I Hadn't Cared About Gaming in Years. Then the Steam Deck Finds Me.
I grew up with the 286, the 386, and the 486.
If those numbers mean nothing to you, picture this: a twelve year old boy spending hours tweaking BIOS settings and wrestling with memory settings, just to squeeze enough power out of a machine to run Street Fighter II (by the way I never succeeded to run it on 286). Every kid had their own trick, their own secret boot sequence. We were fine tuning before we even knew what that meant.
Fast forward twenty years. I'd been through the PS3, PS4, and PS5. I'd done the annual October ritual — Call of Duty drops, an intense two week binge, get my ass spanked by some random kids then silence until the next year. I played FIFA with my kids (still get my ass spanked by 6 year olds, what a humility lesson). I dabbled in the Switch for more casual gaming. Enjoy Mario Kart World. I even tried some retro emulation on cheaper devices, a few Mario titles here and there.
But a serious gaming PC? A dedicated gaming rig? A tower with the new GTX. Never felt like it was for me.
Until the Steam Deck changed everything. And we found each other.
What Is the Steam Deck — and Why Should You Care?
The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming PC made by Valve that gives you access to your entire Steam library — including AAA titles — in a device you can hold in your hands. Think Nintendo Switch, but for grown ups who want to play Cyberpunk 2077 on a plane.
When I first understood what this little machine was capable of, it hit me the same way Street Fighter II once did on that old 386. How is this even possible?
AAA Games in the Palm of Your Hand
Here's what genuinely blew my mind: I went from casual FIFA sessions to clocking 65+ hours on Against the Storm, a strategy game that restarts a new world each time you lose. More than 50 hours on Harry Potter (which I dropped on PS5), more than 45 hours to finish Horizon Forbidden West. I got addicted back. All of that on the same device.
That range is what makes the Steam Deck unique. It's not just a casual gaming device. It's not just a hardcore gaming device. It's both, depending on what you're in the mood for.
For strategy game fans like me, the experience is particularly surprising. Games that feel like they belong on a keyboard and mouse like Against the Storm work remarkably well thanks to the Steam Deck's dual trackpads. They're precise, intuitive, and open up entire genres you'd assume were impossible on a handheld.
The Best Gaming Device for Travel (It's Not Even Close)
If there's one use case where the Steam Deck is an absolute no brainer, it's long haul travel.
Pair it with a pair of 3D glasses on a 10 hour flight and you've built yourself a private cinema gaming hybrid at 35,000 feet. No gaming PC. No console. Just this.
My recommendation: if you have a long trip coming up, bring a Steam Deck with one or two big solo campaigns — something like Hogwarts Legacy or Horizon Forbidden West — and I guarantee you'll rediscover why you fell in love with video games in the first place.
Honest Downsides: What the Steam Deck Gets Wrong
No review is complete without the real talk.
Ergonomics aren't perfect. After extended sessions, your wrists, thumbs, and fingers will remind you this isn't a lightweight device. It's manageable, but you'll notice it.
Some games simply won't run. The biggest pain point: Call of Duty and other competitive FPS titles don't work on the Steam Deck due to anti cheat software incompatibility with Linux. If online shooters are your primary game type, this matters. Some nice games do not run well; this device is almost 7 years old. I cannot believe Steam engineers are still able to run AAA games on it, and each Proton update improves Windows based games.
That said, if a game is marked as playable on Steam, it genuinely plays well. I've rarely been disappointed.
Is the Steam Deck Worth It in 2025?
Yes. Especially if you're a lapsed gamer.
If you grew up gaming but drifted away — if consoles feel like obligation and a gaming PC feels like overkill — the Steam Deck is your reentry point. It asks nothing of you except a few hours and the game of your choice.
My starter recommendations:
Strategy: Against the Storm, Northgard
Solo adventure: Hogwarts Legacy, Horizon Forbidden West
Find one, pack it for your next trip, and see what happens.
That ten year old tweaking his BIOS to run Street Fighter II? He would not believe what's sitting in my bag right now.