One of my favorite in-person MP games of all time is Towerfall Ascension. My family and I used to spend so much time laughing out loud while playing that game. So many ridiculous trick shots with all the power ups. I haven’t tried it on Steam Deck, but I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work, assuming you can get multiple controllers connected.

My list of endorphin-boosting games:

Dorfromantik
Unpacking
A Little To The Left
Tiny Glade - though this one barely qualifies as a game

If you want something a little more gamified: Balatro is amazing and addictive.

Tape to Tape. It’s a roguelite hockey game that has a big sense of humor.

You can already replace the battery. You can purchase a replacement here, along with all the tools you need to replace it if you don’t already have them: https://www.ifixit.com/products/steam-deck-battery

There’s also a full video guide on the process.

Valve worked with iFixit to make sure they have replacements available for every part in the deck. Valve was very up front that they wanted to enable people to do their own repairs and upgrades.

Solid state batteries are the next leap we’re likely to see. They already exist but aren’t widely available for consumer products yet.

Yeah, I really like the fact that my son and I can play different games from the same library at the same time. Also, the bi-directional sharing is very nice, and the whole thing is much easier to set up than the original library sharing.

I’ve had mine for almost 2 years now. My usage has always been situational. I use it to game when I’m away from my relatively high-end gaming PC. Extended trips. Any time I know I’m going to be sitting and waiting somewhere. Or maybe I’ve just had a long day of remote work and want to play a game but I don’t want to sit at my desk, so I’ll plop down on the sofa or outside with my Deck.

True enough. It does have controller support. I just find the interface a little more usable with mouse controls.

Balatro is my new obsession. Runs great. I’m using the touchpad for mouse input.

Woof. Their website is chock full of buzzwords (with lots of bonus spelling and grammar errors) with very little actual specs. My personal favorite: “All new flasship gaming processpr” [sic]

Oh, and this helpful bullet list:

6D Immersive Gaming Experience

• Vision Track
• Adaptive Posture
• Sound Comes Alive
• Ultra-Precise Vibrations
• Audio Vibration Enhancement
• Sensory Sync

I have no idea what any of that means, and they don’t explain any of it. But they do repeat it twice, so it must be pretty important.

Just a tip: when asking for game recommendations, it usually helps narrow things down if you give some examples of games you’ve already played and enjoyed.

I’ve been playing Planet of Lana. It’s a puzzle platformer, very similar to Limbo or Inside. But there are some different mechanics that involve a companion animal that follows you around.

I agree. If you’re having trouble sleeping, playing an interactive game at bedtime is likely to make the problem worse, not better. If reading isn’t your thing, consider listening to audio books or podcasts.

I’ll freely admit my reasons for hating him back then were petty and childish. But in my defense, I was a child 🤣

I’ve hated Donald Trump since he ruined our Christmas Eve in 1989.

When I was young, we had a family tradition of buying a new board game every year for Christmas. It was the one gift we would open as a family on Christmas Eve, so we’d have something new and fun to do together for the evening. In 1989, Milton Bradley released Trump: The Game. My older brother, who has always been interested in ways to get rich, was a fan of Donald Trump at the time (he got better), and insisted that we get the game that year. It was awful. We played it once and I don’t think we ever opened the box again. It was somehow simultaneously too confusing and too simplistic to be fun.

Yup. Lots of 90s fashion is in right now. My daughter is wearing flannel shirts. I told her I could have loaned her some of mine but I got rid of them all about 20 years ago.

Yeah I joined Columbia House once upon a time and did manage to complete the minimum obligation. Honestly it wasn’t a bad deal. Album prices kept going up around that time so the initial 10 albums I got when joining would have cost me a lot more than I ended up paying in total.

I had to scroll way too far before someone mentioned Chain of Command. Lol.