Valve has hit a home run with its gaming hand-held. To celebrate its 20th Anniversary since its launch on September 12th, 2003, Valve is celebrating with a Steam Deck sale with a 10%,15%, and 20% discount per its 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB versions respectively. This means that the 512GB Steam Deck is $130.8 off, worth only $519.20.
Steam Deck Sale From September 14 to September 21
Don’t miss out on this rare Steam Deck sale as it was a bit unexpected. But perhaps Valve intends to push out a sale every few months. The previous sales was June and the one before that was in March.
Evidently, if you don’t want to spend a lot, then the 64GB Steam Deck for $359.10 would be perfect too. It’s less than a PS5 but plays most of the same games and only a bit more than the Nintendo Switch.
It seems Valve is pushing for a sale every quarter. This means that even if you miss out currently on this Steam Deck sale, there’s likely to be another Q4 2023 sale during Black Friday in November.
Best Games to Play during the Steam Deck Sale
Now, if you’re planning on getting a Steam Deck, then that means you’ll need the games to play it. We recommend you make the best use of your hand-held (and its mysterious battery life) by focus on indie games.
If we follow the charts of some of the top games played on the Steam Deck, we can pin point some famous and exhilarating indies.
Vampire Survivors
If you’re short on time or simply enjoy small bursts of looped content, then
Vampire Survivors is perfect for you. You start off with a basic weapon that
which you upgrade by eliminating masses of vampires.
If you lose, you gain some currency and level up your character permanent,
or unlock other characters. It’s a pretty addicting game for a hand held such
as the Steam Deck.
Dead Cells
If you’re a fan of a challenge then Dead Cells is perfect for you. It’s a
fast-paced Castlevania-esque platformer that will punish you for every wrong
jump or every aggressive attack.
But its core gameplay loop is more attuned towards a roguelite formula where
you start over once you die, but you get to upgrade yourself a bit. If you’re
up for high adrenaline moments of trial and error, Dead Cells will keep coming
back for your blood, tears, and sweat.
Hades
Another rouge-lite but one which is heavily story inspired. Every loop isn’t
just about melting the undead of Elysium or basking in the blood of Tartarus,
but it’s one where you’re either itching to reach the next story beat with Nyx
or finally get to spend more time with your mother.
Hades truly excels at being a hand held rouge-lite as it keeps you coming
back for not just the story, but the immense build variety per core unlockable
weapons and randomized boons per run. It’s a special entry within a growing,
competitive gaming genre, one where you sometimes want to lose just to progress
a story. It’s truly a win-win scenario, and a perfect one on the go!
Celeste
Celeste isn’t just any platformer. It’s a journey and marathon built-in to
your experience of the game. Its instant reloads makes the unforgiving levels
addicting yet rewarding once you go through with them.
Celeste pushes you to find a solution, and usually the levels fit within
your screen…well until they become quite crazy. But by that time, you want that
extra challenge because the devs realize how the player grows while playing the
game.
You’re a gamer, you’re not going to hike a mountain when you could sink in
bed with your Steam Deck, and that’s where Celeste’s journey truly comes to life
as by the time you’re done, you’ll be on top of the world.
Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is a true gem. Possibly the greatest
indie-game to some, possibly a mini-Elden Ring to others (hey, don’t judge).
What makes this cutesy Metroidvania special is its ability to suck you right in
while allowing you to experience the game at your own pace. Unlike the others,
Hollow Knight isn’t necessarily a fast paced games (though some bosses may say
otherwise). But it’s really a 2D platformer magnum opus that rewards
exploration and experimentation.
With a Soulslike combat system, along with the customizable
builds, you’re thrown into the world and are able to venture to any part that
you can. And as you grow stronger, the world opens up even more. Every path
traveled twice feels like a new adventure with how you’re able to traverse the
game differently, and sometimes even older places may throw you in for a loop
with some juicy changes.
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out Lies of P, another new Soulslike to play during this Steam Deck sale. Or you could even ready up for Cyberpunk 2077’s newest 2.0 upgrade which overhauls the base game experience.