Art of rally runs like a dream on Steam Deck

Next week sees the launch of the Steam Deck, Valve’s new handheld gaming PC. Powered by Linux, the Steam Deck has attracted a lot of attention from gamers looking for a more powerful portable gaming system than the Nintendo Switch.

If you preordered Valve's new handheld and are looking to play a racing game that runs flawlessly on day one, art of rally is now verified for Steam Deck. 

Art of rally verified for Steam Deck

Verified games are fully compatible with the portable gaming PC, offering “a great, smooth experience on Deck” according to Valve. Games rated as Playable will also work but may not be optimised for the system, so you may need to adjust the settings to improve the performance. Games can also be rated as Unsupported or Unknown for Steam Deck.

A video posted by developer Funselektor gives us a first look at art of rally running on Steam Deck. Funselektor says the game “runs like a dream,” and this is clear in the video.

While it wasn’t confirmed if art of rally runs at 60fps on Steam Deck, the footage shows the game running on high settings with a few graphically intensive effects like ambient occlusion switched off according to Funselektor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyuIXm5nACo

As you would expect, it’s a considerable improvement over the Nintendo Switch version, with much smoother performance. While it’s still fun to play on the go, art of rally suffers from subpar performance and graphical issues on the Nintendo Switch, but the Steam Deck’s extra power eradicates these issues.

However, Funselektor recently announced on social media that the Switch version will be optimised in an upcoming update with improved visual fidelity.

One of our favourite indie racing games, art of rally’s addictive, pick up and play gameplay, top-down perspective, and calming atmosphere make it a perfect fit for Steam Deck. As well as PC and Nintendo Switch, art of rally is also available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

Racing games compatible with Steam Deck

At the time of writing, there are more than 300 verified games on Steam Deck according to Gaming On Linux. We expect more will be added as we get closer to launch on 25 February.

In the UK, the entry-level Steam Deck with 64GB of storage retails for £349, while the top-end version that comes with a 512-GB solid-state-drive costs £569. Reservations for the Steam Deck are open, but new orders won't arrive until “after Q2 2022.”  

You can find a full list of every driving and racing games verified for Steam Deck below.

• American Truck Simulator
• art of rally
• Automobilista 2
• BeamNG.drive
• CarX Drift Racing Online
• Circuit Superstars
• GRID
• Hot Wheels Unleashed
• MudRunner
• Project CARS 3
• RedOut: Enhanced Edition
• Ride 4
• Rocket League