My laptop is old enough to vote, and therefore anything beyond Stardew Valley made it collapse, but it works great for my daily tasks. However, after trying a Switch recently (I consider the Lite to be the perfect handheld, size wise), I got an itch that could only be scratched with more games.
I found a second hand Deck for a reasonable price and I CAN’T BELIEVE I WAS MISSING SO MANY THINGS.
Particularly I’ve been amazed by No Man’s Sky, because I can see other players!!! And visit them!!! I can’t do that on Switch!
I’m also enjoying Witcher 3 and Rimworld!
Discovering that the SD can be used as a computer too, with all the bells and whistles has been very fun.
My one and greatest complaint is its size… I get that it’s necessary to add such a big amount of buttons, but my fingers are getting a full workout trying to remain in position.
Still, amazing, amazing machine!!
(Y’all can feel my enthusiasm levels by counting the amount of “!” In this text)
I’m closer to 50 than I want to be and getting a deck almost a year ago has been so much fun. I have a pretty capable desktop and game on Linux sometimes but now I’m actually getting into games in a real way on the deck because it’s so easy to pick up and put down at any time. Also finding a renewed love for platformers and other game types that I haven’t touched in decades.
I think part of what hits so good is Steam as a company seems to really give a shit about players and it shows. Been using a Steam controller I got off Craigslist for almost 10 years and it still works perfectly. I’ve never even considered buying a console because it all seems so exhausting and profit driven and locked down in dumb ways. Having this little portable Linux machine opens a whole new thing.
The platformer aspect is real, the deck reminds me of my years as a kid playing flash games on the laptop. Something about gaming on desktop PCs makes that feel different, but the Steam Deck is really close to it again.
I started with Oddworld N&T and then Darq and Limbo and Inside. I love the art style and I’m still learning how to look for more similar games!