<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/09/a0abef20/top10_revisited_steamdeck.png" width="800" height="450" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-body-default" /></p> <p>We’re several years into the life cycle of the Steam Deck, and already, the platform (and its various competitors) have greatly impacted how people play games. By providing a moderately powerful gaming PC that fits comfortably in your hands, an array of amazing gaming opportunities opens up, from its versatility while traveling to getting in a few more matches of a favorite game while sitting outside your house. </p><p>There’s no shortage of excellent PC games you can try out on Steam Deck, but we’ve gathered together 10 ideal choices that run the gamut of playstyles you might be in the mood to try out, from sprawling open-world epics for a long car ride to quick hits for a wait at the bus stop. </p><p>Please note that the list below includes 10 entries, but we’ve chosen not to rank them. These are all stellar releases in their respective genres, so you can select your next game to match what you’re in the mood to play. As such, you’ll see these listed in reverse chronological order from the initial release. </p><p>Here are our suggestions for the ten best games to play on Steam Deck right now.</p> Blue Prince Release: April 10, 2025 In the short time since its launch, Blue Prince has rocketed to the top of many critics’ puzzle favorites. It’s a deep and complex adventure puzzle experience. Players must navigate a mansion of ever-shifting rooms, solving intricate challenges in search of a final hidden room. You only have so many footsteps before the mansion resets to new positions, and you must begin again. The brainteasers within provide plenty to think about, and the structure of repeated runs lends itself well to single sessions on your Steam Deck before setting it down to return later, if you can wait that long. Fair warning: In addition to your Steam Deck, it’s best to have something nearby where you can take notes. It’s one of those. | Our Review Hades 2 Release: May 6, 2024 (early access) We debated keeping the original Hades as our go-to recommendation (and you can’t go wrong if you go that way), but the sequel is now far enough along in updates that we can happily point toward the newer adventure. Players control Melinoë, a princess of the Greek pantheon’s underworld, as she sets out to battle and journey to defeat Cronos, the Titan of Time. Immaculate balancing and fun weaponry make every run through the roguelite environs of ancient myth into a unique and exciting adventure. Fantastic fully voiced characters, music, and a vibrant art style all root the game in developer Supergiant’s distinctive style. If you’ve been looking for the game to convince you why roguelite action is so popular right now, a few hours with Hades 2 on your Steam Deck will convince you. Minishoot’ Adventures Release: April 2, 2024 This charming adventure features an unusual mix of inspirations that somehow gel perfectly. The top-down visuals recall early Zelda games, the progression nods to Metroid, but the gameplay is instead a twin-stick shooter with bullet hell dynamics. It fits together quite well as you navigate your spaceship/hovercraft through the world, knocking out enemies, taking on bosses, and gradually opening up the map with new capabilities. It’s a charming and easy-to-pick-up experience that offers plenty of exploration and smartly designed gameplay. We’ve also found it runs great on Steam Deck. | Our Review Balatro Release: February 20, 2024 You could be forgiven at first glance if you concluded that Balatro was yet another attempt at translating poker to the screen. But looks can be deceiving. While rooted in poker in some crucial ways, Balatro is actually a roguelike deckbuilder about creating seemingly impossible card hands, leveraging Jokers with unusual abilities, and gradually building an ever more impressive deck of available cards to play. It’s engaging and novel in equal measures, and the most common sentiment we’ve heard from players is how surprised they are at how much they want to keep coming back to play more. It’s a great fit for gaming on the go, and an easy choice to add to your Steam Deck library. | Our Review Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Release: January 18, 2024 Ubisoft’s grand 2D adventure is a lovely revival of the long-running series, and the game runs exceptionally well on the Steam Deck. Drawing inspiration from classic games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, The Lost Crown features thrilling melee combat and an expansive world to explore that opens up as you acquire new abilities. Narrative themes and powers play heavily with the idea of time and how it affects us, and the pacing and tightness of the action are top-notch. If you like the feel of a retro adventure but the visual chops of a modern artistic tour de force, you’ll find what you’re looking for here. | Our Review Vampire Survivors Release: October 20, 2022 Ahead of playing the game, many gamers have wondered out loud why there’s such fervor around what seems to be a very retro-styled, simple shooter. It only takes a few minutes of actual play to grasp the excitement. Players control an auto-shooting character while navigating a vast field of monsters and other obstacles. The initial approachability belies an incredible depth of play, as new weapons, power-ups, and combinations allow you to transform into a veritable machine of destruction onscreen. When you meet your inevitable end, you often unlock new characters and other improvements that make the next run just as entertaining. Vampire Survivors works great on handheld because of how quickly one can drop in and get a hang of the action; just don’t be fooled into thinking you’ll only stay for a few minutes. | Our Review Elden Ring Release: February 25, 2022 For high challenge, immaculate world-building, and a truly overwhelming scope, you can’t go wrong with FromSoftware’s magnum opus, Elden Ring. Here is a fantasy adventure like no other, but one that is notoriously challenging to surmount, especially if you’re new to the developer’s exacting approach to combat. Persistence pays off, though, as the adventure can consume hundreds of hours of exploration, battles, and leveling. The game is breathtaking in its visuals, and it’s a testament to the Steam Deck’s capabilities that this game can look so good running on a small screen. If you still can’t get enough, it’s worth alling out that the game’s expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, also runs on Steam Deck. | Our Review God of War Release: January 14, 2022 After its earlier release on the PlayStation platforms, God of War received widespread acclaim for its gorgeous PC incarnation, which also happens to play wonderfully on Steam Deck. If you’ve yet to experience the game, it’s widely understood to be one of the best third-person action and combat games of all time. The story charts the adventures of a beleaguered and world-weary Greek god who finds himself among the Norse pantheon, and his attempts to father a teenage son while facing off against mythical beings. If you’re new to the franchise, we recommend this as a starting point, rather than jumping ahead to the equally epic God of War: Ragnarök; they’re worth experiencing in order. | Our Review Forza Horizon 5 Release: November 9, 2021 If you’re looking for speed in your gaming life on Steam Deck, go no further than Forza Horizon 5. We’ve found the racer can run smoothly and beautifully on Valve’s handheld PC, and it’s one of the strongest and most enjoyable racing games on the market, even a few years after launch. The racing festival within sends you careening across the roads and wilds of Mexico in a tremendous variety of car types. The Horizon games lean toward a more freewheeling and arcade spirit than sim-oriented titles, so even newcomers can quickly get a feel for the different cars and have an awesome time exploring and trying to nail those top times. | Our Review Stardew Valley Release: February 26, 2016 It’s hard to believe that Stardew Valley is already approaching a decade on the market. But while there have been plenty of attempts, few games approach the level of fun, depth, and pure coziness supplied by ConcernedApe’s farming/life sim. If you’ve somehow missed out on the game until now, you control a character who has inherited their grandfather’s rundown old farm, and you move to the area to renovate, meet the people of the nearby town, and make a life for yourself. For players looking for relaxation, old-school appeal, and a hard-to-put-down approach to long-term engagement, it’s hard to recommend anything else in the same space. | Our Review
<p><img loading=”lazy” src=”https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/09/a0abef20/top10_revisited_steamdeck.png” width=”800″ height=”450″ alt=”” typeof=”foaf:Image” class=”image-style-body-default” /></p>
<p>We’re several years into the life cycle of the Steam Deck, and already, the platform (and its various competitors) have greatly impacted how people play games. By providing a moderately powerful gaming PC that fits comfortably in your hands, an array of amazing gaming opportunities opens up, from its versatility while traveling to getting in a few more matches of a favorite game while sitting outside your house. </p><p>There’s no shortage of excellent PC games you can try out on Steam Deck, but we’ve gathered together 10 ideal choices that run the gamut of playstyles you might be in the mood to try out, from sprawling open-world epics for a long car ride to quick hits for a wait at the bus stop. </p><p>Please note that the list below includes 10 entries, but we’ve chosen not to rank them. These are all stellar releases in their respective genres, so you can select your next game to match what you’re in the mood to play. As such, you’ll see these listed in reverse chronological order from the initial release. </p><p>Here are our suggestions for the ten best games to play on Steam Deck right now.</p>
Blue Prince
In the short time since its launch, Blue Prince has rocketed to the top of many critics’ puzzle favorites. It’s a deep and complex adventure puzzle experience. Players must navigate a mansion of ever-shifting rooms, solving intricate challenges in search of a final hidden room. You only have so many footsteps before the mansion resets to new positions, and you must begin again. The brainteasers within provide plenty to think about, and the structure of repeated runs lends itself well to single sessions on your Steam Deck before setting it down to return later, if you can wait that long. Fair warning: In addition to your Steam Deck, it’s best to have something nearby where you can take notes. It’s one of those. | Our Review
Hades 2
We debated keeping the original Hades as our go-to recommendation (and you can’t go wrong if you go that way), but the sequel is now far enough along in updates that we can happily point toward the newer adventure. Players control Melinoë, a princess of the Greek pantheon’s underworld, as she sets out to battle and journey to defeat Cronos, the Titan of Time. Immaculate balancing and fun weaponry make every run through the roguelite environs of ancient myth into a unique and exciting adventure. Fantastic fully voiced characters, music, and a vibrant art style all root the game in developer Supergiant’s distinctive style. If you’ve been looking for the game to convince you why roguelite action is so popular right now, a few hours with Hades 2 on your Steam Deck will convince you.
Minishoot’ Adventures
This charming adventure features an unusual mix of inspirations that somehow gel perfectly. The top-down visuals recall early Zelda games, the progression nods to Metroid, but the gameplay is instead a twin-stick shooter with bullet hell dynamics. It fits together quite well as you navigate your spaceship/hovercraft through the world, knocking out enemies, taking on bosses, and gradually opening up the map with new capabilities. It’s a charming and easy-to-pick-up experience that offers plenty of exploration and smartly designed gameplay. We’ve also found it runs great on Steam Deck. | Our Review
Balatro
You could be forgiven at first glance if you concluded that Balatro was yet another attempt at translating poker to the screen. But looks can be deceiving. While rooted in poker in some crucial ways, Balatro is actually a roguelike deckbuilder about creating seemingly impossible card hands, leveraging Jokers with unusual abilities, and gradually building an ever more impressive deck of available cards to play. It’s engaging and novel in equal measures, and the most common sentiment we’ve heard from players is how surprised they are at how much they want to keep coming back to play more. It’s a great fit for gaming on the go, and an easy choice to add to your Steam Deck library. | Our Review
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Ubisoft’s grand 2D adventure is a lovely revival of the long-running series, and the game runs exceptionally well on the Steam Deck. Drawing inspiration from classic games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, The Lost Crown features thrilling melee combat and an expansive world to explore that opens up as you acquire new abilities. Narrative themes and powers play heavily with the idea of time and how it affects us, and the pacing and tightness of the action are top-notch. If you like the feel of a retro adventure but the visual chops of a modern artistic tour de force, you’ll find what you’re looking for here. | Our Review
Vampire Survivors
Ahead of playing the game, many gamers have wondered out loud why there’s such fervor around what seems to be a very retro-styled, simple shooter. It only takes a few minutes of actual play to grasp the excitement. Players control an auto-shooting character while navigating a vast field of monsters and other obstacles. The initial approachability belies an incredible depth of play, as new weapons, power-ups, and combinations allow you to transform into a veritable machine of destruction onscreen. When you meet your inevitable end, you often unlock new characters and other improvements that make the next run just as entertaining. Vampire Survivors works great on handheld because of how quickly one can drop in and get a hang of the action; just don’t be fooled into thinking you’ll only stay for a few minutes. | Our Review
Elden Ring
For high challenge, immaculate world-building, and a truly overwhelming scope, you can’t go wrong with FromSoftware’s magnum opus, Elden Ring. Here is a fantasy adventure like no other, but one that is notoriously challenging to surmount, especially if you’re new to the developer’s exacting approach to combat. Persistence pays off, though, as the adventure can consume hundreds of hours of exploration, battles, and leveling. The game is breathtaking in its visuals, and it’s a testament to the Steam Deck’s capabilities that this game can look so good running on a small screen. If you still can’t get enough, it’s worth alling out that the game’s expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, also runs on Steam Deck. | Our Review
God of War
After its earlier release on the PlayStation platforms, God of War received widespread acclaim for its gorgeous PC incarnation, which also happens to play wonderfully on Steam Deck. If you’ve yet to experience the game, it’s widely understood to be one of the best third-person action and combat games of all time. The story charts the adventures of a beleaguered and world-weary Greek god who finds himself among the Norse pantheon, and his attempts to father a teenage son while facing off against mythical beings. If you’re new to the franchise, we recommend this as a starting point, rather than jumping ahead to the equally epic God of War: Ragnarök; they’re worth experiencing in order. | Our Review
Forza Horizon 5
If you’re looking for speed in your gaming life on Steam Deck, go no further than Forza Horizon 5. We’ve found the racer can run smoothly and beautifully on Valve’s handheld PC, and it’s one of the strongest and most enjoyable racing games on the market, even a few years after launch. The racing festival within sends you careening across the roads and wilds of Mexico in a tremendous variety of car types. The Horizon games lean toward a more freewheeling and arcade spirit than sim-oriented titles, so even newcomers can quickly get a feel for the different cars and have an awesome time exploring and trying to nail those top times. | Our Review
Stardew Valley
It’s hard to believe that Stardew Valley is already approaching a decade on the market. But while there have been plenty of attempts, few games approach the level of fun, depth, and pure coziness supplied by ConcernedApe’s farming/life sim. If you’ve somehow missed out on the game until now, you control a character who has inherited their grandfather’s rundown old farm, and you move to the area to renovate, meet the people of the nearby town, and make a life for yourself. For players looking for relaxation, old-school appeal, and a hard-to-put-down approach to long-term engagement, it’s hard to recommend anything else in the same space. | Our Review
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