Best Steam Deck games in 2023: Dave the Diver, Diablo IV & more

The Steam Deck has a huge library of games for it, but which ones should you be looking at in 2023? We break it all down for you.

Since launching in March 2022, the Steam Deck has garnered an enormous list of supported games. Being connected to Steam, there’s also a bevy of titles that might not have that green “verified” tick but still work fantastically on the Deck.

From huge releases to quaint indie darlings, the Steam Deck is rife with stuff to play. While 2023 continues to look stacked for new games, let’s take a quick look back into the last few months and years to check out what titles are best played on the Steam Deck.

Best Steam Deck game for July: Dave the Diver

You know, it’s pretty cool that there are two quite relaxing, but suddenly stress-inducing fishing games at the moment. Dave the Diver joins Dredge for 2023’s fishing game extravaganza, and it’s fantastic.

You play Dave, a diver, who is roped into helping a fledgling sushi restaurant by catching fish – and also being its waiter. It combines a mixture of exploring the deep for more fish and treasures, along with a funny story to tie it all together. After you’re diving for the day, you’re then thrust into the manic sushi restaurant portion.

Here you will choose the menu, serve customers and wash dishes. Eventually, you start hiring staff and upgrading just about everything in the game.

It’s the perfect Steam Deck game, with short bursts of the game which can be easily paused, put down, or just for that lunchtime session.

Xanadu Next

So with the Steam sale now behind us, we decided to branch out and try a significantly older game for a little while. Our time with Diablo IV has ended until the first season starts, but we still wanted our dungeon-crawling itch scratched.

Xanadu Next is a sequel to the classic RPG series Xanadu, which spawned from another series. You take the role of a knight as you explore your typical fare of dungeons, forests, and more. It’s fairly simple and the control scheme is awkward.

We were playing it on the Ayaneo 2S, but without the trackpads on the Steam Deck, a lot of the game feels inaccessible. It’s the perfect type of action RPG, with a focus on basic combat and building up stats. It’s not terribly complicated either, as Xanadu Next makes for a perfect winding-down game.

Best Steam Deck games in 2023

A great thing about the Steam Deck is the way it brings that massive backlog with you, wherever you go. Looming over you, like a dark storm cloud of fun. Why did you buy what you did back in 2010? You’re never going to play Chrome, a forgotten FPS that doesn’t like controllers.

Maybe you will, maybe you’ll map everything to the trackpads and give it a whirl. Either way, here are some games you should absolutely check out on the Steam Deck.

Diablo IV

Blizzard Entertainment

While it might not be supposed to be here, Diablo IV is what has kept the Steam Deck firmly glued to our hands. The excellent controller support and the option to ditch the high-resolution graphics make this a superb choice.

Diablo IV might be getting some flak from its fans over recent nerfs, but the overall game is the ideal pick-up-and-play title for the handheld. Do a dungeon, log out, and repeat. Finish some quests off, go for dinner, and play at the table. Soon, Diablo IV will be following you into the bathroom.

DREDGE

It’s time for a cozy indie game! Dredge came out towards the end of March and it still continues to haunt us with its tales and journeys of the deep even after the first week of May.

Set in a rustic fishing village, and its conjoining islands, you’re a fisherman who has found themselves with a broken boat and no money to repair it. As you dash back and forth between searching the depths for treasure, or fish, the Eldritch curse that has taken the land leads into a small mystery.

Eventually, you go from fishing for oceanic life, to braving the dark abyss of night and dredging up old trinkets which a curious researcher wants. What for? Well, you’ll have to find out.

Path of Exile

Another is inspired heavily by the vibe and mechanics of Diablo 2. After Diablo 3 launched to a less than stellar reception by diehard fans of the second game, Grinding Gear Games began work on Path of Exile.

We’re nearly a year on from GGG launching controller support and running through the last couple of major updates has led to the Steam Deck being our go-to for the game. Path of Exile’s enormous breadth is perfect fodder for those TV catch-up sessions or podcast listening endeavors.

Path of Exile’s fresh runs through the early content work wonderfully well on the Steam Deck. Even when we’ve hit some of the endgame content, Path of Exile’s surprisingly well-thought-out controller mapping makes things a breeze.

Resident Evil 4 Remake

Capcom

While performance isn’t incredible, nor is the fidelity of how it looks with AMD’s supersampling applied, the beast of a remake is certainly one of the best times we’ve had on the device.

Being stalked and mobbed by the unruly Spaniards, Resident Evil 4 Remake slots perfectly into the “pick up and play” motif the device has. Struggling against a boss while you aim for that S+ rank,or just getting the heeby-jeebies from a late night romp through Dr. Salvador’s backyard? Set it and forget it… for five minutes.

Capcom

The expanded exploration and huge replayability make Resident Evil 4 Remake a joy on the Steam Deck. Our extended hunts for treasure around the castle and village were done in pure comfort as we lay in bed until 2 AM.

Despite having to settle for 720p/30fps at all Low settings, it stops mattering once you’re in the game. Resident Evil 4: Remake’s art style, while more realistic, isn’t lost once you start ticking down the settings. There are a few spotty shadows, and hair can look strange, but the performance is solid throughout.

Besides, who else is going to save the president’s daughter?

Vampire Survivors

Poncle

A bizarre crossover between the visuals of old Castlevania games, bullet hell shooters, and rogue-likes, Vampire Survivors is fabulous. With each round being maxed out (at the start) to 30 minutes, it makes for an excellent time waster.

However, the deeper you go, the more you try to complete the various challenges, and the game starts to break wide open.

Soon, those 30-minute stints killing monsters – and surprisingly very few vampires – can blossom into these extravagant and elaborate rounds where the timer can be busted, power-ups are taken advantage of and so, so much more.

It’s the perfect “one more round” game, but much like everything else on this list, is an excellent pick-up-and-play title too.

Final Fantasy XIV

Square Enix

FFXIV is, without a doubt, one of the best MMORPGs to grace us in the last decade. A wicked combination of some of the best storytelling from Square Enix and wonderful moment-to-moment action.

It also plays superbly on the Steam Deck, offering intuitive controls for a gamepad. Designed originally to support the PS3, a lot of care has gone into making sure the heavy MMO gameplay isn’t lost on those who just want to explore the world around them.

On Steam Deck, there’s nothing better than finishing work, grabbing that black slab, and going to town on leveling up your botanist skills. Or finishing a dungeon.

There are also great improvements to solo play, with strictly multiplayer affairs like dungeons and key quests in the game now offering AI companions so you’re not sitting around waiting too long.

Crysis: Remastered

The basis for practically every modern open-world game. Crysis: Remastered masterfully crafts its quite linear progression into these different “zones”. This means that you can take out a small enclave, save your game and pop it down until the next time you’re ready to take it on the island.

Crysis: Remastered runs wonderfully on the Steam Deck. The updated controls match the sequels console focus and the game is incredibly well-optimized. So yes, the Steam Deck can run Crysis.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

Capcom

Are you starting to notice the pattern of our recommendations for the “best Steam Deck games”? They’re all things that won’t ultimately detract from your day if you have to quickly put them down. So what game is a better example than Monster Hunter?

Monster Hunter Rise takes the game back a step in terms of graphical prowess but makes up for it in the sheer quantity of things to do. Seriously, the game is a non-stop barrage of upgrading, and fighting and that’s before you even hit Sunbreak.

Sunbreak is the expansion DLC that offers a deadly deluge of things to do, and monsters that need their heads bashing in.

Monster Hunter is always best played when portable, and the Steam Deck lets you run the title without a hitch, and play in co-op with your friends on PC.