It advertises being the easiest way to get into PC gaming and I really hope that’s true and that’s been my biggest selling point along with it’s price tag. I’ve never rly been a pc gamer and find it’s a bit complicated. I barely got the tech skills to install some emulators on my laptop. Comparing the Steam Deck to competitors like the Legion Go and Rouge Alley which have better specs at only a little larger price tag but how user friendly are they? Is the Steam Deck really any easier to use then these competitors?
As long as you avoid visual novels with WMV video playback for cutscenes, and games from some publishers like EA and Bungie, it’s very good if you check ProtonDB on compatibility.
The tinkering is actually minimum if you only stick to games that are Gold/Plat on ProtonDB with default settings, and keep expectations lower if you’re only buying Steam Verified AAA game. Most AAA games will need in-game settings tweak for better experience, but there are tons of YouTube videos on best setting for the games you can follow.
Almost all indie games works great on the Steam Deck. indie games that don’t work well with the Steam Deck is very rare, because if it doesn’t work on the Steam Deck, it means the game already have problems initially regardless of the Steam Deck.
Games that do need a lot of tinkering are usually unsupported games, and bronze/silver rating on ProtonDB.
I suggest you learn how to install Proton-GE using ProtonQt, and how to force Proton Compatibility. Games that don’t boot-up can easily be fix by forcing Proton compatibility in the property settings. It’s not hard to do at all.