Growing up I was always a console gamer. I have fond memories of playing Mega Man with my cousin and bringing my Gameboy everywhere I went; playing in the backseat of my parents’ car at night in the fleeting moments as we passed under street lights.

Since then indie games have become a large part of my videogame library. I get to play some here and there that release on consoles but I’ve noticed something pretty interesting. A decent amount of these indie games are releasing exclusively on Steam.

I’ve owned PCs that were capable of playing some games but I couldn’t say I’ve ever had a gaming PC. My current daily driver is an M1 Mac Mini which really isn’t capable of playing much at all.

The idea of buying or building a gaming PC to play these games made me feel anxious. It’s been years since I’ve built a computer. After 12+ years working in IT, I wasn’t super amped about the idea of potentially having to constantly troubleshoot my own PC issues.

There’s just something nice about playing on a console. I know that when I insert a disc/cartridge (or download a game) that it’s designed to work with that console. I like the idea of not really having to worry about it.

Enter: The Steam Deck

Back in February of 2022 when the original Steam Deck launched it was practically a radical idea. An all-in-one, handheld PC gaming solution that’s designed to be able to just pick up and play. No fuss PC gaming? That’s certainly a big claim for this little device to live up to.

Since then, plenty of other manufacturers have thrown their hats in the ring. Some devices like the ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go even have options with more powerful internal hardware. At the end of the day they all run on Windows and you still have to deal with same issues.

My wife bought me the recently released OLED model of the Steam Deck for my birthday and after about a month and a half of using it I can already say this is my new favorite way to experience games.

Gaming on the Deck

If you’ve ever played a Nintendo Switch then you’ll be right at home with this form factor. The Steam deck is quite a bit larger but not so much larger that it’s too heavy or unwieldy.

The buttons are satisfying to press without being too clicky or too soft. and the shape of the grips offer enough in terms of comfort. Long play sessions aren’t straining. If I’m being truly honest, I find it considerably more comfortable than the Switch even when using a grip. The OLED screen is stunning and clear with vibrant colors and contrast levels only truly achievable with an OLED. It’s an absolute delight to play on.

You have full access to your Steam library and you can simply download and play any games you already own or buy new ones from the Steam store directly on the device. There’s a list of games that are “deck verified” which means that Valve has confirmed that the game runs great with virtually no issues. These games adapt to the screen and by default use the built in controller without any configuration required. They’ve even dedicated the default screen to showing you games that are deck verified which makes it easy to find games that you can play right away. In a way it brought the ease of console gaming to the PC gaming world.

All in all the Steam Deck OLED has completely changed the way I think about gaming and it quickly became my new preferred place for most games. Any game that’s more graphically intensive I can play on my Xbox Series X. The Switch… well, unfortunately the Switch will most likely be limited to Nintendo exclusives for me going forward. Anything else is a much better experience on the Steam Deck.