It's been a busy year for Valve, launching the Steam Deck, ramping up production, and giving us plenty of games to play via wallet-draining sales (including the current Winter sale).
The Steam Deck has been available now for around ~10 months, and as all of our recent Steam Replay's show — we've spent plenty of time getting to know our new portable PC and playing a ton of great Deck verified games.
So, with the year drawing to a quick close we wanted to take a look back over some of the games we've all loved playing on Steam Deck during its first year.
All of the below games are playable on the Deck, and represent some of the very best Steam Deck games of 2022.
We've gone and picked out 22 of the best for 2022 — a neat Steam Deck games list featuring the hits and a few you may have missed, it's also perfect to share with those who may have gotten a Steam Deck for the holidays and are looking for some Steam Deck game recommendations. Let's take a look.
🗓️ Steam Deck games of 2022
Vampire Survivors
It's crazy to think Vampire Survivors only launched in October. This 2D roguelite action game is super addictive, and sees you mowing down thousands of creepy night creatures with a rad range of power-ups (I'm a Garlic main, by the way).
To think we've put so much time into this in just a few short months is kinda embarrassing. A Steam Deck essential.
Vampire Survivors on Steam
Elden Ring
FromSoftware returned in February with their latest Souls-like dark fantasy RPG, and it was quickly celebrated as something of an open-world masterpiece. Yes, it's hard as nails, but that's to be expected.
It has since gone on to pick up a slew of Game of the Year awards. It's Deck verified of course, so if you want a really tough game to play whilst on the toilet, this has you covered.
Elden Ring on Steam
Aperture Desk Job
Anything Portal sounds good to us, especially when it's free. Yep, this free-to-play short from Valve, set in the Portal universe, launched in March of 2022 and is a great way to get to grips with all things Steam Deck.
It's designed as something of a tutorial to get you up to speed with all of the new handheld's controls and various features, and it's actually fun — plenty of you seemingly agree too, as it showed up a few times in the Steam Deck most played lists throughout the year.
Aperture Desk Job on Steam
Brotato
Launched in September, this budget-friendly top-down arena shooter (less than $5) sees you assume the role of a little ass-kicking potato taking on hordes of aliens.
It's an infinitely replayable roguelite that our friends over at GamingOnLinux loved – in fact Editor Liam Dawe loved it so much, he hailed it as his game of the year.
Brotato on Steam
Neon White
Parkour meets anime in this slick, stylish fast-paced speedrunning 3D platforming FPS from June.
You take on the role of an assassin straight from Hell and are tasked with slaying demons up in Heaven. It rewards creative gameplay and risk-taking, and is pretty much non-stop movement, gunplay, and card juggling. You need to see it in motion to appreciate its unique appeal.
Neon White on Steam
Dave the Diver
This ambitious indie marine adventure from Mintrocket arrived in Early Access this October and mixes underwater exploration with...running your own Sushi restaurant.
A promising, novel mix of 2.5D action-adventure and management sim.
Dave the Diver on Steam
God of War
First released in 2018, this Kratos story-rich epic came to PC in January of 2022. Norse gods, larger than life monsters, and a tale of fatherhood.
We love that PlayStation are bringing these huge triple-A experiences to the Steam Deck.
God of War on Steam
Return to Monkey Island
90s kids celebrated when this one arrived.
Yep, series creator Ron Gilbert brings us another classic pirate adventure with Guybrush Threepwood, some 32 years after the original captivated imaginations.
Return to Monkey Island on Steam
Dorfromantik
This beautiful sandbox 'village-builder' arrived in April and is Deck Verfied - meaning you create cute, ever-growing landscapes on the go. It's a peaceful puzzle/builder experience that's perfect for when you want something a bit more laid back.
Dorfromantik on Steam
Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered
This summer saw the 2019 web-swinging hit from Insomniac Games make its way over to the PC (and in-turn the Steam Deck).
If that wasn't enough, shortly thereafter in November we also got the follow up game (and PS5 launch title) 'Miles Morales' — both of these excellent superhero action games are Deck verified and a ton of fun.
These games coming to Steam, along with the aforementioned God Of War, are just some of the huge PlayStation hits now available on Steam Deck — Uncharted is another. More of this please Sony.
Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered on Steam
Temtem
This massively multiplayer creature-collection RPG finally arrived in September of 2022 (after two years in Early Access) — bringing its huge scale Pokemon-style adventure to the Steam Deck, ready for some portable monster catching.
It's an ambitious turn-based collectathon with plenty to do across six islands, awesome anime stylings and fresh visual, and an overall impressive online experience.
Temtem on Steam
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
This is an extended re-imagining of the 2013 award-winning original first-person exploration/narrative game "that plays you".
It landed on Steam in April of 2022, with new visuals, accessibility enhancements, the addition of new content, new choices to make, and new secrets to unearth.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe on Steam
Teardown
A physics-based destruction game that tasks you with setting up the perfect heist. You can either approach things with some creative problem solving or just brute force things. Fully destructible, interactive voxel environments make this a fun one to just mess around with.
PC Gamer called it an "endlessly delightful destruction sandbox" when it launched in April, 2022.
Teardown on Steam
Persona 5 Royal
If you're a Persona fan, then the chance to don the mask and join the Phantom Thieves of Hearts all over again on the Steam Deck will be too good of an opportunity to miss.
This much-loved JRPG arrived on Steam in October, 2022, bringing with it an absolutely mammoth amount of included DLC with it. It's the best version of this award-winning role-playing epic.
Persona 5 Royal on Steam
PowerWash Simulator
This game is oddly chill, and if you've spent anytime lurking on r/powerwashingporn you'll understand the somewhat hypnotic appeal of blasting dirt off things.
Yep, it's a sim game where you pressure-wash a wide variety of things, be that a motorbike, or an entire crazy golf course — but man, is it satisfying. Get washing.
PowerWash Simulator on Steam
Stacklands
This card-battler/management 'village builder' game from the creative minds at the 'video game collective' Sokpop Collective launched in April.
You stack cards to collect food, build structures, and fight creatures. It looks simple enough, but has plenty of depth and rewards curiosity as you try to expand your village. You can grab it for less than the price of a large coffee.
Stacklands on Steam
Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion
Square-Enix ended the year with the release of their Crisis Core remaster in December. It gives a fresh lick of paint to the PSP JRPG original — itself a prequel to the all-time classic Final Fantasy VII.
A great HD remaster telling the story of Zack Fair — something any Final Fantasy fan will want to check out.
Crisis Core — Final Fantasy VII Reunion on Steam
Bugsnax
Alright, this one is just kinda weird, sorta cute, and yet it works.
You catch "mysterious living snacks and feed them to your friends" in what is an unusual island-based 3D puzzle adventure, filled with charm, intrigue, and clever moments.
You may recall seeing it on PC earlier (via the Epic Games Store), but it made its Steam debut in April of 2022.
Bugsnax on Steam
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Like Animal Crossing? Like Disney? Put those hands together...
This franchise-rich experience from September is something of a hybrid between the typical life-sim and a 3D adventure game filled with Disney-themed quests and activities. Basically, if you like Disney and Pixar stuff you'll find a lot to like here — fan service galore, with a ton of things to do.
Disney Dreamlight Valley on Steam
High On Life
This comedic sci-fi shooter closed out the year for many in December, and it quickly became something of a surprise hit — critics were mixed on it, but gamers seemingly flocked to it.
Rick and Morty fans will love it that's for sure.
High On Life on Steam
Cultic
This 3D old-school-inspired shooter (released in October) has a unique retro look to it, but all of the modern stylings to make it feel great. Expect plenty of over-the-top violence.
There's a demo available if you want to give it a go, and again, this is one that you need to see in motion to really appreciate.
Cultic on Steam
Stray
Meow! This 3D cybercity adventure captured everyone's attention when it launched this summer.
From new developer BlueTwelve Studio and published by indie hit finder Annapurna Interactive, you take on the role of a stray cat exploring a city and trying to find their way. Cat lovers found plenty to like here, with tight controls, an intriguing sci-fi setting, and a charming, touching story.
Stray on Steam
There's without a doubt countless other great games that arrived on Steam (and Steam Deck) during 2022, but those are just a few of the highlights that you'll want to check out and consider playing on Valve's portable PC.
🐘 Let us know over on Mastodon if you have any other personal 'best Steam Deck game' picks that we should know about.
