The Steam Deck is the best way to take all your favorite PC games on the go. This list has 13 great games to bring with you wherever you end up this Fall.
Fall is the coziest season. This is just a fact. As the nights grow longer, nothing beats snuggling up in your favorite thick blanket, equipped with fluffy socks and your favorite hot drink, and curling up somewhere soft. Now, thanks to the Steam Deck, you can bring your favorite games with you while you do that. The games on this list range from spooky to silly, but they are all perfect ways to pass a Fall evening with your Steam Deck.
Related: Top 10 Games To Celebrate The Fall Season
Stardew Valley
This is quite possibly the ultimate cozy game. You play as a farmer who has recently taken over their grandfather’s farm. In the game, you can manage your farm, fish, fight monsters, and get to know the locals (many of whom are romanceable). Seasons change within the game as time progresses. There are many storylines to uncover through socialization and other gameplay. There’s even a multiplayer mode where you can run a farm with your friends. There’s a reason why this game is so enormously popular. The engaging, but not very high stakes, gameplay creates a perfect setting to unwind alone or with friends.
Dredge
This mysterious fishing game is best played on a foggy Autumn evening. In this game, you play as a fisherman whose boat has broken down near a seaside town full of mysterious residents. This game features a beautiful Autumnal color palate and definitely has strong horror elements. While you work to repair and upgrade your boat and catch an assortment of unusual fish (captured by completing mini-games), you also work to unravel an eldritch mystery while staving off madness. This game is very much what you make it, with many gameplay options. It’s not very long and would be perfect for a stormy night.
Cassette Beasts
In this music-themed, turn-based game, you play a character who has woken up on an island overrun by aggressive monsters that you capture with cassette tapes. This game is full of nostalgic visuals and creepy-but-cute monsters. You can gather allies, “remaster” monsters, and search for rare “bootleg” monsters in unusual colors. This game can be played alone or with friends in a multiplayer mode.
Frog Detective
You play as a frog detective in this insanely cute and somewhat self-explanatory game. This version encompasses all three games in the Frog Detective series, allowing you to solve them all in rapid succession. This game is very funny and quite wholesome. You primarily search the crime scenes, interrogate the witnesses, and look for clues. While the crimes are not designed to be difficult to solve, each chapter of the game does get longer and slightly more involved. This series is accessible to enthusiasts of amphibious mysteries of all ages. It’s a very light and charming game, perfect for those nights when you find yourself wrapped up in a blanket and need of a pick-me-up.
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion
In this adorable and quirky game, you play as Turnip Boy—who has been framed for tax evasion by Mayor Onion! You run errands for Mayor Onion to clear your debt and in the process, learn more about yourself, your world, and the truth about the crime you’ve been accused of. This game is very funny and full of quirky, produce-inspired characters. Doing Mayor Onion’s bidding often includes solving puzzles and clearing dungeons. Plus, this game boasts one of the best game names of all time. This short game is a fun and cute way to pass those long Fall evenings.
Don’t Starve Together
This is a survival game in the purest sense. All gameplay is based solely on keeping your character alive. This co-op spin-off of the original features several gothically charming characters to choose from, all with their own personalities and quirks. Full to the brim with creepy Halloween imagery, this game definitely leans hard into the scary side of cozy. This is far from your average farming sim, as your characters must also battle wildlife, the elements, and their own crumbling sanity to stay alive. While you can play this game alone, it is strongly recommended that you face it with a friend.
Lake
In this nostalgic and meditative game, you play as a young woman in 1986 who has taken a break from her demanding job in the city and returned to her hometown for a few weeks off. However, her workaholic tendencies die hard, so she has decided to fill in for her father, the local postman. This game is very relaxed and features some utterly charming scenery with lots of nostalgic details. Most of your time will be spent driving the mail van, but you can also take on side missions after work hours, stay home reading and watching television, or romancing some of the NPCs. The gameplay is a little on the repetitive side, but if you embrace it, it can be quite relaxing.
Cult Of The Lamb
The vibe of this game can only be described as “adorably eldritch.” You play as a lamb who has been sacrificed by a cult. The catch is that after you’re sacrificed, you encounter a demon known as “The One Who Waits,” who revives you in exchange for your vow to create a cult in their name. This game is combat-heavy, with lots of dungeons you must choose between and then clear, but there are also some card reading sections and—of course—the daily logistic issues of maintaining a cult. The visuals in this game are extremely cute, and the settings are weirdly charming. This is a fast-paced yet strangely cozy game.
Disney Dreamlight Valley
It’s hard to get any more cozy than Disney. In this game, you play a character who has grown tired of life in the city and returned to a favorite place from their childhood only to find that things are far from how they left them. What was once a charming town is now overrun with giant Sleeping Beauty thorny vines. Your job is to clear the thorns, renovate the town, and improve the morale of the residents. There are many customization options, and the gameplay is simple and relaxing. This game is very grind-heavy, so do not expect to advance quickly. If you can lean into the pacing and enjoy the nostalgia, this game has all the warm, cozy feelings of a mug of hot apple cider.
Roots Of Pacha
In this 2D farming simulator, you play a prehistoric tribesman who has settled in a new area with the rest of their tribe. This story-driven game revolves around building up a village. In the process, you establish and maintain a farm, make friends, and get unusual (and rideable) animals such as ostridges and wooly mammoths. You must work together with the other villages (several of whom are romanceable) to progress the story and bring new technology to the tribe. This game includes the changing of the seasons but not combat. It also has a multiplayer mode!
The Stillness Of The Wind
This melancholic game might hit you like a cold Autumn wind. You play as an elderly woman who works to maintain the isolated farm she lives on. The remote setting will look somewhat familiar to anyone who has seen Courage The Cowardly Dog. This game is very routine based as you tend to the farm animals and what remains of your crops. The only NPC you will encounter directly is a traveling salesman who will appear once per day at your farm. This salesman is an important source of supplies, but the most valuable thing he brings is information. The salesman delivers letters from relatives in the outside world, which begin to form a bleak picture. This game is relaxing but definitely sad. It’s perfect if you find yourself in an introspective mood on some Fall night.
Slime Rancher
This game is enormously popular for a reason. You play as a young woman who has left Earth in search of a better future in space as a slime rancher. Corral, combine, harvest the poop of different kinds of slime and then sell them for a profit. There is lots of variety and humor in the designs of the different slimes and plenty of side quests to keep gameplay flexible. This game is undeniably cute and serves as a great mood booster at the end of a long day.
The Longing
This introspective game requires a time commitment of 400 days of real-time. Now, you don’t need to be actively playing for 400 days; the in-game timer will continue to run while you are gone. In this game, you play a character known as The Shade—a small, dark, goblin-like creature with enormous glowing Potoo Bird eyes. The Shade’s only task is to wait 400 days for their powerful king to wake up. This weirdly charming game has little to no direction, and you can spend your time essentially however you want. You can sit around, read real books placed around the game, explore the nearly endless caverns, or just stand around wide-eyed until the king awakens. This game is an exercise in patience with very low stakes. However, it’s almost impossible not to fall for The Shade and try to help the little fellow pass the time.
Hopefully, something on this list of games will appeal to you, no matter what flavor of cozy you prefer. Whether you like chills and thrills or downright silliness, there is something for everyone available on the Steam Deck. All that’s left for you to do now is to stop reading this article and start playing one of these games!
