I thought it might be an interesting time capsule to look back on whats installed on my beloved steam deck. There’s 80 games installed. Eighty. So not only do I had a huge library of unplayed games, I have a large collection of installed and unplayed games on the steam deck. This may be a sign of a larger psychological issue.
Lets start at the top.
Diablo IV – I’ve gotten past the intro movie. I believe I have slashed at a monster.
Parking Garage Rally Circuit – PS1 style racer around a parking garage. This sounded like it had power ups and things that I wanted to explore for a mini-golf game I’m making on the side.
OMG Words – a Balatro-like (yes, thats a thing) scrabble-like. And yes, there might be another side-project that is balatro-like and scrabble-like that I wanted to do some research on. Currently unplayed. But its looking at me.
Cobalt Core – roguelike deckbuilder. Love these types of games, so easy to get into for quick play sessions. But I’m struggling with this one. It’s not quite hooked onto me yet – but neither did Balatro at first and now I attend weekly Balatro-anonymous meetings.
Dungeons & Puzzles – I think this was a recommendation from a podcast. Progress: Zero.
Steamworld Heist II – installed and played! My wife loves this game on the phone, which is weird in itself. Turns based, almost 2d xcom, but interspersed with driving a boat. Another recommendation which isn’t quite hooking me.
Total War – Warhammer – literally impossible to play on Steam Deck. Or maybe it is. I have zero ability or skills to play any Total War game and yet I own lots of them. I’ve played a collective 60 minutes in total (war!). I love the idea more than the execution? This is the type of game I should be making as a side project because there is something there that I want this to be, that it’s not. Or I just suck. One of the two.
Battlefleet Gothic Armada II – its another Warhammer game (you will see this as a theme), 100% unplayed. Lets just move on…..
Dotf Romantik – 4 hours played! This is almost a record for me! 4 hours! Obviously not all at once, no no. This is probably over a few sessions but I really loved this game. As you can tell by the huge amount of hours I racked up. This is the first cozy game on the list. I love that cozy games have become a thing, especially as a developer, you can build something thats just nice. Its nice to build its nice to play. It can be a toy and if there is a reward at the end thats fantastic, but mostly the reward is in the play itself.
I have seen Dorf Romantik on the steam store and sales for a while and ignored it because the name made no sense. It still makes no sense. Its a terrible name. I picked it up as part of a cozy bundle otherwise I never would have.
Naming is important, kids. Naming kids is also important. Both are true.
9 games down, 71 to go.