Valve's Steam charts now have a new live category exclusively for the Steam Deck, letting you view the "Top Played" games for the Deck in the past week, month, and year. The list, which tracks changes in rank compared to the previous time period, also shows prices and whether the game in question is verified for Steam Deck. It's a great way to see what other people are playing—and pretty dang good at highlighting deals, since the prices show current sale prices for the 2024 Steam summer sale.
There are more than a few interesting insights to be gleaned. PC Gamer staff were quick to note that both Hades and Hades 2 are holding onto spots in the top 10 for both the past week and past month categories, with Hades 2 beating out a lot of newer and fancier games. The dual placement speaks to the meaningful differences between the two roguelikes—I wouldn't fault anyone for having both installed. Dave the Diver, which I'll admit is a perfect Steam Deck game, also takes a top 10 spot on all three charts.
What exactly "Top Played" means isn't completely obvious, other than that it's neither most-played nor top-seller. Valve says it's a dual metric tracking both how many people are playing it and how much time they've spent playing it.
“The metric we’re using to determine top-played is a combination of unique users and interest. Hades 2 has only been out for a month, but so many Steam Deck players have it as one of their top played games for the entire year, that it was lifted in the rankings,” Valve's Lawrence Yang told The Verge.
Yang's explanation makes the most sense when you look at the chart for the last year, which has the most surprising inclusion of all: Poker-flavored roguelite Balatro. Despite releasing just over three months ago it's on spot 11 for the Top Played in the last year. If you've played Balatro, however, you'll understand how being weighted for time played would help Balatro in the rankings. It is a day-devouring beast of a thing that keeps you coming back for more.
You can find the Steam Deck Top Played over on Valve's Steam charts.
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