAYDAY 2
PictoQuest
Pit People
Portal 2
Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
PowerWash Simulator
Prey
Price
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Project CARS 3
Project Warlock
Psychonauts 2
RAD
Rain World
Rating
Ratropolis
Realm Grinder
Record of Lodoss War-Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth-
Redout: Enhanced Edition
Remnant: From the Ashes
Renai Karichaimashita: Koikari – Love For Hire
Return of the Obra Dinn
RIDE 4
Ring of Pain
Risk of Rain 2
River City Girls
Rocket League
Rogue Legacy 2
Roguebook
Röki
Roundguard
Ryse: Son of Rome
Steam Deck Verified Games S-Z
Sable
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
Sakura Clicker
Sam & Max Save the World
Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space
Sayonara Wild Hearts
SCARLET NEXUS
Secrets of Grindea
Seed of the Dead: Sweet Home
Seeds of Chaos
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – GOTY Edition
Session: Skate Sim
Shadow Man Remastered
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
SHENZHEN I/O
Shadow Warrior
Shadow Warrior 2
Shining Resonance Refrain
Shop Titans
Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove
Siralim Ultimate
Skater XL – The Ultimate Skateboarding Game
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2
Sonic Generations Collection
Sonic Mania
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Spelunky 2
Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition
Stardew Valley
SteamWorld Heist
SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech
Stick Fight: The Game
Strange Horticulture
Streets of Rogue
Styx: Master of Shadows
Supaplex
Super Meat Boy
Super Meat Boy Forever
SUPERHOT
SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE
Super Mega Baseball 3
Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania
Supraland Six Inches Under
Super Robot Wars 30
Tales of Arise
Tap Wizard 2
Tetris Effect: Connected
The Beast Inside
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
Them’s Fightin’ Herds
The Darkside Detective
The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark
This Is the Police 2
THE GAME OF LIFE 2
The Jackbox Party Pack 5-8
TOHU
THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2002 UNLIMITED MATCH
THE KING OF FIGHTERS ’98 ULTIMATE MATCH FINAL EDITION
Head over to our Steam Deck Verified Games page on our store to check out brilliant deals on the best games for your Steam Deck. Get ready to go handheld with Green Man Gaming.
Scribbling about videogames since 2005, John-Paul Jones first stoked his love for the industry with the Atari 65XE at the age of four before proceeding onto the ZX Spectrum, Amiga and beyond. These days, he finds himself unreasonably excited about Sega's Yakuza franchise, foreign cinema and generally trying to keep his trio of sausage dogs from burning his house down. Clearly, he is living his best life right now.
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