Steam Deck’s most played games in April included, surprise surprise, a heap of Fallout and 2024’s best new game
Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Fallout 3, and Fallout: New Vegas all feature highly, as well as the king of 2024, Balatro.
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Hey look, it’sanothertale of success for theFalloutfranchise! The Microsoft-owned franchise has been going gangbusters ever sinceFallout Season 1debuted on Amazon Prime Video, and we can toss theSteam Deckinto that mix as well.
Valve likes to tell us what gamers have been playing on one of thebest gaming handheldsmoney can buy every month, and April’s report contains a whole lot of Fallout.
Whoa, how is it May already?! Below are the top played games of April 2024 on Steam Deck, sorted by playtime. What have you been playing? pic.twitter.com/NQ6FXqe1FnMay 1, 2024
Sorted by playtime, Fallout 4 claims the number two spot for Steam Deck players last month, behind only the ever popular (and perfect on handhelds) Stardew Valley. Other franchise entries, Fallout 76, Fallout: New Vegas, and Fallout 3 also made the charts.
When Fallout 4 first came out almost 9 years ago, did any of us think we’d be able to play it, and play it well, on something you can hold in your hands and take on the bus to work with you? I’ve tried both Fallout 4 and Fallout: New Vegas on my Steam Deck recently, and they hold up pretty well, if, in the case of the latter in particular, the controls aren’t exactly built for such a device.
Perhaps the only real surprise in this month’s list isHelldivers 2, which, in our experience, isn’t great on the Steam Deck at all. But, democracy persists.
I need to give a shout-out to the game occupying third on the list, too, Balatro. 2024’s best new game is absolutely perfect on the Steam Deck, it even respects touch inputs. As in, you can completely play the game by only touching the screen. It’s so light it doesn’t chew up your battery life, and the gameplay loop is so addictive you may well lose your entire life to it.
I recently wrote about howlife-changing releasing Balatro has been for its solo developer, and that success is fully deserved. In fact, I’m sure the Windows Central team alone could have got it onto the Steam Deck’s most played. Yes, we’re addicts.
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We’ll be sharing more later this week on what we’ve been playing ourselves on our handheld gaming PCs, and hint, it’ll probably include Fallout and Balatro!
Richard Devine is a Managing Editor at Windows Central with over a decade of experience. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you’ll find him steering the site’s coverage of all manner of PC hardware and reviews. Find him on Mastodon atmstdn.social/@richdevine
