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Aperture Desk Job is still the first game you should install on your Steam DeckGetting to grips
Getting to grips
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Valve
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Valve
There are loads ofgood Steam Deck games– as in, games that happen to play well on aSteam Deck, even if they were originally crafted around desktop hardware and intended to be poked around with amouseandkeyboard. This is a joy of the portable PC in itself: that if you already have a populated Steam library, a box-fresh Deck will immediately have a selection of familiar favourites to install at no extra cost.
Still. While theSteam Deckdoesn’t do exclusives, it does have a killer app. Nearly a year and a half after Valve surprise-launchedAperture Desk Jobalongside their handheld, the comedy tech demo remains unsurpassed as a playable introduction to the hardware. Again, there are thousands of compatible games, but if you’ve just recently grabbed a Steam Deck (perhaps via the newofficial refurb scheme), Aperture Desk Job could hardly be more perfect as an inaugural install.
To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Manage cookie settingsVid bud Liam concurs that ADJ is one of the best Steam Deck games. You wouldn’t want to upset Liam, would you?Watch on YouTube
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It’s a comprehensive initiation, even covering how to take screenshots and bring up the SteamOS onscreen keyboard. But what’s most impressive is how, for game with “bring up the SteamOS onscreen keyboard” as an objective, Aperture Desk Job never feels dull. Tutorials are thoughtfully interwoven with jokes and plot beats, establishing a tone that’s morePortal 2than pre-flight safety video: your first use of the Steam Deck’s touchscreen, for example, is to sign a contract that rants about a time-travelling Jack the Ripper. Minutes later, a crash course in gyro aiming is delivered during a shootout with gun-toting washing machines.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun
It’s like having The Fun Teacher at school, the one who draws ironic stick figures into their whiteboard diagrams and buys everyone finger skateboards for Christmas. Aperture Desk Job wants you to understand your Steam Deck, but is determined to make that familiarisation process an enjoyable one. And it is – I’ve replayed it several times just for funsies, and not just on my Deck.
