I will always carry water for Void Stranger, Pizza Tower, and Valkyria Chronicles. The first two games especially, however Void Stranger is simultaneously a super long investment and super punchy. Pizza Tower is so breezy if you aren’t a perfectionist.
I recently tried Alan Wake and did not like it at all - but quite liked what I’ve played of 2.
Citizen Sleeper gets my recommendation for something quick and breezy, yet fulfilling.
Void Stranger is my GOTY of last year but takes longer than it’s inconspicuous visuals would let you suspect. Highly recommended if you want a cool experience that takes more time.
Signalis is the middle ground between those two, length wise. Also one of my favourite games.
Pentiment would be my first pick, as a small, well-made game that lets you solve mysteries in a small early modern village for several days. (Think visual novel + adventure game.) The art design is gorgeous, and it earns this medievalist’s credit for actually pretty compelling use of historical setting: the theological, literary, and historical references are well-done. It’s also quick (maybe 15 hours), which makes it a good appetizer before any of the others.
This is definitely true but I have to add that I used to roll my eyes whenever a game threw in a box pushing puzzle that grinds all gameplay momentum to a halt but I enjoyed Void Stranger anyway because a) it’s not as sterile as some dedicated puzzle games tend to be b) the gameplay works differently enough from traditional box pushing that I felt it more engaging c) the game feeds you story bits regularly enough to keep you engaged. I’m a sucker for story and mystery and VS changed my view on box pushing!
But that was just my experience as someone who didn’t really know sokoban in itself was a genre and never really liked it when faced with it in other games.
The Exit 8 only took me about an hour, which is a bit longer than average from what I understand. I really liked it!
Prey (2017) is great, but I have no idea how well it would translate to playing on a steam deck. Not as a technical/framerate/etc issue, but there’s lots of little text and environmental detail to look at.
Citizen Sleeper and Paradise Killer are both excellent and likely a good fit for the deck.
I have never witnessed group violence quite like these boards telling people to play Void Stranger. It suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks so much and is the new archtypical example of “you just gotta play it for 200 hours then it gets good, trust me”.
Oh god, I’ve started playing it, and this is another Fez/Tunic/Animal Well type game isn’t it? My brain does not produce dopamine when finding secrets for secrets sake, so I have bounced off all three of those. I’m going to keep going for now, but I probably do not have the patience for this…
Also, was it supposed to crash when I rested at the tree?