What's On Deck?
It's the eternal question. What have I got to play? It's all very mood, time, and energy dependant, but it's also… hard. I've had Steam account since 2014 and the chronology of my library follows many gaming trends, and reflects many crests and troughs. In short, my library is a mixed bag and finding something to play is a challenge.
The Steam Store doesn't make things much easier. It does better than many other libraries, but it essentially groans under the weight of its own success. In today's landscape of digital abundance, discovery is an overwhelming issue.
So On Deck is my space to write about games that I've found, played and enjoyed (or not). It's also my mid-life crisis. I'm not trying to plant some kind of media tentpole, or build a following, but rather create a space to write again about one of the few hobbies that has stuck with me over the years.
I've been a player, writer, and gaming enthusiast for most of my life. Things really warmed up, though, when I got my first 'proper' PC around 16 years old (thanks Grandma).
The kindly old gentleman who built it later helped me create my own launch menu in DOS so I could quickly access my games like Doom, Day of the Tentacle and Sam and Max hit the Road with a few taps of the arrow keys. It was either PowerMenu or Menu-Matic - something like that. I forget the details, but from that day I was obsessed.
24 broom handles and 47 heads later, my gaming PC still sits under my (6th) desk. But these days it lies dormant. I haven't booted it up since a while before Microsoft buried Windows 10 and - were it not for the Steam Deck - I think my gaming hobby would've been buried with it.
Necessity is the mother of invention. The Steam Deck's success could perhaps be wrapped up quite neatly in this proverbial bow, but Valve's innovation has definitely become the mother of my newfound inspiration with gaming. It's somehow given me permission to enjoy my hobby again, and for that I'm really quite grateful.
I hope you find something fun to play.
Russell
