Best Games for Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go in 2026

Handheld PCs like Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally are rapidly gaining popularity, but in 2026 more and more games refuse to run well on them without serious graphical compromises. For example, the recent The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered and Doom: The Dark Ages leave a lot to be desired even on the powerful Asus ROG Ally X, let alone the weaker Steam Deck or the standard ROG Ally. That is why we decided to prepare a list of the best games for modern handheld PCs — projects that do not force players to seriously sacrifice visual quality for optimal performance.

The handheld format is ideal for short gaming sessions, whether you want to pass the time on the road or during a break. This section brings together projects from different genres that run reliably on Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally without any serious tweaking. All of them were designed with performance in mind, so even on the limited hardware of a handheld PC, they deliver a smooth frame rate. If you want more projects like these, check out our list of the best short games.

The best shooter with roguelike elements for Steam Deck is still Enter the Gungeon. It has everything a fan of the genre could want: a high level of difficulty, fast-paced gameplay that forces you to stay alert and dodge bullets flying your way, and dozens of firearm types that feel completely different from one another.

One of the most popular titles in the official Steam Deck charts, according to Valve. Stardew Valley is a relaxing farming RPG that can easily pull you in for hundreds of hours: tending crops, getting to know the villagers, exploring dungeons, and following a story that gradually opens up. The system requirements are laughably low — stable 60 FPS with minimal battery drain is practically guaranteed.

An unusual mix of poker and roguelike design that takes the familiar card game as its foundation, then layers new rules, modifiers, and mechanics on top. As a result, Balatro is incredibly hard to put down, and after one run you immediately want to start the next.

An ideal game for handhelds: short runs, instant action without a long warm-up, constant waves of enemies, and highly intuitive controls. Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor borrows the gameplay formula of Vampire Survivors, but adds several important differences: you can not only fight off bugs with auto-attacks, but also dig new paths through the rock, collect valuable minerals, and decide on the fly whether it is worth risking your life for rare ore. Because of this, each run feels more dynamic and tactical than in many similar games.

On Steam Deck, the game runs very well, although the most crowded scenes with large enemy hordes and explosions can cause small dips. Fortunately, nothing critical.

Indie games are the core genre of handheld PCs. Modest system requirements, well-thought-out gameplay, short sessions, and huge artistic value make them an ideal choice for Steam Deck and ROG Ally. Most of the titles in this section are among the most-played games on Steam Deck according to Valve's official statistics, and many have long earned cult status. If you are interested in games for even less powerful hardware, check out our article on the best games for low-end PCs and laptops.

A charming game about a diver who explores the ocean and catches all kinds of sea creatures during the day, then helps run a sushi restaurant in the evening. Dave the Diver constantly throws in fun surprises: underwater, you can run into not only, say, a shark, but also something far more exotic — a giant squid or the ruins of a mysterious civilization.

A fishing simulator inspired by the works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, and one that can easily be called one of the best Lovecraftian games. DREDGE is a game that changes tone in an unexpected way: it can feel calm and relaxing, then suddenly turn into a genuine nerve-racking experience when an inexplicable ancient horror rises from the water.

A funny indie project about a lamb serving a dark deity. In Cult of the Lamb, you have to fight monsters and grow stronger, but also spend plenty of time developing your cult: recruiting followers, blessing loyal cultists, and, of course, performing forbidden rituals.

As we wrote in our Dispatch review, this 2025 indie hit is a strong narrative adventure with sharp dialogue, charismatic characters, and choices that regularly put the player in difficult situations. In addition to its excellent storytelling, the game also offers engaging management of a superhero dispatch center, where you need to assign tasks and resolve conflicts.

On Steam Deck, Dispatch works beautifully: the text is easy to read on the small screen, the interface does not feel too tiny, the controls are intuitive, and performance stays within a smooth 60 frames per second at 7–10 W of power consumption.

Roguelikes are an ideal genre for handheld devices: every run is unique, sessions are easy to pause at any point, and replayability is effectively endless. Steam Deck, with its instant sleep and wake feature, feels built for games like these — pause, put the device aside, then continue exactly where you left off. Every game in this section is well optimized and delivers stable 60 FPS without putting heavy strain on the battery.

Steam Deck and similar compact devices are an ideal format for all kinds of short-session “indie roguelikes.” And among the genre’s many representatives, it is hard to find a better game than Hades. Supergiant Games’ project masterfully combines brisk gameplay with an innovative approach to storytelling, while also standing out thanks to its charming visual style.

The sequel turned out, in many ways, even better than the first game, as we wrote in our Hades 2 review. For that, credit goes to its more impressive gameplay variety and deeper combat system. At the same time, playing Hades 2 on Steam Deck is pure pleasure: there are no black bars, the game easily delivers not only 60 FPS, but also a stable 90 frames per second, while battery drain remains surprisingly modest.

An addictive deck-building roguelike with endless replayability and, at times, fairly brutal difficulty — something fans of the hardest games will appreciate. In Slay the Spire, you never know in advance what kind of deck you will manage to assemble, which makes building your setup right in the middle of a run incredibly engaging. Incidentally, the game is also available on iOS and Android: if you ever want a break from the hefty Steam Deck, you can launch Slay the Spire on a smartphone.

Slay the Spire 2 had barely entered early access before setting a record with 570,000 concurrent players. No surprise there: the sequel builds on the excellent foundation of the first game, refines many of its ideas, and offers far more content along with new playable characters. Visually, the second game looks better, but it remains just as undemanding on hardware: on a handheld PC, you can play it for hours without worrying about the battery.

A bright, aggressive, and extremely addictive roguelike that barely gives you time to catch your breath. From the first seconds, Brotato throws the player into a small arena, where enemies swarm in from every side, projectiles start flying everywhere, and every mistake can easily cost you the run. At the same time, the game’s strength lies in its very low barrier to entry: you choose a potato hero with unique strengths and weaknesses, build a setup from six weapon types, combine items, and gradually turn a fragile fighter into an absurd death machine.

An unusual indie game where you control a vampire who destroys hordes of enemies advancing from every side of the screen. The twist is that in Vampire Survivors, the player is only responsible for movement, while the character attacks automatically. What makes the game so compelling is its build variety: after leveling up, the player unlocks new items that can significantly change how they behave on the battlefield.

Another Vampire Survivors-inspired game, but thanks to its move into full 3D, vertical level design, map exploration, and constant hunt for chests, shrines, secrets, and bosses, it feels much fresher than most similar projects. Megabonk looks deliberately silly — it even lets you control a skeleton on a skateboard — but beneath its playful tone lies an engaging, well-designed, and wildly replayable action roguelike that constantly introduces new characters, strange challenges, secrets, and gameplay mechanics.

A tense, dynamic, and uniquely charming action game that blends roguelike elements with the metroidvania genre. Somehow, Dead Cells manages to combine a colorful visual style with gothic horror, and it keeps players hooked thanks to its endless replayability.

2D platformers and metroidvanias often work better on a small screen than on a large monitor: the art style, sprite detail, and smooth controls feel different when the screen is literally in your hands. These games require minimal resources while offering dozens of hours of content, which is exactly why the genre holds a special place among Steam Deck users and owners of similar devices. If you are a fan of such projects, note that we have gathered more of them in our list of the best metroidvanias for PC and consoles.

Alongside roguelikes, 2D platformers and metroidvanias feel perfectly at home on handheld PCs. And the true gem among such games is Hollow Knight. This is a two-dimensional action-adventure with exemplary level design, and since its release, no other metroidvania has truly surpassed it.

The long-awaited sequel, released in September 2025. Hollow Knight: Silksong offers more than 40 bosses, 200 enemy types, and a huge handcrafted world — with the same flawless optimization as the original. For handheld PCs, this is an ideal choice: a fast-paced action game suited to short sessions, and one that looks stunning on a small screen, especially if you have the OLED version of the device. It is one of the best new games for Steam Deck OLED.

One of the best showcases for the display and HDR technology on Steam Deck OLED: in Ori and the Will of the Wisps, bright, colorful effects practically jump off the screen. But even if your handheld PC does not have an OLED display, this delightful platformer still deserves attention thanks to its visual style, melancholic narrative, and engaging gameplay.

At first glance, massive 80–200-hour RPGs and a small screen might seem like a poor match. In practice, the opposite is true, since long single-player games are easy to pause. This is especially true for titles with turn-based combat, which is exactly why Baldur's Gate 3 appears on Valve's list of the most popular games on Steam Deck. Every RPG in this section is well optimized and runs without serious compromises. But if the titles listed here are not enough for you, also check out our selection of RPGs for low-end PCs — many of them will also run great on Steam Deck, which can hardly be called a powerful device.

One of the best JRPGs of all time, and one that almost feels built for the Steam Deck form factor. The visual style of Persona 5 Royal looks great on a small screen, the graphics do not require top-tier hardware, and the unhurried turn-based battles let you pause and take breaks often, which is especially convenient while traveling.

Although Cyberpunk 2077 remains one of the most demanding games at maximum graphics settings, if you lower the visual quality, it now runs fairly well on most modern handhelds after all the patches, including Steam Deck. And do not be put off by the word “low”: on a handheld PC screen, the graphical compromises are hardly noticeable, so the game still looks solid.

Since we are talking about games that last dozens of hours, how could we not mention The Witcher 3? The game has barely aged, as we discussed in our article celebrating The Witcher 3's 10th anniversary: its landscapes are still breathtaking, the writing surpasses most games in quality, and the open world is packed with hundreds of engaging quests. Most importantly, any handheld PC from the last few years can run The Witcher 3 with ease.

Possibly the greatest CRPG of all time and one of the most popular games on Steam Deck according to Valve's official statistics. As with Persona 5 Royal above, a slower-paced RPG with turn-based battles is exactly the kind of game that makes sense on a handheld PC. The only caveat is that Baldur's Gate 3's optimization in the third act still leaves a lot to be desired, but that will not stop you from finishing the game on your trusty Steam Deck.

An excellent alternative to Baldur's Gate 3 — or a perfect follow-up, depending on how you look at it. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is one of the rare RPGs capable of competing with BG3, which should hardly surprise anyone, considering both games were made by Larian. DOS2 offers the same core strengths: deep quests, masterfully written dialogue, and an engaging combat system.

An ageless classic. Skyrim still deserves attention if you are looking for a cozy RPG with a large and varied open world, where interesting content appears every five minutes. Bethesda's massive RPG fits the handheld format well: you can explore the world in short sessions, complete quests, clear caves, and develop your character.

A controversial Fallout entry if you love the series for its RPG qualities. As a standalone game, however, it is a very enjoyable open-world shooter with sandbox elements. On handheld PCs, Fallout 4 also delivers 90 FPS at high graphics settings, even in areas like Boston, which brought many PCs to their knees ten years ago.

The TES4: Oblivion remaster runs poorly on Steam Deck? Unfortunate, of course, but the device has no such problems with the spiritual successor to The Elder Scrolls and one of the best RPGs of recent years — Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Despite its huge world, detailed towns, and large-scale battles, the game runs much more confidently than you might expect from a modern RPG. Yes, you have to make some compromises for stability, and the most demanding scenes and large towns can still produce drops, but overall these are minor issues. 16:10 support removes black bars from the Steam Deck screen, and with FSR set to “Quality,” you can get a comfortable 30 FPS. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 does drain the battery quickly, however, so for longer sessions it is better to keep a charger nearby.

Not all AAA games run equally well on handheld PCs — many require flagship hardware. This section focuses on the exceptions: big-budget titles whose developers took optimization seriously and did not tie the visuals to ray tracing. On Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally, they deliver 30–60 FPS, and sometimes even more, with respectable image quality — without forcing you to spend hours digging through settings.

If you want a fast-paced first-person shooter, and Doom: The Dark Ages disappoints you with its inflated system requirements caused by mandatory ray tracing, then Doom Eternal is an excellent alternative. It is an even more relentless action game in terms of pace, and it absolutely flies on handheld PCs while still looking fantastic.

A Capcom project built on the RE Engine, and one whose technical execution is almost impossible to fault. Devil May Cry 5 offers both exemplary, at times almost photorealistic visuals and a level of performance you do not see in many AAA games. The developers simply understood that optimization is crucial in such a fast-paced action game. Devil May Cry 5 runs excellently on Steam Deck and can even exceed 60 FPS if you spend some time tuning the settings.

It is no surprise that one of the most beautiful PlayStation 4 games is still captivating on Steam Deck, whose performance is roughly in line with Sony's previous-generation console. If you have not played Horizon Zero Dawn, the project is well worth your attention for its truly unique setting — a post-apocalypse with robotic dinosaurs — and its intriguing story. On a handheld PC, not only the original runs well, but also the updated version, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered.

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Another PlayStation 4 masterpiece that Steam Deck and similar devices handle beautifully. Ghost of Tsushima looks great, delivers impressive performance, and has enough content to last for dozens of hours. The only downside is that if you want a sequel after finishing it, you will have to spend money on a PS5: a PC port of the second game has not been announced and, according to rumors, may never happen.

If you launch Red Dead Redemption 2 on Steam Deck or Asus ROG Ally, you will probably not immediately believe how beautiful the game looks and how steadily it runs. A project that was one of the benchmarks of PC gaming just five years ago can now be completed on the way to work or school. You can find more similarly optimized titles in our selection of the best open-world games for low-end PCs.

One of the defining hits of the generation, and one that works beautifully on handheld PCs. With optimal settings, Elden Ring delivers a stable 40–45 FPS even in large open areas. A huge open world, dozens of hours of exploration, and FromSoftware's famous combat system — all of this can now fit in your pocket. A very wide and deep pocket, admittedly, since Steam Deck is a rather bulky device.

Not without issues, but Hogwarts Legacy ran relatively steadily on Steam Deck, especially considering the scale of this AAA game. In 2025, however, the developers unexpectedly gave players a pleasant surprise and improved the PC version: a fresh patch added modern upscalers — XeSS 2 and FSR 3 — which make it possible to achieve a better balance between image quality and performance. The update itself mostly fixes bugs and improves modding tools, but for Steam Deck owners, the main news is the upscaling: exploring Hogwarts in handheld form has become noticeably more pleasant.

The RE Engine is pure black magic. Thanks to it, the Resident Evil 4 remake not only looks excellent, but also runs briskly even on handhelds. In fact, every game in the franchise performs well on Steam Deck, but it is especially pleasing that there are no major complaints about this Capcom hit, which we named the best Resident Evil game.

Even considering that the ninth Resident Evil is objectively the most beautiful entry in the series in terms of graphics, as you can read in our Resident Evil Requiem review, it turned out to be less demanding than many players feared before release. The game scales well and can deliver high performance in enclosed locations. With the right settings, low graphics options, and FSR 3.1.5 set to “Quality,” you can get a fairly comfortable experience. Just keep in mind that Resident Evil Requiem is quite hungry on battery, and for shooting it is better to enable gyro controls right away if your handheld PC supports them.

An impressive demonstration of what a handheld PC can do visually. In terms of technology, Control was considered one of the most advanced games for a long time, and even six years after release, it remains among the most beautiful games with ray tracing. Naturally, on Steam Deck it is best to turn off all RT settings, but even without them, Control is a real visual treat.

Unfortunately, it is a harsh truth that many games built with current-generation consoles in mind tend to stutter on Steam Deck. But not Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart: aside from small hitches when the heroes use portals, the project shows an unexpectedly high level of optimization on handheld PCs. Curiously, even at the lowest graphics settings, Rift Apart keeps almost all the visual features that make the game so beautiful.

Co-op games on handheld PCs are a special kind of experience: you can play online from almost anywhere, and some titles even support local co-op directly on a single device. Every game in this section runs steadily on Steam Deck and ROG Ally. If you are interested in the topic more broadly, check out our list of the best co-op games for 2026, as well as a separate selection of the best co-op games for low-end PCs, focused specifically on optimized releases.

A successful co-op game about climbing a massive mountain, one that does not try to imitate a harsh simulator and instead focuses on a clear, almost arcade-like climbing system. Because of that, Peak is easy to get into even for newcomers, but still keeps the tension: you need to watch your stamina, look for a safe route, use equipment, and constantly remember that fog is closing in from below. Peak is at its best in co-op with friends, when you pull each other onto ledges, share useful items, and panic together while trying not to fall during another difficult section.

On Steam Deck, the game generally runs well, though not without caveats. For an almost stable 60 frames per second, you need to use low graphics settings and launch Peak through Vulkan, since that mode is more stable than DX12.

An engaging co-op shooter about space dwarves, easiest described as a mix of Left 4 Dead and Minecraft. Deep Rock Galactic is excellently optimized for weaker computers, so it runs without issue on handheld devices. Getting 90 FPS on Steam Deck is very easy. And if you also have the Steam Deck OLED, you will appreciate the image even more: in a game about digging through caves, true blacks and high contrast matter a great deal.

You can forget about playing the new Monster Hunter Wilds on Steam Deck or a similar device right away — it is that demanding on system resources. Another Monster Hunter entry, World, runs much better, but still not as well as Monster Hunter Rise. That is the one handheld owners should be recommended. Rise originally launched on Nintendo Switch, so unsurprisingly, it feels comfortable on Steam Deck and drains the battery slowly.

There are, of course, fair questions to ask about Diablo 4, but overall it is a quality ARPG for a handheld PC: well optimized, visually appealing, and very comfortable to control on devices like Steam Deck.

Not just a boundless space sandbox, but a second life you can live. In No Man's Sky, it is easy to spend hundreds of hours and still keep discovering something new. That is thanks not only to the procedural generation of explorable planets, but also to the developers themselves, who regularly release additional content. Incidentally, if you are interested in exploring other planets, do not miss our list of the best space games on PC.

The best optimization on Steam Deck is usually found in indie games and titles with modest system requirements: Hades, Hades 2, Stardew Valley, Hollow Knight and its sequel, Slay the Spire, Balatro, and Dead Cells. Among AAA games, Doom Eternal, Resident Evil 4, Ghost of Tsushima, and Monster Hunter Rise are good examples. You can check a specific game's compatibility through its Steam Deck status in your Steam library.

Some can, but not all. Games such as Elden Ring, Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and The Witcher 3 run on Steam Deck at medium settings with 30–60 FPS. However, the newest titles with mandatory ray tracing — for example, Doom: The Dark Ages or Oblivion Remastered — run poorly on handheld PCs.

First of all, we recommend paying attention to last year's hits: Dispatch, Hades 2, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Among the freshest releases, do not miss Resident Evil Requiem, which runs surprisingly well on handheld PCs, as well as the record-breaking Slay the Spire 2.

Steam Deck runs on SteamOS and is deeply integrated into the Steam ecosystem. ROG Ally runs on Windows, which gives it more flexibility and better support for third-party launchers such as Xbox Game Pass and Epic Games Store. In terms of performance, the standard ROG Ally is generally more powerful than Steam Deck, but loses to it in battery life and price.

Reliable options include Baldur's Gate 3, Divinity: Original Sin 2, Persona 5 Royal, The Witcher 3, and Skyrim. All of them have received either “Verified” or “Playable” status in Steam's official compatibility list and run steadily at 40–60 FPS on optimal settings.

It depends on the game and the settings. Steam Deck is comfortable at 40 FPS, which feels smooth enough for most genres. In well-optimized games such as Doom Eternal, Hades, and Stardew Valley, stable 60 FPS is possible. In demanding AAA projects, you usually get 30–45 FPS at medium settings.

The best picks are games that make full use of this model’s display. Ori and the Will of the Wisps remains one of the standout games for Steam Deck OLED: its HDR support, bright effects, and dark scenes look excellent on the handheld’s screen. Hollow Knight: Silksong is another great fit for Steam Deck OLED thanks to its colorful art style, and it also uses very little battery. Among newer releases, Resident Evil Requiem is worth highlighting — visually rich horror games benefit especially well from OLED screens.

Yes, if the Steam ecosystem and battery life matter to you. Steam Deck OLED remains one of the best handheld gaming PCs in terms of price-to-features ratio. If you need Xbox Game Pass support and Windows, look toward ASUS ROG Ally or Lenovo Legion Go. If you are looking for the most powerful handheld PCs, ROG Xbox Ally X or Lenovo Legion Go 2 are better choices. Also, do not forget about Nintendo Switch 2 if you are interested in Mario games, The Legend of Zelda series, and other Nintendo exclusives, though it is a console without access to Steam.

Roguelikes are ideal for short sessions: Hades, Balatro, Slay the Spire, and Vampire Survivors. Arcade-style games such as Enter the Gungeon and Dead Cells also work well, as do indie titles like Stardew Valley and Cult of the Lamb. All of them support instant pausing through Steam Deck's sleep feature.

Do you play on handheld PCs like Steam Deck? Which games do you enjoy most? Tell us in the comments.

Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally are no longer niche products — the library of well-optimized games for handheld PCs now includes hundreds of titles for all tastes. In this selection, we tried to cover all key genres: from lightweight roguelikes and indies for short sessions to large-scale RPGs and AAA blockbusters that once seemed incompatible with the handheld format. If the titles listed above are not enough for you, also take a look at the following games:

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth works so well because every run feels different: random items, upgrades, and enemies constantly change how you play, so the game almost never gets old.

Death's Door is a concise action-adventure about a reaper crow that develops the ideas of the 2D The Legend of Zelda games, focusing on precise combat, an expressive world, and a melancholic story about death.

Blue Prince is an unusual puzzle adventure about searching for the secret 46th room in a mansion, where the player builds the floor plan from random rooms and gradually uncovers the house's secrets and history.

Marvel's Midnight Suns is a tactical RPG from the creators of the modern XCOM games, where battles are built not around hit percentages, but around ability cards, hero positioning, and smart combinations of Marvel superheroes' powers.

Sifu is a hardcore revenge action game in the spirit of Hong Kong cinema, where every strike, dodge, and parry demands precise timing, while mistakes literally age the hero and bring him closer to final death.

If your choice is co-op adventures with friends, be sure to check out our list of the best co-op horror games. Shooter fans will find our selection of the best FPS games for PC and consoles useful. The list is regularly updated — we add new titles as they are released and tested for compatibility with current devices.