A showcase game for Valve’s Steam Deck
Aperture Desk Job is a free action game for PC that was developed by Valve. It’s set in the Portal universe and serves to showcase the company’s newly released handheld gaming console, the Steam Deck. It’s an interactive experience that highlights the system’s features and various controls schemes.
Aperture Desk Job features a similar design aesthetic to Portal 2. It utilizes a sci-fi look and presentation to it that is both futuristic and industrial at the same time. While playable on PCs, a Steam Deck is required to really experience the game as it was intended.
A walking simulator, sort of
In Aperture Desk Job, you play as an entry-level desk worker on your first day on the job. It’s described as a “walking simulator,” but not in the way you might think. As a game that was intended to showcase the Steam Deck’s hardware and features, that is exactly what it does—unapologetically flaunts Valve’s spanking new handheld gaming console. It does so in a rather classy and sophisticated-like way, though.
Aperture Desk Job is Valve’s attempt at creating an immersive experience that’s built around the Steam Deck. The result is a game that takes design cues from the Portal games’ sci-fi look and aesthetic. It will let you explore a beautifully-crafted world filled with highly interactive elements by utilizing the handheld’s various input and control methods. Its sound effects and music also received the same level of detail and attention.
Now, being a walking simulation of sorts, it does not have any semblance of story or narrative to it. As such, a typical playthrough of it will be rather short compared with other games. Also, the game really was intended to be played and experienced on the Steam Deck. With this, the lack of keyboard and mouse controls is to be expected.
Fun, beautiful, and immersive
If you own Valve’s Steam Deck, you can have fun testing out your brand new handheld gaming console with Aperture Desk Job. It does an amazing job of showcasing what the system is all about. Not only that, but the fact that it can stand on its own as a beautiful and immersive simulator is just icing on the cake.
