Top Titles for Outstanding Steam Deck Gaming Experience
Steam Deck Picked Games of 2025
For our conveniently portable Steam Deck, we've curated a list of the hottest picks that cater to different genres and playstyles. While we're still madly in love with our desktop PCs, the wait for genuinely capable handheld PC gaming is finally over! Here are the games that are aces for the Deck in 2025:
Puzzle/Adventure
- Outer Wilds: Combining space exploration, mystery, and captivating environmental puzzles, this game will take you on an unforgettable intergalactic journey.
- Blue Prince: This tile-based mansion exploration game offers you endless puzzle-solving fun with randomly generated content and narrative choices.
- Portal Companion Collection: It's the classic physics-based puzzler that seamlessly fits short, handheld gaming sessions.
Strategy/Deckbuild
- Balatro: A roguelike poker-inspired deckbuilder that'll keep you engrossed with its whimsical modifier combinations.
- Cult of the Lamb: This roguelite dungeon-crawler/base-builder hybrid mixes deck-based progression with card-based combat plus meta-narrative storytelling (not cited but frequently praised).
- Inscryption: It dazzles players with its mind-bending meta-narratives and elaborately crafted deckbuilding mechanics with embedded escape room puzzles.
Action & Platformers
- Elden Ring: This open-world Soulslike game is now tailor-made for the Deck, offering mounted combat, legacy dungeons, and breathtaking visuals.
- Hi-Fi Rush: Rhythm-based action meets comic-book visuals and parry-centric combat in this one-of-a-kind experience.
- Sonic Mania: Retro-inspired 2D platforming with a polished aesthetics that looks incredible on the Deck.
RPGs
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered: Revamped visuals and smooth performance make this classic RPG an excellent addition to your Deck library.
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows: With a dynamic seasonal system, dual protagonists, and polished combat, it's a fantastic action-RPG for the Deck (30FPS).
- Celeste: This beautifully crafted platformer/RPG hybrid mixes spellbinding visuals with precise gameplay and an accessible assist mode.
Multiplayer
(Limited recent data - focusing on evergreens)- Broforce: Forever: Witness the chaos in this co-op shooter where everything is destructible and friendly fire is optional.- Overcooked 2: Kitchen chaos simulator designed for seamless local co-op play.- Helldivers 2: A third-person shooter that's perfect for parties, with squad-based mayhem and destructible environments.
Simulations
- Arcade Paradise: Manage your very own laundromat that transforms into a retro arcade emporium, embracing the oh-so-80s aesthetic.
- Dave the Diver: The perfect blend of restaurant management and underwater exploration, Dave the Diver is an ideal add-on to your Deck library.
- Stardew Valley: Harvest love, friendships, and bountiful crops in this evergreen farming/life sim that supports mining and relationships.
Sport/Driving
- Trackmania Turbo: For the adrenaline junkies, dive into this arcade racing game with customizable tracks, stunts, and ghost racing.
- Hot Wheels Unleashed: Witness the excitement of power-packed toy-car racing with a generous array of content and track-sharing possibilities.
- Art of Rally: Low-poly rally racing meets challenging handling mechanics in this fantastic, stylized pick.
- In the realm of cybersecurity, the Steam Deck is safeguarded with advanced data-and-cloud-computing technology, ensuring a secure gaming experience.
- Venturing into the game world of 2025, the combination of 'Outer Wilds' and Elden Ring offers historic journeys across space exploration and open-world Soulslike gameplay, respectively.
- Environmental puzzles take centerstage in Blue Prince, a game that is charmingly engaging with its randomized content and narrative choices.
- With Balatro, players fight their way through roguelike poker-inspired battles, thanks to its whimsical modifier combinations.
- In the strategic genre, Cult of the Lamb features card-based combat, base-building, and engaging meta-narratives that add depth to gameplay.
- Inscryption blends deck-building, mind-bending narratives, and escape room puzzles, making it an unforgettable gaming experience on the Steam Deck.
- The gamepad-friendly action-platformer Hi-Fi Rush offers a rhythm-based, combo-centric battleground with comic book visuals that pop on the Deck.
- Artificial intelligence takes center stage in Celeste, a platformer/RPG hybrid that adapts to the player's skill level and offers an assist mode for accessibility.
- Sports enthusiasts can place bets on their performance in arcade racing games like Trackmania Turbo and Hot Wheels Unleashed, both featuring customizable tracks and thrilling gameplay.
- Meanwhile, the simulation genre offers charm with Arcade Paradise, a game that lets you manage an 80s-style arcade, or witness Dave the Diver's underwater adventures in restaurant management sim game.
- To expand your gaming library, the Steam Deck can assign games across various genres, from card games and racing to RPGs and simulations, making it the ultimate gadget for any discerning gamer.
