I’m curious what ‘surprising’ games people have played last year on their Deck.
Most likely the most played games matches the top 10 list from Steam but I’d like to hear also about those lesser known games that you enjoyed, got working (give hints for the rest of us) or just would like to recommend to us.
I think I played the original Dark Souls more than anything else on my Deck (still can’t beat Ornstein and Smough dammit), but I was most surprised by how great Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands plays on it. The game runs buttery smooth, the HDR is gorgeous, and the controls feel magnificent in spite of using thumbsticks for an FPS
Elden Ring was my most played of 2024 on Steam. Which is surprising to me, personally, only because I played through SOTE ONCE and I was done. Still has the highest hours on Steam for the whole of 2024.
But I was obsessing over Echo Project’s visual novels after finally checking out Adastra, too. Since those aren’t on Steam, this explains my stats being pretty low on Steam.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard for both. I didn’t think I would like it all that much. I don’t even remember why I bought it. But I ended up loving it so much 😍
Better than the previous parts? Or at least as good? I totally ignored it so far. Not because of the “woke”-hate but just because the big ones rarely do anything worthwhile anymore and my expectations usually reach ocean-levels currently.
I played Veilguard before any of the other Dragon Age games. I did, however, start Dragon Age Origins after, and I just finished it. It’s obviously a much older game, but even disregarding the more primitive visuals and animations, I still think I like Veilguard better. One big change is that you can’t directly control your companions, which is a slight bummer, but combat overall is much more fun. The companions also have much richer stories than in Origins.
Sure, visuals can’t compete. Oh, no direct control anymore? I loved that “programming” of the whole group the most. Sure helped if you went in with no expectations of the previous titles. Guess I’ll just hop in and find out 😊
Elite dangerous. Felt for it, again.
Tou can play on deck !!!
Absolutely! On foot can dip sometimes, and fan can certainly be heard on foot, but otherwise runs smooth
Why did you do this to me !!! I can now say goodbye to my family, projects, life…
I still want to play it these years as a Sci-Fi and Space Simulator fan. Is it that good? Why are there so many negative reviews on Steam?
Overall I downloaded it, thanks for reminding me.
Not sure about the reviews. But if you’re a space sim fan, and not afraid of the grind, you’re absolutely gonna love it. There was some new content released with new ships. Can’t wait to get back to it in a year or so.
Also, absolutely perfect on steam deck. On foot can be a bit demanding, but flying is flawless.
Is it p2w? Are there predatory microtransactions?
AFAIK you can only buy cosmetics. But I only play solo or private sessions so I wouldn’t care anyway.
Thanks for the explanation again! :)
Inscryption. I love card battlers and bought it just for that. I didn’t expect my mind to be blown at every twist! Easily one of my Top 5 games of all time. Controls were a bit wonky on deck but I got used to it after a few hours.
yeah I ended up using toch screen most of the time.
When I can finally beat act 1 boss I’ll be there with ya… I’m usually good at deck builders… usually…
Inscryption is a game that wants you to break it, as it will progress the story. Try to do all the puzzles in the cabin, and be sure to collect all the cards that are new.
Eventually, it will become almost trivial in order to get you to progress.
Inscryption is great!
My most played game was Brotato. It just plays so well and one run lasts about 20mins which is perfect for me when I don’t want to commit too much time.
My most surprising game is probably a Trackmania which took a while to get working because of the Ubisoft launcher not playing nice with Linux but then again there are so many guides to get it working it’s not that big of a deal. For me I had to change the wlan MTU packet from 1500 to under 1000 and all was well.
Outside tinkering I’d suggest Heaven’s Vault. Adventure/Puzzle game where you decipher an unknown language from glyphs. You can quit and next time you pick the game it will give a summary where you left last time storywise - such an awesome quality of life for short gaming bursts
Warhammer 40K Space Marines 1, i have seen a lot of people having problems playing this old game on windows and I finished on the steam deck with zero problems start to finish
Only got it in December but I can’t run path of exile 2 on my pc so it’s getting a lot of hours on the deck. But I think last year it was brotato first overall
My most played game was Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth, followed by Metaphor ReFantizio, both excellent games, as well as being new releases that run well on Deck.
Some lesser played games I would really recommend:
- Demon Tilt/XenoTilt - really cool pinball games. Play great on deck, and are great for short high intensity play sessions.
- Shadow’s of Doubt - I’ve recommended this a few times, it’s a full simulation detective game. Solve serial murders in a city where every NPC has a fully simulated life routine. You can roleplay it different ways, but it’s easy to fall into a Rorshack style of detective, breaking into crime scenes, cleaning their fridge out of beans, and robbing the house blind as you hunt for clues.
- Pseudoregalia - Short but great 3d metroidvania, with really great freedom of movement. One of those games where moving around itself can be a joy.
- Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom - delightful 3d platformer, has fun movement and is a really happy game.
right before the holidays I got caught up in No Man’s Sky on the Steam Deck for a little bit, first time experience after following the whole fiasco. I’ve had it from a Humble Bundle or something for some time now, and I needed some diversity from Rivals and it did okay. Runs well on the Steam Deck without much effort changing anything, was able to use it in offline mode easily for my flights. Was really nice. Wasn’t on my year in review though since it was after that date, lol.
Otherwise, my year in review “You played on a Steam Deck!” shows Phantom Brave 71%, Children of Morta 16%, Sonic Mania 4%, Hero’s Hour (fun game) 3%, and Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel at 2% lol. Oddly, ReVita isn’t on there probably for not technically being verified. I played that quite a bit this year though, so much so it inspired me to start trying to work on a game for a little bit.
Haven’t played a lot of games this year, 16 on Steam Deck and 18 on PC.
RetroArch
I am a huge emulation fan and on my Steam Deck I often tend to play games I do not on my big PC. Off course RetroArch itself is not a game and it supports many systems and games, therefore its a bit unfair to list it here. But I played Game Boy Color, SNES and Mega Drive/Genesis games, such as Wario Land 3 and Crusader of Centy (or Soleil). I play RetroArch on my PC too, so even then the most played “game” on Deck is RetroArch. This shows how much I like emulation.
South Park Stick of Truth
I had this game in my back catalog for many years and always wanted to play it. Well I did a few hours and never finished it. The game is alright and its presentation is really good matching the quality of the TV show. But I don’t know, at some point I got a little bit bored by its gameplay and was stuck and could not progress.
The End.
Edit after the end: I want to say that this year I started to play more other games on my Deck again. In example I started Stardew Valley to see what is all about. This is the kind of game I play on my bed instead on my big pc desk. Its not 2024, but just wanted to mention that my focus changed this year. Please ask me this question in a year again. :D
Most played is Satisfactory, most surprising is the Marathon trilogy because I was surprised it was available at all, playable on the deck, fully supported, and free.
My top Deck games match my overall Steam list because my Deck is my only gaming PC.
Warzone 2100. Such a great RTS for a handheld
Unicorn Overlord, took me a while to get into it but then I got completely hooked.
It’s so polished and intricate!
Is that on Steam? I can’t find it.
Nope, emulation via Ryujinx.
Honestly I don’t play any specific games more than others. I usually play them, beat them, move on.
Call of Juarez is a really fun and simple pick up and play game (I hate complicated games). Actually quite an ugly game, despite running at a locked 90/800p. I’m on my third playthrough now.
Adrift was a really visually and audibly beautiful game, but also kinda boring and frustrating (I still don’t understand how to navigate even though I beat it yesterday). The price makes up for it.
I’ll mention Neva and Planet of Lana in the same breath, as they are very very similar games, but both excellent, simple and beautiful. Frustratingly, they do not run at 90 FPS or 16:10. The puzzle aspect made Lana more fun but the battle aspect was way more fun in Neva.
My Friend Pedro is kind of a modern 2D Max Payne style game that I’ve got a lot of hours in.
