The best PC and Steam Deck games in 2022

Another year is coming to an end, and it’s time to make some recommendations before moving on. If you are planning to settle pending scores during the Christmas campaign, or simply to remember great quality games that are sometimes overshadowed by more mainstream releases, here are some suggestions to help you. There will never be all of them, because a dozen barely scratches the surface of what a whole year has to offer, especially on PC; but it is a starting point that you can complement with the selection of indies, where we try not to repeat for the sake of variety.

2022 is also quite a significant year. Between games we have also seen the launch of Steam Deck, a portable machine that has emerged as one of the most attractive options to enjoy the expansive catalog of Valve's digital platform. Along with the games and their descriptions we will also add whether they have been verified (they are fully compatible) or are playable (they work, but may have small optimization problems). That being said, and without further ado, here we go.

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Elden Ring

It was a recommendation taken for granted but was hard to leave out. Elden Ring was released in February, but its name continues to resonate strongly months later thanks to its ability to bring the Souls formula to the open world without sacrificing the mysticism or challenge that has always been a hallmark of these works. A cryptic story, ambushes and bosses go hand in hand with unprecedented freedom, where running in any direction reveals something interesting -or scary-, but progress still requires dedication and effort. A new standard for games with exploration.

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Dwarf Fortress

Elden Ring may be the GOTY, but Dwarf Fortress has easily been one of the most interesting titles of every year... since 2006. That's when it debuted as a procedural game with ASCII graphics and an intricate network of systems and simulations that resulted in infinite possibilities and interactions during the management of ever-expanding mining communities. That hasn't changed (on the contrary, more variables have been added over time), but this year also saw the release of a new version with a more conventional interface and pixel art, making this feat of playable engineering less abstract and more accessible than ever.

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The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

The Stanley Parable is another name that will ring a bell for many from years past, perhaps even more so than Dwarf Fortress, but its expansion/sequel once again deserves special mention for the way it doubles down on its brilliant meta-narrative. Ultra Deluxe is not only a game about other games, their clichés, and their subversions; it also talks about the medium in a more global way. About the press, the users, the expectations, and the pressure of the Developer. It is a joke that leads to many other jokes, but also to an acidity that points to aspects that are not always positive and invites reflection.

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Neon White

And from a game that talks about games, to a game that is very much a game. An ode to replayability, to that satisfaction that invades you when you propose to overcome a specific goal, to go beyond, and after multiple frustrating attempts, suddenly everything goes well and you get it without any problems. As if it had always been easy. Neon White is a first-person shooter, but also a platformer; a game where we collect and use cards to shoot, but also break them to jump higher and go further. Deciding when to do what is the grace, and executing it successfully is what uncovers the extent to which it has been devised to appreciate the art of speedrunning.

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NORCO

NORCO is one of the most peculiar adventure games we have received in a long time, not just this year, blurring the line between science fiction and magical realism. Set in the American city of the same name, the game deals with the socioeconomic and environmental effects of an oil extraction industry that has also conditioned the life of its real counterpart, but goes much further and experiments both with different forms of playable interaction, from detective interrogations to RPG touches or even shootouts (it's hard not to think of Hideo Kojima's Snatcher), and with fascinating subplots about religious cults, conspiracies and artificial intelligence. It fits in, and it works.

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Immortality

Immortality is not a game about editing, although it does bring hours of unedited footage, shot with flesh and blood actors, to the table for us to review. And not from one film, but three. All of them were unreleased, all of them accompanied by rehearsals and interviews, all of them starring Marissa Marcel. An actress whom the player must investigate from decontextualized snippets, speeding up and rewinding, jumping between clips through common elements to discover what has become of her. It is a game about the ability to look through fiction. But be careful, because it is also a game where fiction can return your gaze.

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Pentiment

To alleviate the wait for RPGs like Avowed or The Outer Worlds 2, Obsidian has left us with a game that is more humble in the scale of its world, but shines in its use of scenography to reinforce the narrative. An adventure that goes from medieval folklore, documented and full of extra material to go deeper, to the detective thriller with grace and good pen. Something never better said because its characters express themselves through handwritten dialogues with styles that reflect their education level. Pentiment is a historical thriller that spans several years and comes to a sort of life of its own that would only be possible in this medium.

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Return to Monkey Island

Somewhat more conventional, but equally brilliant and worthy of celebration, is Ron Gilbert's return to Monkey Island (no pun intended). Its original creator, back in the early nineties, has left us this year the third installment, for practical purposes. The one that best recaptures the design and humor that made this saga legendary among all other adventure games. Return to Monkey Island is a nostalgic trip to the past that doesn't just live off its rents and offers ingenious puzzles without falling into some of those absurdly obtuse approaches that sometimes characterized this genre three decades ago. Ideal both for beginners and for reliving another era.

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Monster Hunter Rise

Among several new games, important ports such as God of War or Spider-Man have also appeared, which deserve a mention even if their original releases date back to before 2022. The same goes for Monster Hunter Rise, a title born on Switch that for obvious reasons does not look as good as Monster Hunter World, but it does offer on PC its best version and a more reminiscent gameplay of the classic stage of the saga. It is a complex and demanding game, but also streamlined for the new times thanks to our new companions, the canine mounts, and the use of Wirebug to launch us through the air and introduce new tactics in battles.

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Vampire Survivors

One of 2022's biggest sensations is a game that costs $5. After all, Vampire Survivors reveals its playable loop as soon as it starts. Kill enemies, level up, pick up power-ups. Repeat. Over and over and over again. Until you die and it's time to start over. Every game will be different with another character or the same one. Maybe not for the first few seconds, but as the number of enemies and levels scales up and up while our build mutates to try to adapt. Remember Tetris, when you started over to see if you could get further the next time? Therein lies the charm of simplicity in Vampire Survivors.

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Rogue Legacy 2

But wait, we still have more procedural magic in store. This time more rooted in the Metroidvania tradition, and in the form of the sequel to a successful roguelike where dying meant the definitive end for our protagonist at that moment, but also the possibility of choosing one of his next three heirs to follow us. Rogue Legacy 2 retakes that peculiar proposal, but adds more detailed graphics, more varied environments and enemies, and better-differentiated classes at a playable level. Ranging from bards to boxers, pirates to cooks, which descendant will you play with in your next life?

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Marvel’s Midnight Suns

We close with the most recent release, a crossover between the Marvel universe and Firaxis' strategy expertise. The game is not a mere XCOM clone with superheroes like Spider-Man or Wolverine; the studio has built a card-based combat with different skills, used in turn-based missions where the objectives are not always limited to defeating all the enemies, but also include variations such as rescuing hostages. In addition, there are lots of interactive elements in each map and a social element with coexistence, training, and more routine interactions of the characters to intersperse between the management of the decks.

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