Steam Deck may be the best way to play Disney Dreamlight Valley (with a few tweaks)

The recently released cross-platform life simulation, Dream Light Valleyis a little animal crossinga little Stardew Valley, and lots of Disney. It’s also the kind of game you might want to play while watching a TV show, multitasking with a handheld console. But despite being released on Switch, this version isn’t great. Fortunately, Dream Light Valley Works great on Steam Deck with some tweaks. Just be prepared to load your Steam Deck before playing.

Don’t Worry About What Steam Says, It Works

Steam currently lists Dream Light Valleyis compatible with Steam Deck as “Unknown”, which is not surprising. This means that the game has not yet been reviewed by Valve for compatibility. Now, a question mark and the absence of a verified tick may scare you, but don’t worry. after playing Dream Light Valley for a couple of hours on Valve’s lovely laptop, I found the experience to be on par with most other playable and reviewed titles.

However, you may need to modify your library filters to find and install it. Simply change the filter using the X button and toggle it to show all games, even unknown and unsupported ones. You should then be able to see Dream Light Valleyassuming you own it.

With a few tweaks it’s a great way to play

Dream Light Valley on Steam Deck is a decent experience out of the box, but with a few tweaks you can greatly improve the way it plays. Before any changes, the game runs at a steady 60fps. It’s playable, of course, but can be improved.

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First, change the resolution to 1280×720 (Dream Light does not support the Deck’s native 1280×800). Leave it at 60Hz and reduce all graphics settings to medium. Don’t mess with the display mode setting because when I did it locked the game to the Steam Deck every time. But, with these settings, you will notice a nice improvement in framerate stability. You can also change the default texture quality to low, as the Deck’s small screen does a good job of masking the drop in quality. But in my time with the game, it wasn’t a necessary adjustment.

Read more: 27 things I wish I had known before playing Disney Valley of Dreams

Once you have Dream Light Valley Working well on the Steam Deck, you can also take advantage of the touchscreen, allowing you to easily move items around your inventory and chests. If you’re like me and like to rearrange those spaces frequently, playing on the Steam Deck is fantastic compared to using a console controller. I find the game’s inventory management time-consuming and clunky on a gamepad, especially compared to a mouse or the Deck’s touchscreen.

If you’re just logging in to check out the store, do some mining, and plant other crops, the Steam Deck is perfect. Lately I’ve been spending an hour every night playing a little Dream Light Valley while watching Tyrant or random YouTube videos.

First load your Steam Deck fully

In my testing of battery-draining games on the Steam Deck, Dream Light Valley isn’t the worst offender, not even close. But it empties the Deck faster than expected. Guess all that Disney magic ain’t free, huh?

Using the settings I shared earlier and without changing the system battery settings, it looks like a fully charged Steam Deck can play for about two and a half to three hours depending on what you’re doing in-game Of course, changes to settings can impact battery life, but don’t expect more than three hours.

In short, with a few small adjustments, Dream Light Valley is great on deck. In fact, it might just be the best way to play this new slice of life game, especially if you’re someone who likes to multitask or prefers to lounge outside on the patio when playing. Just make sure to load your Deck first.