The Steam Deck is now shipping to customers, which means those who pre-ordered the handheld console should be receiving it…eventually. I’m afraid there is not much Gizmodo can do about shipping delays. What we can do is provide the tools you need to get the most out of the console once it arrives. We’ve already shown you some essential Steam Deck tips and tricks to learn more about the system’s quirky features. But now, we need to chat games.
You should know beforehand that not every PC game will run on the Steam Deck. Actually, most won’t (unless you use a workaround). They first need to be tested, and so far, a few hundred games—from major triple-A titles to smaller indies—are verified to “run great” on the console. Others run fine but not perfectly, some haven’t been tested (and likely don’t run), and then a small batch just won’t run at all.
In this article, I’ve listed the current best games that are verified by Steam, meaning those that run just as they would on a gaming PC. Keep in mind that Valve is verifying games at a rapid pace, and as such, we’ll be frequently updating this article with games that are worthy of a spot on this list. If you’ve already played through these titles, check out the Steam Deck website for a full list of verified games.