https://boilingsteam.com PC Gaming on Linux is so Tomorrow! Copyright 2026 Boiling Steam Fri, 14 Aug 2026 01:43:23 +0900 https://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification SSG https://boilingsteam.com https://boilingsteam.com/android-chrome-192x192.png 192 192 Between 2026-08-05 and 2026-08-12 there were 81 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 616 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 13.1 % of total released titles. This week’s pick is certainly Sovereign Tower since it’s another inventive choose your destiny adventure game where you are in charge of your kingdom. This time, you can backtrack on choices made before to achieve better results. Highly praised by gamers so far. Full list of games worthy of your consideration below! https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-08-12-edition/index.html Thu, 13 Aug 2026 16:40:13 +0000 There are quite a few games inspired by Chess on Steam these days, most of them trying to turn the traditional 64 square games into something a bit more fun and approachable by adding timers or power-ups, and shit like that. I was caught off guard since I am a regular chess player and I was intrigued by Gambonanza, that takes the familiar chess pieces and their moves and put them in a totally different context with different victory conditions. In each level, you have to capture every single piece on increasingly chaotic boards while managing your boosts, bonuses and pieces that you collect in your reserve. The concept is simple: you’re playing chess, but the board starts tiny (roughly 4×6 tiles), pieces can literally fall off the edges if left unmoved too long (some tiles disappear after a while!), and victory means eliminating every enemy unit rather than checkmating a king. https://boilingsteam.com/gambonanza-review/index.html Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:15:03 +0000 Last time we had our regular checkpoint was in June 2026 and you may recall we observed that CachyOS was not only in the 1st spot on ProtonDB for desktop distros, but kept growing further, eating Arch Linux’s own share. So how have things changed since then? Before we take a look at the chart, the usual disclaimer that you love: - This may not be representative of all types of Linux users. I’m sure this is not what your AWS architect uses on EC2, nor what you installed for your grandmother to avoid being the IT troubleshooter in your family. - This may not be completely representative of all Linux gamers either. But I’d wage this is actually a good predictor where the market is going to shift. We saw first that Manjaro was getting the boot here first, before going under pretty much everywhere. https://boilingsteam.com/cachy-os-is-king-now-and-the-distro-world-settles/index.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 16:21:06 +0000 Between 2026-08-01 and 2026-08-08 we selected 8 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. The highlight is Iron Nest, that puts you in the middle of a huge turret capable of firing very large explosives. You get orders, and you need to adjust numerous parameters to hit the target with high accuracy. Very well done and unique in concept. Let’s not forget the new Stardew Valley clone, Fields of Mistria, that we already mentioned in our previous article about recently released games with native builds. Full details below! https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-08-08-edition/index.html Sat, 8 Aug 2026 17:12:03 +0000 Between 2026-07-29 and 2026-08-05 there were 138 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 926 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 14.9 % of total released titles. A high percentage, with the spiritual successor of Stardew Valley, Fields of Mistria - which has been very well received so far, apparently superior to its inspiration in almost every aspect. Full details below! https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-08-05-edition/index.html Fri, 7 Aug 2026 17:30:15 +0000 Between 2026-07-25 and 2026-08-01 we selected 16 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. A lot of titles in this weekm and I think you should check Sephiria, since it’s an action game that uses inventory management as a puzzle mechanic. It makes you optimize your build instead of simply stacking bonuses and boosts. And it looks very well made all around, too. Another one worth a mention is Kusan City of Wolves which is a new take on the hotline miami genre! Full details below. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-08-01-edition/index.html Sun, 2 Aug 2026 09:43:50 +0000 Between 2026-07-22 and 2026-07-29 there were 147 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 918 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 16 % of total released titles. The highlight from this week is a cute game where you play a duck, Dodo Duckie that mixes 2D and 3D view switched to make you solve puzzles in a clever way. And there’s Tormentum II that lets you explore Giger-inspired nightmares with meaningful choices to make. Full list below! https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-07-29-edition/index.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 16:51:22 +0000 Our recent article about the Steam Deck sales crash went kind of viral in the past week, and because of that there were long threads of discussions available across Reddit communities (r/linux_gaming, r/pcmasterrace, and r/SteamDeck at least) discussing the situation. I spent a lot of time reading the different takes, and I tought it would be a good idea to capture where people are regarding this matter. So, here’s a summary of the different types of takes. https://boilingsteam.com/community-comments-on-the-great-steam-deck-crash-of-2026-article/index.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 16:18:46 +0000 Celestial Return promises a hard-boiled, cyberpunk and cosmic horror game. “Count me in” when I was offered a key by the publisher. But this review would have been cut a lot shorter if I had not waited a couple of weeks after the release. Now the game runs well on Linux and Steam Deck with Proton thanks to some recent updates from the devs. Celestial Return is a visual novel where you follow the footsteps of Howard, once part of an elite force that hunted beings called Abstracts, now just a private investigator. On the left side of the screen you read and interact with the overly descriptive story, and before the updates that would be mostly of what you would see. The game now plays a background video, and show some images as the story progress. They had encoded some videos with shady proprietary H.264 that would either stutter the game, or not load at all. That reminded me of the time I used Windows, and had to install some codec packs to be able to play this kind of stuff. Sadly, the Proton bundled with proprietary stuff did not work for me with this game. So I had to skip the animations, and played with black background most of the game. Because some videos would show, I pondered if the black was a design choice or just a bug. I imagine most of the problems with bugged save games, soft-locks (most of them the workaround was saving and reloading the game), clipped story and options not showing on the story box, and other technical stuff will eventually be solved. So let’s jump to the things that are not so easy to fix. https://boilingsteam.com/celestial-return/index.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 15:08:32 +0000 Between 2026-07-18 and 2026-07-25 we selected 9 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. A few horror games are of note, but the big title in this week is clearly Scrap Mechanic that’s now out of early access with the 1.0 Release. If it’s your first time hearing about it, it’s a multiplayer sandbox adventure game where you build stuff and fight a lot too. I’d like to also point out the release of Dinoblade which is as absurd as the name indicates: you play a dinosaur armed with a huge blade! Full details below. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-07-25-edition/index.html Sun, 26 Jul 2026 10:11:48 +0000 It’s a piece of news that is a little bit late since we are covering a release that happened a few weeks ago in July 2026, that most people did not probably notice anyway as they were glued to the FIFA world cup. Now we are back in business and catching up on a few important news! The previous Proton release was Proton 10.0-3 back in November 2025, so it’s been more than half a year. So what does this Proton 11 bring on the table? https://boilingsteam.com/valve-releases-proton-11/index.html Sun, 26 Jul 2026 16:04:20 +0000 Between 2026-07-15 and 2026-07-22 there were 110 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 770 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 14.3 % of total released titles. And it’s not just shovelware, there’s quite a few good title in this past week! I have a soft spot for Database Detective: Minor Crimes Division because it makes you solve crimes using the SQL language! Don’t miss Pathogenic as well where you infect the human body and fight the immune system. Full list below. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-07-22-edition/index.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 15:43:23 +0000 Following our recent article estimating the volume of Steam Machines currently sold on the market, I wanted to also go back to another very interesting piece of data and question: has the change of price of the Steam Deck in May 2026 had a big impact on the number of its sales? Not just in value, but in units sold? Turns out, we should be able to answer the question using a similar methodology and the weekly top sellers charts. This chart lists the ranking of all products according to their sales in total dollars, regardless of the software or hardware aspect. Throughout 2025, Valve’s Steam Deck maintained a steady presence in the top five positions of Steam’s Global Weekly Top Sellers chart. Week after week, the SteamOS powered handheld managed to stay around rank #4 or #5, hardly impacted by seasonality. If anything, it was propped up by specific times in the year, such as the pre-christmas season. In early 2026, it suffered some temporary availability issues because of key components preventing its full assembly. It came back at the end of May 2026, with fresh inventory and a fresh (or stinky, depending on your point of view) price as well. On May 27, 2026 Valve announced the pricing adjustment, framed internally as a response to the RAMpocalypse. This was a massive price hike across models, in the +40% range on OLED models, and getting rid of the cheaper LCD version altogether. Valve is not in the charity business anymore. Move away, peasants! https://boilingsteam.com/the-great-steam-deck-volume-crash/index.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:32:26 +0000 Between 2026-07-11 and 2026-07-18 we selected 14 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. Looks like game devs have stopped watching the World Cup as most teams are out and finally decided to ship their games! A LOT of good stuff in this past week - and if I had to pick two, that would be The Mermaid Mask which is an awesome adventure game about solving a crime, and Denshattack! which is a crazy Japanese arcade game where you control a train that gives 90s vibes like very few do. Full list below! https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-07-18-edition/index.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 14:25:31 +0000 Valve is a fairly secretive company when it comes to how they perform: they have never published quarterly hardware sales figures for its consumer devices. They don’t track them in press releases, they don’t have earnings calls since they remain a private company, and they don’t treat unit volume as a front and center KPI on the store. There is maybe one exception: a few years back, they did announce that they had sold 500k Steam controllers. That was actually just 10 years ago! At the same time, they do like to share a lot of data. They have hardware surveys, weekly best sellers, and also real-time revenue data: the Global Top Sellers chart. Because that chart ranks products by gross financial throughput rather than unit count, it creates a bias we can exploit to do some napkin math estimations. High-priced hardware requires significantly fewer transactions to occupy a higher chart position, compared to low-priced software or microtransaction-driven titles. https://boilingsteam.com/steam-machine-between-10k-and-15k-sold-per-week/index.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:10:25 +0000 Between 2026-07-08 and 2026-07-15 there were 83 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 664 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 12.5 % of total released titles. It’s still summer and there’s not a lot of big games coming out, but there’s one about chopping trees that seems to be quite fun, alright. Full list below! https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-07-15-edition/index.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 17:46:58 +0000 Between 2026-07-04 and 2026-07-11 we selected 4 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. We are still in the middle of summer so don’t expect a lot of big moves. We still get Palworld leaving Early Access with the 1.0, Verified for the Steam Deck. Let’s not forget Cat Mail Co., a game about a cat delivering parcels, with a story told through the packages you deliver. More details below. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-07-11-edition/index.html Sun, 12 Jul 2026 14:31:42 +0000 Between 2026-07-01 and 2026-07-08 there were 47 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 393 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 12 % of total released titles. It’s the middle of summer, nobody’s home, and if you are it’s too hot to play next to your PC anyway, unless you live in Kangarooland. A lot of shovelware, very little to talk about. We have Cosmodrill and Xegrader Plus and that’s it! The good thing is that it won’t take you long to go through the list this time. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-07-08-edition/index.html Thu, 9 Jul 2026 14:09:59 +0000 Just a few months back, I was talking with one of my friends about Paranormasight:The Seven Mysteries of Honjo - ecstatic again about how brilliant it was. I was wondering what the developers would be working on afterwards. In the course of our conversation, I however shared one of my deepest concerns: “I sure hope they don’t make a sequel”. In case you are not familiar with Paranormasight (what? living under a rock?), the game is basically a visual novel with branching story elements, where you play different characters across different story paths. It stood out from the rest by a super solid story without hours of fluff, excellent characters and writing, and an execution that has no match (graphics and music). The perfect storm, if you wish. Where was I? Ah yes. back to the story about my friend. A few weeks later after our initial conversation, I get an email from him. With a link? What’s in there? The upcoming release of Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse… I have to admit, it made me feel uneasy about the existence of a sequel. In the end, the TLDR is: it’s not as bad as I feared. https://boilingsteam.com/paranormasight-the-mermaids-curse-review/index.html Thu, 9 Jul 2026 16:18:02 +0000 Between 2026-06-24 and 2026-07-01 there were 108 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 823 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 13.1 % of total released titles. In that week there’s not a lot of stuff to keep, but Nophenia is a cool walking simulator inside dreams. I also like the retro arcade gameplay of Buscraper. Here’s the whole list. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-07-01-edition/index.html Wed, 8 Jul 2026 16:08:00 +0000 Between 2026-06-28 and 2026-07-05 we selected 2 newly released games that are rated as Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. That’s a very low number, but one of them, Feed the Pit, seems to be a very well made indie horror game. Here we go with more details: https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-07-06-edition/index.html Mon, 6 Jul 2026 15:27:56 +0000 Ok now this is a sequel to Huntdown, that I already had in my library but barely played before. I guess I have to start with the sequel! Huntdown overtime puts you in the shoes or some kind of super bionic cop, who’s been resurrected to fight crime and kill bad guys. Any resemblance to Robocop or other 80s movies is NOT a coincidence, the game is constantly making references to 80s era. https://boilingsteam.com/huntdown-overtime-review/index.html Sun, 5 Jul 2026 15:53:57 +0000 Another Steam Next Fest, plenty of demos to try. After some time in the mines of the press preview(*), I bring to you some pearls (aren’t pearls from the ocean? I think you are mixing 3 different idioms there). https://boilingsteam.com/steam-next-fest-2026-jun/index.html Sun, 28 Jun 2026 14:21:36 +0000 Between 2026-06-20 and 2026-06-27 we selected 10 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. For some reason a lot of games about cleaning these days??! Sandy Beach Cleaner? Cozy cleaner ? Moldwasher? What’s going on? In any case, the game of the week on the Steam Deck is Fish where you play a fish armed with a gun. Enough said. There’s also a nice puzzle game called Dimhaven. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-06-27-edition/index.html Sat, 27 Jun 2026 16:46:58 +0000 Between 2026-06-17 and 2026-06-24 there were 103 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 807 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 12.8 % of total released titles. Here’s a quick pick of the most interesting ones. Despite the positive numbers it’s a week full of shovelware. Maybe serious game devs are busy watching the FIFA world cup instead of finishing their games? Anyway, it’s not all bad. There’s Cozy Cleaner, which gives you the chance to clean up virtual rooms instead of your own. So that you can feel the satisfaction of getting things done, without taking care of your mess. Win-Win!? Here is the full list below. Have a look. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-06-24-edition/index.html Sat, 27 Jun 2026 12:17:20 +0000 So we had the chance to review the OrangePi 6 Plus a few months back, equipped by the very impressive CIX P1 SOC, developed on a 6nm process. It also features a very decent integrated GPU, the Mali-G720-Immortalis. And turns out that OrangePi is not the only company that has access to this hardware - Radxa has also developed 2 boards using this SOC, and their newer, and smaller board, the Orion O6N, is a good option to consider. https://boilingsteam.com/radxa-orion-o6n-review/index.html Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:38:28 +0000 It was already official that Valve employees had lost their marbles when they massively priced the Steam Deck up not too long ago. Now we know for sure it was not an isolated accident and they have lost complete touch with reality. Have they hired too many ex-Apple employees? Who knows? In any case, they seriously believe they can sell obsolete hardware at premiumn pricing (more than 1000 dollars) just because they slap a Steam sticker on it. At this pricing and for the performance this delivers, there’s no way they are going to sell many of those. These are specs of the new Steam Machine: - CPU: AMD Zen 4 (6 cores / 12 threads, 30W TDP) - GPU: Custom AMD RDNA 3 Laptop Chip (8GB GDDR6 VRAM, 110W TDP, 28 Ray-tracing cores) https://boilingsteam.com/the-steam-machine-launches-king-of-bad-value/index.html Tue, 23 Jun 2026 16:43:21 +0000 Between 2026-06-13 and 2026-06-20 we selected 6 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. Not a lot of new titles worth mentioning in this past week, but there’s a new candidate to give you some Papers, Please nostalgia: Thank You for your Application, putting you in the role of a junior interviewer. Here’s our selection below! https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-06-20-edition/index.html Sun, 21 Jun 2026 13:17:26 +0000 Between 2026-06-10 and 2026-06-17 there were 47 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 405 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 11.6% of total released titles. Not a lot to consume in this past week, but let’s mention D.O.T. Defence which is a fun take on the RTS/Tower defense genre. The full list below. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-06-17-edition/index.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:23:15 +0000 Between 2026-06-06 and 2026-06-13 we selected 14 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. That was a good week if you like taming creatures and making them fight (any similarity with an existing game is pure fiction!), as Voidling Bound seems to bring together successfully 3rd person action RPG with creatures management. They got many things right, except the name of the game, I guess. On the opposite end of the spectrum of unoriginal game titles, Unrailed is back and it’s called… (suspense)… Unrailed 2! Still the same formula, and more fun in multiplayer to build a path while racing against the clock. The whole list is right below. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-06-13-edition/index.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 15:51:07 +0000 There are quite a few gems out there when it comes to roguelite games, and from now on we need to add Sol Cesto to the list. The concept is dead simple: the sun has disappeared, and the world has plunged into darkness. The sunlight has been captured by an underground den of monsters, and your role, as a hero raising to the challenge, is to make it to the bottom of that deadly pit to rescue the sun to save humanity. Regular daily quest, right? https://boilingsteam.com/sol-cesto-review/index.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 15:49:04 +0000 Between 2026-05-30 and 2026-06-06 we selected 8 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. This is rather weak line-up this time. Of course there’s Sodaman that we have already mentioned in the our weekly list of worthy games with Linux builds, but let me mention The 7th Guest Remake which sees the old CD-ROM classic make a come back with modern graphics. If anything, this seems like a great conversion of the older title - not game of the year material, for sure, but a good puzzle game that’s somewhat unusual compared to modern ones. Now on the whole list. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-06-06-edition/index.html Sun, 7 Jun 2026 12:11:20 +0000 Between 2026-05-27 and 2026-06-03 there were 90 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 735 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 12.2 % of total released titles, which is slightly more than usual. In this week we should definitely mention Sodaman, which is an intersection between vampire survivors and the bullet hell shooter genre, which seems very effective. But there’s more if you like the factory-building business, the survival roguelike, racing, or puzzle games. Check the whole list! https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-06-03-edition/index.html Sat, 6 Jun 2026 12:04:49 +0000 Last time we had our regular checkpoint was in march 2026 and you may recall that it was the first time that CachyOS had taken over the 1st spot on ProtonDB for desktop distros, ahead of Arch Linux. Well, taking the first spot is one thing, but CachyOS has brokend another record, by becoming now bigger in distro share on ProtonDB than Arch Linux ever was. Before we take a look at the chart, the usual disclaimer that you love: - This may not be representative of all types of Linux users. I’m sure this is not what your AWS architect uses on EC2, nor what you installed for your grandmother to avoid being the IT troubleshooter in your family. - This may not be completely representative of all Linux gamers either. But I’d wage this is actually a good predictor where the market is going to shift. We saw first that Manjaro was getting the boot here first, before going under pretty much everywhere. https://boilingsteam.com/tidal-wave-cachy-os-is-now-bigger-than-arch-linux-ever-was/index.html Wed, 3 Jun 2026 16:10:55 +0000 Between 2026-05-23 and 2026-05-30 we selected 14 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. There’s a lot of good stuff in the below list, so it was hard to choose what to highlight, but I decided to go for XF Extreme Formula which has retro F-zero vibes, and Mina the Hollower, the new pixel-perfect 2D game from the developers of Shovel Knight. Full list ahead! https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-05-30-edition/index.html Sun, 31 May 2026 12:31:17 +0000 With the popularity of gambling-“inspired” games after Balatro, Fortune Seller gives it a go with an inventory management take. Developed and published by Kiwick, the game works well on Linux with Proton and is Steam Deck Verified. In Fortune Seller, you start a job as the cashier at an occult items store, serving a shady and greedy owner, that demands exponential profits at every week. You know, the Balatro drill. At Week One, the demands to progress are in the thousands of points, and in the Week Four, when you face the last boss Mammona(the store owner), the requirements are in the millions. After winning the story mode, you can proceed to the endless at your discretion. Each day of the Week, several customers will come to your store. I liked that they each have a very characteristic and well-designed portrait, and say by speech bubble something related to their personality. There is some story going on with their life. You cannot grasp much during the game, the inclusion might feel like an afterthought, as it does not elaborate much. But I like to think about it and fill the blanks in my mind. It is a nice inclusion, and I appreciated it. Mammona, for example, is a name associated with greed, and their picture is designed to resemble many hands composing a body. The name itself sounds like “hands” in some languages (also ricinus). Again, not sure if anything besides the greed part was the intent, but I enjoyed the thought. https://boilingsteam.com/fortune-seller/index.html Sun, 31 May 2026 16:50:57 +0000 Between 2026-05-20 and 2026-05-27 there were 75 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 708 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 10.6 % of total released titles. This was a fairly quiet week. Not a lot to showcase, but there’s Schrodinger’s Cat Burglar which is a nice word pun applied to a concept where you play a cat that can be in two places at the same time (to solve puzzles). Here’s the full list below of what you ought to check: https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-05-27-edition/index.html Sat, 30 May 2026 17:57:08 +0000 On May 27, 2026, Valve’s leadership apparently smoked a little too much and the company officially announced a massive price hike for the Steam Deck OLED models. We are talking about prices increasing up to $300 USD (a 46% increase!!). NPCs will be quick to attribute this price hike to “the semiconductor shortage” caused by surging demand for AI datacenter memory components, but that’s a poor argument to make. This kind of things don’t happen in a vacuum. The ROG Ally X that was released last year has remained at $999 since it was out, so either ASUS has some magical, extra-terrestrial access to cheap components that nobody else has, or Valve is taking the opportunity to make more profits while nobody is looking. After all, Gabe gotta buy new yatches. Valve updated its store listings overnight, applying the following new prices across most markets (US, UK, Europe, Canada, Australia): - Steam Deck OLED 512GB: Increased from $549 to $789 (+$240 / ~44% hike). https://boilingsteam.com/valve-takes-crazy-pills-and-jacks-up-steam-deck-pricing/index.html Thu, 28 May 2026 16:08:21 +0000 Between 2026-05-16 and 2026-05-23 we selected 14 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. This week two big games, the New Lego Batman and the latest Forza Horizon 6! But that’s not all. There are quite a few more. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-05-23-edition/index.html Sun, 24 May 2026 15:57:54 +0000 Between 2026-05-13 and 2026-05-20 there were 70 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 664 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 10.5 % of total released titles. Not a lot to keep this time, but there’s a few games worth mentioning still, such as The Adventures of Sir Kicksalot: simple graphics but fun gameplay inspired by Dark Messiah of Might and Magic from Arkane Studios. Here’s the whole list below. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-05-20-edition/index.html Sun, 24 May 2026 14:23:21 +0000 We got a key from the publisher to review the demo of Pigeon: A Love Story,with an interesting proposal: find love in a kind of needle-in-a-haystack game. The dev, Wristwrok created Faceminer an interesting game that brings up the discussion of AI used for surveillance and facial generation that hits home for me, but I digress, back to the Pigeon. Pigeon offers to scale replicas of real cities, like Tokyo and New York for you to explore. The demo, available for free on Steam, covers only London. At first, it is nice to explore the city and find its landmarks with a non-invasive background music, well after you get used to the mouse controller (I wish there were sensitivity calibration). While exploring the city you can coo at other pigeons, some sort of catcalling, they will change colour from black to red. Occasionally, they reply some sort of no back, ranging from apologetic to calling you, rightly so, a creep, and I found it funny. Colouring the pigeons would increase a stat tracking of coverage of a quadrant in the map. https://boilingsteam.com/pigeon-a-love-story/index.html Tue, 19 May 2026 15:35:43 +0000 Between 2026-05-09 and 2026-05-16 we selected 17 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. The highlight of this week is no doubt Subnautica 2, which has been extremely well received. There’s also another deckbuiler, Black Jacket, that looks very polished and worth a try. Here is the whole list below of what we recommend to check: https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-05-16-edition/index.html Mon, 18 May 2026 15:22:40 +0000 Between 2026-05-06 and 2026-05-13, there were 60 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 511 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 11.7 % of total released titles. Two great titles to keep an eye on, Huntdown: Overtime in the 2D platformer-shooter genre, and Space Haven that lets you build your own space station and manage the needs of your crew. Here’s the whole list below: https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-05-13-edition/index.html Fri, 15 May 2026 16:37:54 +0000 Between 2026-05-02 and 2026-05-09 we selected 21 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. It’s another exceptional week for the Steam Deck with a bunch of very strong releases. It’s difficult to pick just a few, but you should clearly keep an eye on ALABASTER DAWN (I played it last year at the Bit Summit and it was great!) - Dead as Disco seems to be a great musical beat’em up (that’s a genre now), very well received after release. Here’s the whole list of little gems below. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-05-09-edition/index.html Mon, 11 May 2026 02:24:28 +0000 Between 2026-04-29 and 2026-05-06 there were 63 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 570 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 11.1 % of total released titles. There’s a few gems in this week, with another great execution in the roguelite genre with Rogue Voltage, as well as a great music-themed narrative game with Wax Heads. Here’s a list of our picks below: https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-05-06-edition/index.html Thu, 7 May 2026 14:22:48 +0000 It has been ten long years (2015!) since the first Steam Controller was released, a device that was polarizing by design, beloved by hardcore users, and baffling to the average console enthusiast. The original tried to solve the fundamental friction between mouse-and-keyboard PC gaming and the traditional couch-based approach. It was discontinued back in 2019, and since then we expected it to make a come back sooner or later, especially after the Steam Deck came out and Valve signaled a renewed interest in making hardware. Fast forward to 2026, in the middle of the Rampocalypse shaking the hardware industry, Valve returns with a device bearing the same name, the same philosophy, but a different, and less radical execution. For better or worse, this is mostly as if the Steam Deck was turned into a controller. Since we don’t have the new Steam Controller in hands yet, we can learn from those who do. We have spent some time checking comments hardware youtubers, specifically looking at hands-on impressions from outlets like GameSpot, Linus Tech Tips, Tested, Skillup and Gamers Nexus. From there on we will provide a summary of their observations and opinions. https://boilingsteam.com/the-2026-steam-controller-what-reviewers-are-saying/index.html Thu, 7 May 2026 14:59:18 +0000 Ink Inside is a stylized 2D hand-drawn action roguelite that takes place within the literal pages of a discarded sketchbook. You play as Stick, a simple doodle who awakens to find the sketchbook being attacked by a mysterious, oily sludge that is erasing the world and its inhabitants. You are on to a quest to save the world and its drawings from the sludge, across various biomes. What’s unique about this game is that it did not start as a game. It was a cartoon written for Nickelodeon - somehow the project did not end up being produced, and the devs turned to video games as a medium to continue their work. It’s supposed to be a story in three parts, and Ink Inside is the first episode while it’s a complete game in itself. You can expect about 10~12 hours of gameplay. https://boilingsteam.com/ink-inside-review/index.html Tue, 5 May 2026 15:17:34 +0000 Between 2026-04-25 and 2026-05-02 we selected 23 newly released games that are rated as Verified or Playable on the Steam Deck, and meeting specific criteria in terms of user ratings. This is an awesome week, with a really high number of games that actually sound interesting to play, as well as some that take existing genres and tweak them with a cool twist. The obvious highlight of the past week of Far Far West, a co-op shooter that’s really well done. Don’t miss the whole list below - a lot of hidden gems in there. https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-playable-on-the-steam-deck-2026-05-02-edition/index.html Sat, 2 May 2026 13:29:11 +0000 Between 2026-04-22 and 2026-04-29 there were 87 New Steam games released with Native Linux builds. For reference, during the same time, there were 765 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 11.4 % of total released titles. There’s a lot of games but of varying quality. Out of those I picked up Legionbound, another idle battler with a ton of options and combinations to try out, which is very addictive. Here’s the full list of native games to consider for the past week: https://boilingsteam.com/new-steam-games-with-native-linux-builds-2026-04-29-edition/index.html Fri, 1 May 2026 15:23:33 +0000