Can you play Hades 2 on the Steam Deck?

The Hades 2 Steam Deck rating will come as no surprise to those who are familiar with Supergiant Games and its long history with the handheld. Now that Hades 2 is officially out of early access, we've got the final game rating as well as a guide to the best settings to use on the Deck.

In what is shaping up to be one of the best Steam Deck games you can play, much like the original, Hades 2 asks nothing of players other than to boot and play. The Steam Deck is still the best handheld gaming PC despite its aging hardware, and games like Hades 2 shine on the portable. If you're looking for ways to get the best out of this roguelike on a gaming PC, you can instead check out our best Hades 2 settings guide.

Is Hades 2 Steam Deck compatible?

Hades 2 is rated Verified for Steam Deck. It has been one of the most played Steam Deck games since its original early access release

It shouldn't come as a huge surprise, given how low the Hades 2 system requirements are, that the game runs incredibly well on Steam Deck. During our time testing the game on Valve's handheld, we experienced a buttery smooth 90 fps on the default settings for the vast majority of our playtime. Even when the action got intense on screen, the Steam Deck never faltered.

As good as the handheld is, it's rare to see games run so naturally on Steam Deck. Even indie titles sometimes struggle to adjust to the 800p display. Here, Supergiant Games has another gem on its hands, and Hades 2 looks even better on the vibrant Steam Deck OLED display.

Best Hades 2 settings on Steam Deck

There aren't many video or gameplay settings in Hades 2, but here is what we were using;

• Graphics Quality: High
• VSync: On
• Resolution: 1,200 x 800
• Fullscreen: No
• Borderless: No
• Reticle Speed: 1800
• Dead Zone: 15%

By default, the graphics are set to high, and we felt no need whatsoever to change this. During gameplay, Hades 2 currently uses around 8.5W, meaning battery life on the Steam Deck OLED will last around 6 hours. Following a small update during early access, there is now a slight frame dip when entering a new level, but this is typically nothing more than a drop to around 50 fps, which is barely noticeable.

Elsewhere, the GPU usage sits at around 50% on average while the CPU rarely crept above 30%. All in all, Hades 2 is very easy for the Steam Deck to run, but it's also a well-optimized experience and one of the best you can have on the handheld.

If you're still undecided about which handheld gaming PC to buy, you can check out our ROG Ally and Legion Go reviews to get an idea of where the devices stack up in the market.

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