Hack And Slash Your Way Through The Underworld, Help Your Girlfriend Become The #1 Internet Angel, And So Much More
Hack And Slash Your Way Through The Underworld, Help Your Girlfriend Become The #1 Internet Angel, And So Much More
Handheld gaming has been popular for years – from the PSP to the DS to the Switch, handheld games are a great way to take gaming on the go (or to play while laying comfortably in bed). The Steam Deck is one of the newest iterations, but it’s been taking the gaming world by storm, allowing players to emulate their favorite Steam games (even the more powerful ones). For anyone who’s just gotten their Steam Deck, or is looking for great new games to emulate, we’ve gotten together some of the best Steam games to emulate on your Steam Deck, including:
Excited? So are we! First up:
There’s a lot we could say about Outer Wilds – but really, it’s best to experience it blind. Players highly encourage those new to the game to avoid looking up anything about the game, including guides, as it’s very easy to spoil the entire game that way. What we can tell you is that you’ll be given a solar system to explore, and there will be plenty of puzzles to solve along the way. With breathtaking graphics, stunning lore, and a soundtrack so beautiful that players buy it on vinyl, it’s no wonder Outer Wilds was awarded Game of the Year 2019 by not only Polygon, but also Giant Bomb, Eurogamer, and The Guardian.
Supergiant Games has been making fantastic indie titles for years – but with Hades, they really turned heads, allowing players to step into the role of Zagreus, the Prince of the Underworld. On a quest to escape the Underworld and meet his mother, Zagreus must hack and slash his way through beautifully crafted dungeons, but he’s not alone. With allies in all sorts of unexpected places, he may just have a fighting chance. Designed to be rigorous but not punishing, each death progresses the story, and there are plenty of permanent upgrades you can earn to boost your chances, mixing and matching them with random boons along the way. With Hades II reaching the end of its Early Access period, now is the perfect time to enter the thrilling world of Hades.
(Did we mention you can pet the dog?)
Play as P-chan, Ame’s significant other and producer, as Ame seeks to rise to Internet fame. You’ll have to manage Ame’s moods carefully – keep her balanced and healthy, while also growing her channel. Help her figure out topics to feature on her streams, and moderate her stream chats to make sure no one’s being too pesky in her comments. Find out if it’s even possible for Ame to have a happy ending, or if the fame will cause her to spiral.
Steam Deck players note that while some text is hard to read on Steam Deck, the screen size can be adjusted if this is an issue, and the game otherwise runs great. NSO is not recommended for photosensitive individuals.
🎮 Buy NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD on Steam
On the surface, DAVE THE DIVER is a cozy little game – in the day, you go diving, and at night, you manage a sushi restaurant (to earn money for diving upgrades – how convenient!). But as you delve deeper, you may find some surprising mysteries to unravel. With a satisfying gameplay loop and plenty of minigames to keep you entertained, get ready to spend hours diving in the Blue Hole, taking in gorgeous graphics, and over 200 kinds of unique sea creatures.
Rating: Very Positive (93%) | Souls-like, RPG | $59.99
Love Souls-like games, but wish they were open world? You got it! Developed by FromSoftware, ELDEN RING is a vastly sprawling open world with a myriad of secrets to uncover. The terrain itself can be used to fight and defend yourself against enemies (of which there are plenty), but with so many different builds, you’re sure to find one that works for you. With beautiful graphics and stunning lore, ELDEN RING is a game you can easily pour hundreds of hours into, whether you’re playing alone or with friends.
Some players with less powerful Steam Decks may have to tweak their graphics settings for the best gameplay experience.
Step out into the Kingdom, and get ready to die – but don’t worry, your children will succeed you! Fight through randomly-generated regions and collect heirlooms and relics, all while discovering the game’s deep lore. Each of your children has unique traits that fundamentally change how the game is played, allowing for a new experience each time, and the game’s New Game+ feature only expands upon this, allowing you to choose just how the game gets harder each time.
The Civilization games have garnered something of a reputation since its humble roots in 1991, becoming a giant of the genre of single player strategy games. In Civilization, the player takes up the mantle as the leader of a civilization under the banner of any number of real historical figures and ideologies. With this, they command their civilization and help it grow as the world evolves from the beginning of history to the present.
The seventh game in the franchise is no different– sporting some new and unique mechanics, upgraded visuals, and all around a better experience. What’s great about Civ VII on the Steam Deck is that it is a turn based game. Even though turns in Civilization can take a truly long time, you don’t need to worry about other players or playing quickly. Whenever you want to spend a lot of time or just get a couple turns in– it’s great for playing on your Steam Deck.
🎮 Buy Civilization VII on Steam
While its visual fidelity is nothing special, Vampire Survivors is a finely tuned bullet hell that a lot of reviews call a ‘dopamine generator’ in more words. It’s an incredibly simple game: You choose a character, and run around killing massive waves of enemies and gain upgrades until you are a storm of weapons and spells to dominate the game. Until you die, probably quickly, you can play the game all over again with unique characters and levels. Runs are always 30-minutes maximum, so it’s perfect to pick up and put down if you want a quick gaming session.
The game is also pretty undemanding in terms of its controls, so no need to worry about crazy movement– you just start playing, and kill vampires.
🎮 Buy Vampire Survivors on Steam
A cute fishing game with terrifying, Lovecraftian terrors hidden just underneath the surface. Despite the insidious way the horror elements of this otherwise calm fishing game breathes down your neck, it’s an incredibly fun and satisfying game. Dredge is a game about being a fisherman in a strange archipelago, but it’s more than clear that there’s something terribly wrong about these fish and a force hidden deep in these waters.
The core gameplay of Dredge simply has you sailing around, catching fish through a couple of fun but simple minigames, and calming yourself down from the stress of the horrors of the deep. The beautiful thing about the game is that the game does not progress while you’re not moving. There are a couple of time-based mechanics in Dredge, like fish that rot if you hold them too long or the voices that come out at night, but as long as you are sitting still then the world comes to a pause as well. It’s a simple game and incredibly fun, but the pausing is what makes it great for the Steam Deck– easy to pick up, easy to put down.
One of the best games put out by Valve itself, Portal 2 still remains one of their best games. It’s a sequel just like Hades 2, and in the same way it takes the first game and expands upon it in plenty of new and exciting ways. It’s a relatively old game at this point, but it’s still incredibly fun. Some of the levels are real thinkers, and if you have a Steam Deck then you can play an in-depth puzzle game with ease and speed.
That’s it for our list of the best games to emulate on Steam Deck. Have fun playing the new games in your haul!
