For when you want a rich experience only an indie game could provide, but portable.
More and more people are getting their hands on Valve’s Steam Deck, the handheld games console of the hour that seems to have won over the gaming community at large. It’s an impressive machine that aims to pack in all that PC gaming goodness in the palms of your hands.
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Indie games are a perfect fit for handheld gaming, and even though Valve’s new portable beast can handle a lot more, we often find ourselves returning to the more stripped-back experiences that indie titles offer. There are so many to choose from, but here are just a few of the very best indie games to play on the Steam Deck.
Don’t be deceived by Tunic’s extremely adorable facade - though colourful with a delightfully whimsical tone, this game is as hard as they come. It wears its inspirations proudly on its sleeve as it merges the iconic action adventure-style gameplay from Zelda classics, with the punishingly difficult skill-based combat of the Dark Souls series.
Difficult as it is, the game is a joy to play due to its outstanding level design and wonderfully bright visuals, which makes it stunning to see in motion. It also has a very creative in-game manual that you must fill out yourself, which is a unique way of throwing you the odd hint or two when you're unsure of the next step. This is a great indie game for any platform, and the Steam Deck is the best way to play it on the go.
The first Rogue Legacy was the game that debuted the ‘rogue-lite’ moniker and has influenced every single indie rogue-lite game that has come after it. Rogue Legacy 2 builds upon the first game and even takes some ideas from games that the series itself has directly influenced.
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In Rogue Legacy 2, you are given more movesets, classes and traversal abilities that can be upgraded over time, changing the gameplay of each run quite dramatically. This gives your randomised heroes even more unique perks to play with as they explore the ever-changing castle and its surrounding biomes. The engaging stop-and-start gameplay lends itself perfectly to the Steam Deck.
Despite the Steam Deck’s impressive graphical capabilities, you’ll often find yourself coming back to the extremely simplistic 16-bit era style of Vampire Survivors. Don’t let its visuals dissuade you, as at its core there is a deeply engaging and intuitive gameplay loop that will have you hooked.
Taking inspiration from clicker gauntlets and roguelike games, you are placed within a map that fills endlessly with wave after wave of ghoulish monsters that increase in difficulty. The thrill comes with the incremental upgrades after levelling, granting more weapon types and buffs to your character as you progress. With each run taking up to 30 minutes, it is undoubtedly a match made in heaven for Valve’s portable powerhouse.
Another title heavily inspired by classic Zelda games, Death’s Door is a top-down action adventure where you take the role of a combat-tested crow who roams around the afterlife looking for souls to reap.
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It includes an assortment of gameplay mechanics from some of your favourite isometric adventures, including plenty of head-scratching puzzles to solve, dungeons to explore and difficult bosses to defeat valiantly. The frantic combat is punishing and echoes the Souls series. It ramps up in difficulty as the game progresses, though it’s a bit more forgiving for FromSoftware veterans as it looks to guide you through in a more approachable way.
Topping many a game of the year list in 2020, Hades still holds up as one of the best indie rogue-lites ever created. The combat is chaotically fast-paced, with multiple weapons and abilities to keep things fresh. The game truly shines in its masterful storytelling.
You take control of Zagreus, son of Hades, as he tries his darnedest to escape the multiple floors of Tartarus and confront his father. It does a great job of presenting the many mythical Gods and monsters contained within Greek mythology, in a bright and captivating visual style. Hades has a compelling narrative that is a breath of fresh air for the rogue-lite genre and will keep you entertained throughout your endless runs. The Steam Deck is as good a place as any to play or even replay this universally acclaimed masterpiece.
Valheim expertly merges together a Viking-inspired open world, skill-based hack and slash combat, and survival exploration into a charming early access indie hit. It was one of the first games to be fully verified on the Steam Deck, with the developers themselves paying particular interest in supporting Valve’s new beloved platform.
Related: Best Open-World Games On Steam
There is a surprising amount of depth to its gameplay, with various biomes to explore and powerful bosses to defeat that will net you interesting rewards. It also has a comprehensive crafting system, where you can gather resources to build the best gear, home bases, fortresses and longships. The option to play it anywhere on the Deck allows for a more relaxed experience when exploring through this beautiful procedurally generated open world.
Inscryption attempts to blend so many genres and new ideas that it can be a little overwhelming to get your head around at first. The game is a magnificently horrifying mix of a card deckbuilding roguelike, escape room style puzzler, and disturbing psychological horror. It pulls off each with finesse, and makes for a deeply engaging and strangely satisfying experience that will keep you playing until the credits roll.
You find yourself inexplicably trapped within a solitary cabin with an unfriendly shadowy figure, who forces you to battle him in a game of cards for your freedom. There are many twists and turns to the story, with surprising gameplay changes that keep things consistently fresh and interesting.
Tinykin takes heavy inspiration from Nintendo’s popular Pikmin series and uses the same strategy and puzzle-solving to accompany its semi-open platforming gameplay. Brimming with unique ideas and a beautifully vibrant aesthetic, you take control of a matchstick-sized Milo - a stranded interstellar traveller who finds himself wandering around a suburban home that’s trapped in the early 1990s.
The game is a constant treat for the eyes as you gather a plethora of tinykin while soap skateboarding and bubble-gliding your way through the game’s creatively designed levels. This is a great pickup for the Steam deck, especially for fans of no-frills 3D platformers.
While Tinykin is not officially classified on Steam as Steam Deck Compatible, testing has shown that the game performs fantastically on the platform.
An indie game dressed in AAA clothing, Stray is a great showcase of what the Steam Deck is capable of. It looks absolutely gorgeous on the handheld and is the perfect game to chill out with as you jump and hop over the cyberpunk-esque rooftops in a very feline manner.
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You take control of an extremely adorable cat who gets tragically separated from its feline buddies. Not all is lost, however, as you happen to stumble upon a neon-lit post-apocalyptic underworld, where you must help liberate its various robot citizens in uncovering the city's mysteriously hidden secrets. Also, there’s a dedicated meow button, which seems just as important to us.
Another entry, another roguelike - but Cult of the Lamb is so much more than it first appears. You play the role of a sacrificial lamb who gets their own back. Given ultimate power and control by a mysterious deity, you must repay your debt by building a loyal cult.
It’s a fantastic mix of genres between a roguelike dungeon crawler and a life simulation game - think The Binding of Isaac meets Animal Crossing. Though two worlds apart, these different styles fit extremely well together, and the vibrant and colourful cutesy graphics pair hilariously with the dark choices you’ll be making throughout. Its loop is highly compelling and is a great experience on Valve’s portable machine, just because you won’t want to put it down. Praise the sheep!
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Before becoming a freelance writer and writing for TheGamer, Alpay dipped his toes in a variety of things and gained experience in marketing and PR, filmmaking and freelance copywriting for Stuff magazine. He has always loved video games and brings his passion and knowledge to TheGamer as a list article writer. When not clacking away at his keyboard he can be found exploring exciting virtual open worlds, lost in a high-concept TV show, anxiously refreshing his Steam Deck pre-order status or attempting to finish his first feature film script. He promises he’ll finish it one day.