It’s approaching one year since I’ve had my Steam Deck. Having it has not only made me want to play entirely different games from what I’d normally play. It’s also made me play them in a different way. That is in couch ‘co-op’. Obviously, over the years, I’ve played lots of games cooperatively. Whether they be open-world survival games. Or more story-driven adventures. Mostly they have been games focused on looting i.e. looter shooters like Destiny, The Division et al.
However, since getting my Deck I’ve been looking at more games I can play with my partner. She isn’t a gamer and doesn’t really like physically playing video games – although she has enjoyed The Case of the Golden Idol after I sang its virtues. Therefore, I’ve been looking out for games that play well with someone as a co-pilot of sorts who can watch and enjoy the game just as much as the person who’s playing. Normally, I’m sat at my desk playing on my own or with friends over Discord. However, I’ve been really enjoying playing on the sofa with my partner watching and playing along.
The right game
We both enjoy mysteries and puzzle solving so it’s all about finding the right game to suit that mixture of interactivity without too much exposition where you both end up just sitting in silence. Naturally, point-and-click style games are an excellent place to start. But story-driven adventures that aren’t necessarily point-and-click also can work well.
However, there is a fine line between what works and what doesn’t. For example, we recently completed a playthrough of Return of the Orba Dinn, and Unheard – Voices of Crime. Both have a similar premise. You need to solve mysteries by reliving moments, looking for clues as you investigate scenes. The main difference between them is that Unheard is centered around audio logs. You therefore spend a lot of time sitting and listening – sometimes for 10 minutes at a time, to find identities of key people or clues to solving the crimes. This meant that it wasn’t all that engaging for either of us. It was still an enjoyable game. But we found we weren’t really interacting very much and spent a lot of time sitting quietly listening. It seems like it works a little better as a solo experience.
However, Return of the Obra Dinn was amazing. Not only is the story really fun that takes you on a bit of a mad journey of the last voyage of the ship. There was also loads of interaction between each other as we discussed who was who. Walking through the scenes each pointing out minor details. It was a fantastic experience and I’m so glad I got to play it with someone beside me. Whilst I’m sure it would still have been great on my own. I think having someone else sit with me enjoying it as much as me elevated the experience to the next level.
We’ve also played a couple of other games – Untitled Goose Game and some other Point-and-Click titles. It has given me a new appreciation for playing games like this. I’ve played lots of mystery games in the past and I’ve enjoyed a lot of them too. That being said, I now feel like I might have enjoyed them a little more if I was playing them with someone else watching along.
More recently we’ve been really enjoying Stasis: Bone Totem a sci-fi point-and-click adventure with some great Cosmic horror undertones to it.
The Deck is the perfect companion
Whilst buying my Steam Deck was technically a needless purchase. I’m so glad I did get it. Not only is it a great device for if you want to play on the go or to take away with you for when you have some downtime. It’s also really opened up new ways of enjoying video games for myself as I get to experience all the fun of them with someone right next to me.
The Steam Deck surely has to be up there with one of the best bits of tech to come along in the last couple of years. Not only is it a brilliant hand-held device that’s capable of playing loads of AAA titles. It’s also extremely easy to get up and running with on a TV to play like a console. With barely any real setup involved when you first open the box, the Steam Deck is fantastic and I’m getting to enjoy it for reasons I wasn’t expecting.
It helps that developers have really leaned into getting their games running well on the Deck with so many verified titles and loads more that work perfectly well but aren’t technically verified.
So, if anyone has any other recommendations, let me know!
-Will
