Two years after its launch, Valve’s Steam Deck is not only better than ever, but it also has a ton of new games, big and small, ready to play right out of the box. There are some exceptions, of course, but 2024 is an excellent year for the platform. When looking at the games released since early January, there are so many that I wanted to highlight, but I decided to make a list of my favorites. The games recommended here include games we’ve already reviewed as well as some surprises. As always, this list is in no particular order. I also specify whether the game is marked as Steam Deck Verified or Playable by Valve.
The Best Steam Deck Games of 2024 So Far
Tekken 8
Tekken 8 isn’t just a visual return for the series, it’s an all-around great fighting game that’s fun to play on every platform. On the Steam Deck, I was initially worried about how it would run as a PS5 and Xbox Series X game, but it works surprisingly well both online and offline on the system. If you haven’t played Tekken in a while, Tekken 8 is definitely worth picking up, and I’m happy to see how gorgeous the character designs and stages are. “Tekken 8” makes up for the disappointment that “Tekken 7” brought me. “Tekken 8” has been officially rated as Steam Deck playable by Valve.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink
After multiple delays, Granblue Fantasy: Relink is now available on Steam and PlayStation, offering a super fun action RPG that’s great to play solo or with friends. It’s also a fantastic introduction to Cygames’ stunning Granblue Fantasy world, and feels made for the Steam Deck, as it looks and runs so well on the system. Granblue Fantasy: Relink is a Simple Game of the Year contender, and I’ll be playing it online and offline all year long. Granblue Fantasy: Relink is officially rated “unsupported” by Valve on the Steam Deck, but it’s doing pretty well. Hope they fix the rating soon.
Persona 3 Reloaded
As a remake of the original Persona 3, I was shocked at how modern Atlus felt in this remake. Gameplay enhancements, new visuals, reworked music, and new voice acting all make Persona 3: Reloaded feel like a new, modern Persona game. The lack of story content in Persona 3 Pocket Edition is disappointing, but this version has everything else I want in a remaster of one of Atlus’ best games. “Persona 3: Reloaded” has been verified by Valve’s official rating Steam Deck.
Like a Dragon: Unlimited Wealth
When I played through Yakuza: Infinite Fortune earlier this year, I thought it was one of the best RPGs I’d ever played. After a few months, I started to think of it as one of my favorite games of all time. While it’s not as easy to pick up as a few games that I’d recommend playing to fully enjoy the experience, it’s a fantastic experience from start to finish and a great turn-based RPG that I enjoy. I really want to replay it now. “Yakuza: Infinite Fortune” has been officially rated as Steam Deck verified by Valve.
last era
I wasn’t really bothered by this during early access, but controller support was added right and I don’t regret it at all. With its offline support and beautiful action RPG experience, Lost Epoch is a game I enjoy playing every day on my Steam Deck. I haven’t even explored the online mode yet because the offline mode is so good. It’s a great action RPG with a rich roster of classes, skill trees, and soundtrack. Last Epoch has been officially rated as Steam Deck playable by Valve.
Outcast: Ghosts of New Eden
I have this game on my list of games I want to play on the Steam Deck in 2024, and I’m happy with the narrative and gameplay it offers. I’ve always had faith in developers, but Outcast: Souls of New Eden is one of the best surprises of 2024. It’s an action RPG that combines some mechanics from other games that I like, but really elevates it to a narrative level. great. I will definitely replay this game on PS5 in the future, but on the Steam Deck it’s an easy recommendation. “Exile: Soul of New Eden” has been officially certified as playable by Valve as a Steam deck.
Penny’s big break
Aside from a few post-launch fixes, Penny’s Big Breakaway is an excellent 3D platformer. It has great gameplay, a stellar soundtrack, and gorgeous visuals. The icing on the cake is that it looks perfect running at 90 fps on the Steam Deck OLED. After playing here I don’t even care about other versions of the game. Penny’s Big Breakaway is my favorite 3D platformer since Super Mario Odyssey, and I hope the soundtrack gets a vinyl release in the future. Penny’s Big Breakaway is officially rated Steam Deck Verified by Valve.
Logiat’s Magic Book
Let’s be honest. This is just Picross on the Steam Deck, and I’m glad it exists. Jupiter, the developer of the truly excellent Picross games, is releasing it as a new IP, but it’s a twisted version of Picross, and my only complaint is that the soundtrack isn’t what I usually enjoy when playing these games. It runs perfectly on the Steam Deck and is worth buying. I hope we get more content like this from Jupiter on PC in the future. Logiart Grimoire has been officially rated as Steam Deck Verified by Valve.
Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered
When Nightdive Studios announced the remake of Star Wars: Dark Forces, I was excited because I had heard a lot about the game but had never played it. The remaster has been released, and aside from one performance-related issue (which may or may not be an issue for you), it performs extremely well. Thankfully, the Steam Deck refresh rate option on the OLED model allowed me to manually fix this issue and get a flawless experience. This game is also really fun to play, but I especially recommend playing it on the Steam Deck OLED if you own one. Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered has been officially rated for Steam Deck verification by Valve.
Balatero
Like Yakuza: Infinite Fortune, Balatro is a strong contender for 2024 Game of the Year. I play it every day and I can’t wait for it to come to iOS so I have it installed on every device. Balatro is a roguelike poker game with so much hidden depth that even after 80 hours I’m still amazed by it. I’m also listening to the main melody now. Don’t sleep on a balatero. Balatro is officially rated as Steam Deck Verified by Valve.
Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story
The only problem with Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story is that I wanted more from it. I wish it covered all of Jeff Minter’s games, including the more recently released ones, but that complaint aside, it’s basically everything I wanted from the new Gold Master series release, and it even gets us on modern consoles and Llamatron was obtained on PC. Digital Eclipse continues to raise the bar, and I can’t wait to see what’s next in the series. This is a must-have if you have even the slightest interest in indie game development or Jeff Minter. Llamasoft: Jeff Minter’s Story has been rated as playable on Steam Deck by Valve.
If you’re wondering why there are 11 games in this article instead of the usual 10, I was going to leave one out as a bonus, but I think every game on this list is worth your time on the Steam Deck, So here we are.
Hopefully this feature will help you find something you haven’t played so far this year. I’m looking forward to seeing what else makes it onto my (potential) games of the year list in the coming months. You can read all of our past and future Steam Deck coverage here. If you have any feedback about our Steam Deck coverage, this feature, or other things you’d like us to do with Steam Deck, please let us know in the comments below. thanks for reading.