After a long wait, Valve's Steam Deck is finally heading for a commercial release to the public. As a handheld offering, it directly competes with the likes of the Nintendo Switch and other third-party competitors on the market. The Steam Deck is going to be an amazing piece of hardware, that's for sure. But if you are thinking of owning the lowest end model, inherent storage capacity should be an issue for you. Not to worry, the Steam library actually has plenty of lightweight titles that are nonetheless fun as games, where your internal storage will be more than enough, without the need of a pricey 1 TB SD Card Steam Deck.
Lightweight Steam Deck Games Worth a Purchase
The Steam library is home to a growing list of fantastic titles. While many are being overshadowed by high-budget, triple-A titles, smaller-budget ones are not necessarily bad. Oftentimes, they're just simply small scale and are made by small companies or a few developers. But although what makes games particularly outstanding is subject to personal preference, magnitude doesn't always equate to value. Memory storage being an issue or not, here are some of the best light games you could play on your Steam Deck:
Monster Train
Monster Train has called the Steam platform its home since May 2021, and for a short while was exclusive to it. It's described as a 'deck-building game with rogue-like elements'. Set in a train bound to hell, players must fight their way to protect the pyre that lies on top of a vertical grid. There are four layers in total, but players can only place units on the first three. Although simple in concept, the game nonetheless offers a lot of variety and challenges. Despite its rich content, Monster Train is a light game as it only takes 2Gb of memory to play. It also is not particularly resource-hungry, so you can expect to play the game at max performance with the default setting. Currently, the game sells for $11 to $19 on Steam, depending on the version.
Fae Tactics
Fans of the strategy genre, such as the iconic Final Fantasy Tactics, will find Fae Tactics familiar. With a design that is clearly reminiscent of the former, it is apparent where the inspiration draws from. But while players of Fae Tactics are in it for the semblance, it can also be due to its own amusing twist. Particularly, the ability to recruit allies in-game. A game of its design is not necessarily intensive with the resources. So, it comes off as no surprise how the game would only take 1Gb of storage to play. Furthermore, the game is also isn't especially demanding, so players can anticipate a smooth, maximum performance even with just the basic setting. The game currently sells for $9 on Steam.
Valheim
Valheim recently took the world by storm when it had its early access release on Steam. Within just 5 months since, the game was peaking at around 66,000 players. From the outset, Valheim may not look like a big-budget title. Its graphics even look dated, especially for its time. But what makes it most appealing is certainly its gameplay. In Valheim, players take on the role of a Viking and try to survive the treacherous wild, which involves plenty of explorations and crafting. Despite its sprawling 3D environment and massive content, it does come as a surprise that this game only requires 1Gb of storage space. Also, the game only costs $9 at Steam right now.
Opus Magnum
People who like solving puzzles and building stuff will be at home with Opus Magnum. Described as an 'open-ended puzzle game,' the game draws inspiration from both alchemy and engineering. The game has been on Steam since 2017, so there's already a good level of stability that one could expect from a game of that age. Importantly, the game only requires 600Mb of file size to store and play and only costs slightly more than $6.
Loop Hero
This is a game that literally lets you build your world as you invest more time in it. Being rogue-like, each experience is essentially unique and thus offers countless hours of fun with it. At only 200Mb in file size, Loop Hero is one of the smallest games there is. On a positive note, its not-so-demanding content makes it among those games that are smooth to run on modern hardware. At roughly $8, the game is also fairly cheap, too.
With these games on the list, it only shows that even good games can be small and inexpensive.
So Many to Choose From
There's no doubt that the Steam library has an overabundance of lightweight titles in it. But while not everything in it works for the Steam Deck just yet, knowing it's thriving with games makes it such an interesting platform.
