What I've played on my Deck over the last months and would consider more of the type of games you listed:
- Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip
- Paper Trail
- Smushi Come Home
- Little Kitty, Big City
- Slash Quest
- Haven Park
- Loddlenaut
Edit: Formatting
this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2025
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Steam Deck
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Try out Loddlenaut or Toem!
Unpacking (if mouse control via touch pads is ok for you)
Don’t think I saw these mentioned so here ya go:
- Little Kitty, Big City
- Any of the Atelier games if you don’t mind anime, though the upcoming one may not be as relaxing in terms of its story.
- Timberborn, though some might feel stressed about handling droughts. You can turn the difficulty down and it’ll just be a cute diorama where you build a city (or cities) with beavers.
And this is extra but grab your friends and family and play some couch co-op. It can help get your mind off things and just enjoy being in company of loved ones.
Aand if you want to eventually find something that will keep you hopeful in the face of despair, in a healthy way, I recommend the first part of Honkai Impact 3rd. It’s long, has lots of depressing moments, enough to make fans call it Depression Impact. The story touches on themes of existential horror, suicide, duty, death of loved ones, humans who have no morals and believe that all rights and wrongs as transient, cosmological threats, etc. Despite all that, I’d actually say that it’s a story about hope, and what can lay the foundations for hope. It’s definitely fan-service-y, and it’s a gacha game, but very much ignorable and playable without investing any money in it. It’s also made by a Chinese company, but maybe that can help with recalibrating perceptions on Chinese people, instead of what we’ve come to know through their government. Of course, if you’re susceptible to gambling addictions, please feel free to ignore this recommendation.
UFO 50 and Star of Providence!
I've been playing Keep Driving quite a bit. Fun game and great on deck.
Coffee talk might be a good one
Cat fishing (maybe it's called fishing with cat?) glad you already did for detective, cat quest 1-3, trine is pretty laid back, Thomas was alone, undertale,
Reus2 has been most of my deck commuting playtime if I'm honest. Great little game with endless replayability.
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Transport fever 2 is very chill.
Thanks for the suggestion!
The rookie
Smushi Come Home is a good one. You play as a little mushroom trying to find the way back home. It kinda has a similar vibe to A Short Hike
I've only played the demo, but Caravan SandWitch has a cozy vibe and seems very chill.
Oh, and Harold Halibut. It's stop-motion and heavy on character interaction, with a story that keeps the action mild (on a level with a kid's TV show). A very calm protagonist. Aside from the visual style, all those things are reasons that it got mixed reviews, but could fit what you want.
I had trouble with very long loading times on the deck sometimes, but it's a slow-paced game, so I didn't even mind too much.
Not sure if this qualifies but I enjoy Catherine: Full Body on the steam deck. It’s kind of a cozy game.
A few more not mentioned. All of them are games where you can play and your in-game choices are small.
- A Good Snowman is Hard to Build
- Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
- Hexologic
- Harmony's Odyssey
- Luna's Fishing Garden
Ill give you some more fast paced than the other recommendations. Games that really suck me in for hours zoned out.
Nova Drift helped me zone out for hours and is good on the steam deck. It's an Asteroids style game. It's just shoot up fun with more upgrades the longer you survive.
Crab Champions is a silly shooter with the same basic recipe. Survive, get upgrades. It's silly though because you are a crab, fighting other crabs. It's fun.
Comedy option - Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. Face your life frustrations head on and play a game designed to make you angry.