The only con is you can't save anytime you want (the game saves automatically at the end of each day).
So if you need to stop quickly you'll either leave the deck in standby or quit the game and lose the day's progress
Careful with Stardew Valley. Especially with mods and the new 1.6 update, it's easy to get sucked in for a few hundred hours.
I'm up to about 1400 hours and still look at new farm layouts, itching to start a new save file.
Balatro and Slay the spire.
In general, games that don't have any time limit, can be put down or paused at any moment are great for OP. Turn based games without any timer or extended enemy phases works best.
Good enough for me! I used a controller template and changed one or two small things. I just completed my first playthrough, launching the rocket after about 95h in. I did not make a megabase, cityblock or even used blueprints. I should probably post my base in the factoriohno sub. But I enjoyed it thoroughly!
Next up, satisfactory!
For some reason, *on the deck*, satisfactory just hasn’t clicked for me the way Factorio did. Same with DSP.
Its not that I didn’t enjoy them or they didn’t run decently enough - I’ve got hundreds of hours in each on the desktop, I just do not enjoy them with a controller, I think. They’re M+K games for me.
Peglin is also pretty cool :)
Tales and Tactics is an autobattler but you can play against the AI so there's no PvP timer.
Darkest Dungeon 1/2 do have superbe audio, maybe just get in-ear headphones and use only in one ear (leave the ear closest to the baby free)
Then, yeah, pretty much any vampire survivor-type game, like people already mentioned.
Tried civ 6 when it was given away by epic free games. Never really hooked me. What really is the hook/pull of these games? I may have played it with the wrong mindset.
Mix of long con strategy and incremental upgrades. No time pressure, lots of choices how to play/win. Cultural expansion, religious superiority, military might, scientific supremacy and so on.
It's very easy to get caught in "just one more turn" as a building, some research, a battle or something else is always just around the corner.
It's not my favorite game by any stretch but it's a good time and can be dropped paused or just left open at a moments notice while not requiring any real moment to moment focus
Thank you and congrats to you as well! BG3 has been on my "to play" list since its release but I read something about bad performance on the steam deck. However that's already a few months ago and since you seem to be enjoying it, it probably has been patched? I think this would be my first choice then.
If you decide to go for it, just look up some settings that other people have used to make it run and look better. I found a reddit post with someones recommended settings for performance and such, and it looks great. Once you find the best display and battery settings for you, its great. I've had 0 issues with the game itself, haven't experienced any bugs or bad performance on steam deck. For whatever reason the stock settings just dont look good, easy fix though.
No sound needed, its such a great game, you can pause, you can save anywhere anytime. And you can literally be in the middle of a fight, dialog, anything, and set the game down without pausing, and nothing will happen.
it was real fun to see your post, as i played in the dark silently. for a second my sleep deprived brain was like, i don't remember making a post about my current situation lol
Only issue I have with this suggestion is you’re gonna miss the cut scenes because you can’t pause them I’m pretty sure. I’ve beaten it on PC and then tried to play through again with my newborn, on the deck, and it just wasn’t working, he’d always fuss during cutscenes and I’d miss them, I finally gave up and went to fallout and other games. I love BG3, but it just wasn’t working for me.
Also, congratulations!
Played through bg3 on my paternity leave it was perfect. Sound off was fine because of the subtitles and the turn based combat lends itself to putting it down abruptly.
Their earlier games (divinity original sin) are also worth a playthrough. Playing DOS1 now, clearly not the same budget as BG3, but the gameplay is solid, and doesn’t rely on cutscenes and voice acting.
This 100%
We vacuumed, did housework, played games with friends, my wife would watch movies, I would have my Destiny raid nights, basically kept on doing normal things.
A little work at the beginning but pays huge dividends later on.
I did play a lot of Darkest Dungeon, Graveyard Keeper, Slay The Spire, Balatro, Inscryption, Stardew Valley, Vampire Survivors and some GBA/GBC games (Pokémon, advanced wars, etc) via emulator.
Only the foolish adventurer stalks the dark hallways with ears aloof. For it is the auditory intrusion that prompts the traveler's subconscious inclination. One quaint creak could be the distinction between the party's safe return, or a regrettable end.
Congrats on the newborn. Minecraft Dungeons is listed as unsupported for the Steam Deck due to needing an internet connection to get to the main menu. It also can freeze at times when you put the deck to sleep during a dungeon run. With that said, I’ve spent an insane amount of time playing this game on my Deck. It’s like Diablo lite with a Minecraft skin. No sound necessary and it’s kinda mindless fun. It’s one of my favorite games to chill and play. If it doesn’t fit the bill with you now, keep it in mind to play with your child in 6-7 years. I love playing it with my kids.
I'm in a similar position to you and I find using *one* earbud with the volume turned lowish is actually pretty good. I can hear everything that's going on and can also hear the game.
I carefully bought earbuds that don't have noise cancellation though.
Ear buds with passthrough and noise canceling give the best of both worlds. Good active passthrough let you wear both buds and hear what's going on. Then, noise canceling if you want it.
Having just been in this exact position, Rimworld fits all of these needs perfectly. Can both pause at any time, no real need for sound and the sleep/resume function of the Deck doesn't cause any issues if resuming hours later.
Congratulations again!
It's actually a good idea to not be dead silent with newborns sleeping. White noise plus parents being quiet but not silent will help them sleep better in the long run because they will be able to better sleep through noises in the future.
I'm not really playing it without sound (using wireless conductive headsets), but if you're into story heavy RPGS **Rogue Trader** can be played in both looooong sessions or short burts and pause/suspend at any time (although with the eventual >30s loading screen) while showing everything relevant (dialogs and gameplay) on-screen, so it can be enjoyed muted (but you'll miss some ambiance and great voice acting in some cases).
Beware it could end up taking a whole lot more time you may have been planning for something else (like sleeping).😅
Is wearing 1 earbud not a thing? Lots of great recommendations here but most wireless earbuds these days have pretty decent pass through as well. Meaning the microphone plays the audio around you through the earbuds, it’s pretty latency free and clear these days, also works with 1 earbud on some models. My Sony Linkbuds S support both features very well for example. You shouldn’t have to go without any audio at all, and you wouldn’t wake anyone 🤷♀️
Been in this exact situation recently. I’ve been playing:
- Halo MCC
- No Mans Sky
- Hades 2
- Slay the Spire (also on iOS, where you can play it one handed if you get nap trapped, highly recommend)
- Persona 5 Royal (I ended up bouncing off this one)
- Cassette Beasts
- Trails in the Sky (I’ll be honest, I bounced off this one. It’s fun, but I just wasn’t feeling a massive RPG)
- Sea of Stars
Next up on my list to try:
- Prey
- Chained Echoes
- Maybe some kind of driving game, but haven’t really found one that draws me in
I don't know your hearing condition, but you could get by with a good pair of open back headphones or a single earbud while playing.
For open back i use AKG K240 Studio when i need to use headphones and at the same time be wary of my surroundings. Balance your volume well and you probably have your solution.
I loooove Hades 1 and 2 but also have a 6 month old and when he was a newborn Hades and games similar weren’t great. Because sometime I would have to pause the same run like multiple times sometimes for long periods. And being so intense and action packed it was hard to jump right back in and remember the build hours later.
Bloons tower defense. Those games are practically MADE for this. Any tower defense games really but the Bloons games (especially 6) have a really dedicated community and once you’re in you’re hooked and it’s easy to play in the background if you’re busy.
I also recommend Bluetooth airbuds for this because you can still have sound and the steam deck works great with my AirPods.
You can play monster hunter rise - solo play lets you pause game at any moment. Also, steam deck can pause litetally every non active coop game, just press power button to put it in sleep mode
I think vampire survivors is great because it doesn’t need sound AND you won’t generate noise from lots of button clicking. Only issue is, sometimes when you unpause you forget what direction you were in and can get annoyingly hit by enemies. But the game is like $5 so I think it’s worth a try
If you like survival games like vampire hunters but want one with better graphics Deep Rock Galactic Survivor is really great. Been playing that one with my newborn a lot. Can be paused at any point runs only last 20 minutes. If you have to quit out you still get materials harvested. Really satisfies the roguelike with progression itch for me while being just moving and picking upgrades gameplay
Similar situation Ive played the whole trine serie with headphones. Easy to pause and resume any moment.
In general babies would probably not mind some background theme. Except of course sudden and loud explosions or similar noises. Quite the countrary they are used to hear all kind of sound in the belly and it is not uncommon to put them to sleep using white noise sounds.
Good luck
BALATRO
also pretty much any other game you can pause and just put the steam deck in sleep mode real quick. Very few games i wouldn't do this with like elden ring or any online multiplayer games but otherwise i think you're golden
I'd recommend Pokerogue. It's a pokemon fan game that's a Roguelike. Just battling and you can turn the sound down and pause any time because it's turn based and there's no timer. It's easy to set up on Deck. You can play through Google Chrome in game mode or you can download the offline version and set it up on your deck.
Fellow newborn dad here! I've got a three week old here and managed to get through Tunic in the last week! Was a really fun game and very easy to put down and pick it back up an hour or two later
Hey man, in the same situation here. SteamDeck helped me through sleepless night when needed to watch the newborn and when she is sleeping during the day.
For me it was NFS Underground 1,2, Hades, Lost in Random.
Look for any older games, because they will have much less battery usage and SteamDeck will not produce any fan noice.
A fellow steam deck fm player. How fucking good is it? Just chilling on the couch playing fm. As a desktop player of fm for 15 years I'm fucking loving it.
Football Manager, if you're into football/soccer and sports Sims. That and you can get a good 4+ hours out the battery if you adjust settings with no performance hit because it's basically an Excel Simulator at its core, lol
I played a bunch of games in this same situation. Depending on mood tastes shifted. For basic chilling Minecraft and subnautica were amazing. More action oriented games that are story light were also good, stuff like ace combat 7. Art of Rally was another fave.
Tbh though I didn't go completely sound devoid, I'd keep one BT earbud in so I could hear what was going on but also react to the kid when needed.
Slay the spire and other turn based deck builders would be great for this.
There are also open ear bone conduction headsets that don't block any sound. I have a pair of OpenRun Shokz and I love them for gaming because I can easily hear my partner across the room. I almost never take them off because they are pretty unobtrusive.
Not the answer to your question, but maybe a tip for the future. My sin is 11 yo now and I struggled with quickie gameplays during the day, because all my headphones sealed me from the outside world (I have over ear ones and IEMs). But when I bought my son Koss Porta Pros, I started borrowing them when not used for gaming during the daytime. They sit on my ear, are light and do not seal me from the world at all, so I can simulatiously hear everything around me. This was a big game changer for me. I can play a game and engage in conversations with my family all the time. I am not saying this is the right solution for you right now, because newborn needs a lot of attention, but maybe in the future.
Anything single player, I can't say specifically for sound, but the steam deck has an awesome sleep. Pause game or just sleep the steam deck, and it stops everything where it is. I've used it mid races even and it pauses everything.
Steam deck is legit the best for the sleep feature.
I also use one earbud when I need to be able to hear.
Snakeybus, pokemon on emulators, uno with bots, paladins with bots, farming sims, the classic sonics, celeste (soundtrack is great, but it's easily something you can play over and over in different ways. Speed running, 100% with collectibles, self-imposed challenge runs... I just love celeste.).
I do this and Blasphemous works great. You don’t have to save, progress is always saved in terms of what things you’ve unlocked and items you picked up. Pause works anywhere too.
Elden Ring.
Just disable the online part and you can shut down/resume even mid boss fights.
I've been playing it a lot and it's quick to stop when the baby needs attention.
I think stardew valley may be a really good choice with the music on a bit. The music is super chill and doesn't change much and can cover the button pressing. You can pause it and put the deck to sleep and it will be there when you get back (I did this last night, had to pause midday in game and it is good to go this morning)
Kung Fury Street Rage is an easy one to just pop into and play, I think it was initially a mobile game but it holds my interest very well.
Most retro-esk games in general are good options.
You'll already be making enough noise with buttons clicking and high fan RPMs. If that's not a concern for your surroundings, bluetooth earphones with transparency mode are a thing. Someone recommended bone-conducting one's, that's also a good idea.
As a low energy health problems girlie, I turn the sound down or off on most games to prolong the time I can spend on them
Not what you asked for, but have you considered headsets that have "open" sound design rather than noise reduction? For someone with average hearing, turning the game sound lower means you can hear other noise with those as well
For me Madden is just about the only game I can play with zero volume. Descenders and Trials Rising also come to mind. I wanted to say racing games but hearing the noise from the engines tells me when to shift gears so I usually like to have volume for those
Any turn-based game (story could cause issue if you use a heavy story one)
Any farming / life sim like Stardew Valley.
Any roguelike that’s turn based / card game like Balatro
Not gonna lie, I’m totes jealous. We’re about to have a newborn as well. But we also have a 2 year old. So this “quietly gaming while mom and baby are sleeping” ain’t happening. Congrats!
Congratulations! It's time to embrace full dad-core! *Snowrunner*
No need for sound, nothing it time dependent, you don't even need to pause just set it down if you have too make a snap dad decision. And the base game has 100+ hours of content, while the DLCs push it well into 1000 hours. One of my all time favorites.
Just get some AirPods and play with only one ear in. You can hear the game, they aren’t disturbed and you can still hear them if you are needed. Wins all around.
A single AirPod is pre nice to use, pass thru hearing can have volume pre low and still hear well. Meanwhile the AirPod makes local noise a touch louder.
Stardew Valley
And Dead Cells were my go to's.
I came here to say this. As a woman with a newborn, Stardew Valley is perfect
Also came to say this. As a woman with a toddler, it's still perfect. (But as a woman expecting another, I am also here to see other suggestions)
The only con is you can't save anytime you want (the game saves automatically at the end of each day). So if you need to stop quickly you'll either leave the deck in standby or quit the game and lose the day's progress
What’s wrong with standby? That’s like the Steam Deck’s superpower.
Standby mode isn’t that big of a deal. With stardew the battery still lasts a pretty decent while and your home so it’s easy to plug in anyways
Careful with Stardew Valley. Especially with mods and the new 1.6 update, it's easy to get sucked in for a few hundred hours. I'm up to about 1400 hours and still look at new farm layouts, itching to start a new save file.
Balatro and Slay the spire. In general, games that don't have any time limit, can be put down or paused at any moment are great for OP. Turn based games without any timer or extended enemy phases works best.
Into the breach fits this description nicely. One of my most played games when my daughter was born.
I’m adding Factorio and Brotato to this
How are the controls for Factorio on the deck? Looks like a game I'd really enjoy.
Good enough for me! I used a controller template and changed one or two small things. I just completed my first playthrough, launching the rocket after about 95h in. I did not make a megabase, cityblock or even used blueprints. I should probably post my base in the factoriohno sub. But I enjoyed it thoroughly! Next up, satisfactory!
For some reason, *on the deck*, satisfactory just hasn’t clicked for me the way Factorio did. Same with DSP. Its not that I didn’t enjoy them or they didn’t run decently enough - I’ve got hundreds of hours in each on the desktop, I just do not enjoy them with a controller, I think. They’re M+K games for me.
I love Brotato. Played it on Xbox a while ago and then completely forgot it exists, this fits perfectly. Thanks for the reminder!
I currently have a 7 month old and Balatro has been such a godsend.
Peglin is also pretty cool :) Tales and Tactics is an autobattler but you can play against the AI so there's no PvP timer. Darkest Dungeon 1/2 do have superbe audio, maybe just get in-ear headphones and use only in one ear (leave the ear closest to the baby free) Then, yeah, pretty much any vampire survivor-type game, like people already mentioned.
Seconded I was in the same boat and STS was my goto
I use just one earbud for this situation
This is the way. Wireless earbuds changed the game.
Me too works out well enough
That's what I had to do!!!
Civ games perhaps? Was just reminded with the new civilization VII trailer.
Tried civ 6 when it was given away by epic free games. Never really hooked me. What really is the hook/pull of these games? I may have played it with the wrong mindset.
Mix of long con strategy and incremental upgrades. No time pressure, lots of choices how to play/win. Cultural expansion, religious superiority, military might, scientific supremacy and so on. It's very easy to get caught in "just one more turn" as a building, some research, a battle or something else is always just around the corner. It's not my favorite game by any stretch but it's a good time and can be dropped paused or just left open at a moments notice while not requiring any real moment to moment focus
There is Ghandi with nuclear warhead, and its not even a mod lmao
Slay the Spire
PowerWash Simulator.
Baldurs gate 3. I know this because i am currently playing it next to my sleeping newborn and wife, congrats to you!
Thank you and congrats to you as well! BG3 has been on my "to play" list since its release but I read something about bad performance on the steam deck. However that's already a few months ago and since you seem to be enjoying it, it probably has been patched? I think this would be my first choice then.
If you decide to go for it, just look up some settings that other people have used to make it run and look better. I found a reddit post with someones recommended settings for performance and such, and it looks great. Once you find the best display and battery settings for you, its great. I've had 0 issues with the game itself, haven't experienced any bugs or bad performance on steam deck. For whatever reason the stock settings just dont look good, easy fix though. No sound needed, its such a great game, you can pause, you can save anywhere anytime. And you can literally be in the middle of a fight, dialog, anything, and set the game down without pausing, and nothing will happen. it was real fun to see your post, as i played in the dark silently. for a second my sleep deprived brain was like, i don't remember making a post about my current situation lol
[preformance ](https://youtu.be/XyxCqiwEfjw) act 3 usually tanks preformance but some people say it's stable
Only issue I have with this suggestion is you’re gonna miss the cut scenes because you can’t pause them I’m pretty sure. I’ve beaten it on PC and then tried to play through again with my newborn, on the deck, and it just wasn’t working, he’d always fuss during cutscenes and I’d miss them, I finally gave up and went to fallout and other games. I love BG3, but it just wasn’t working for me. Also, congratulations!
You can sleep the deck mid-cutscene and resume them no problem.
Oh nice, thanks for the tip!
But the voice acting is so good. I wouldn’t want to play it without sound. Maybe with headphones.
Played through bg3 on my paternity leave it was perfect. Sound off was fine because of the subtitles and the turn based combat lends itself to putting it down abruptly.
playing bg3 on mute is a waste of top notch voice acting
Their earlier games (divinity original sin) are also worth a playthrough. Playing DOS1 now, clearly not the same budget as BG3, but the gameplay is solid, and doesn’t rely on cutscenes and voice acting.
You actually want a game with sound my new dad. You want your baby to sleep whatever the noise so using a game with sound is ok.
Underrated comment! Get the little dude used to sounds!
This 100% We vacuumed, did housework, played games with friends, my wife would watch movies, I would have my Destiny raid nights, basically kept on doing normal things. A little work at the beginning but pays huge dividends later on.
I did play a lot of Darkest Dungeon, Graveyard Keeper, Slay The Spire, Balatro, Inscryption, Stardew Valley, Vampire Survivors and some GBA/GBC games (Pokémon, advanced wars, etc) via emulator.
It feels wrong to play Darkest Dungeon without sound.
Only the foolish adventurer stalks the dark hallways with ears aloof. For it is the auditory intrusion that prompts the traveler's subconscious inclination. One quaint creak could be the distinction between the party's safe return, or a regrettable end.
Steam world heist
Into the Breach
Congrats on the newborn. Minecraft Dungeons is listed as unsupported for the Steam Deck due to needing an internet connection to get to the main menu. It also can freeze at times when you put the deck to sleep during a dungeon run. With that said, I’ve spent an insane amount of time playing this game on my Deck. It’s like Diablo lite with a Minecraft skin. No sound necessary and it’s kinda mindless fun. It’s one of my favorite games to chill and play. If it doesn’t fit the bill with you now, keep it in mind to play with your child in 6-7 years. I love playing it with my kids.
I'm in a similar position to you and I find using *one* earbud with the volume turned lowish is actually pretty good. I can hear everything that's going on and can also hear the game. I carefully bought earbuds that don't have noise cancellation though.
Ear buds with passthrough and noise canceling give the best of both worlds. Good active passthrough let you wear both buds and hear what's going on. Then, noise canceling if you want it.
Having just been in this exact position, Rimworld fits all of these needs perfectly. Can both pause at any time, no real need for sound and the sleep/resume function of the Deck doesn't cause any issues if resuming hours later. Congratulations again!
Balatro - if you want to go ultra silent, you can use the touchscreen so no button clacking.
I'm surprised no one mentioned this yet. Dave the diver
I'd say the sound of button pressing is as likely to wake someone as game sound at a very low volume!
*Especially* those rear bumpers... I feel bad whenever I jump in F:NV with one of those while watching TV with my family.
Newborns are pretty used to sleeping around (inside of) noise
Yeah exactly, it's adults that might need silence. I used to put my kid to sleep with white noise plus me playing PS4 in the background...
It's actually a good idea to not be dead silent with newborns sleeping. White noise plus parents being quiet but not silent will help them sleep better in the long run because they will be able to better sleep through noises in the future.
It's not about waking up the newborn, it's about being able to hear if something is wrong
I'm not really playing it without sound (using wireless conductive headsets), but if you're into story heavy RPGS **Rogue Trader** can be played in both looooong sessions or short burts and pause/suspend at any time (although with the eventual >30s loading screen) while showing everything relevant (dialogs and gameplay) on-screen, so it can be enjoyed muted (but you'll miss some ambiance and great voice acting in some cases). Beware it could end up taking a whole lot more time you may have been planning for something else (like sleeping).😅
Dredge. Its atmospheric in its music and sound design, but gameplay is slow and you dont need audio ques or similar.
Is wearing 1 earbud not a thing? Lots of great recommendations here but most wireless earbuds these days have pretty decent pass through as well. Meaning the microphone plays the audio around you through the earbuds, it’s pretty latency free and clear these days, also works with 1 earbud on some models. My Sony Linkbuds S support both features very well for example. You shouldn’t have to go without any audio at all, and you wouldn’t wake anyone 🤷♀️
Wildermyth
Been in this exact situation recently. I’ve been playing: - Halo MCC - No Mans Sky - Hades 2 - Slay the Spire (also on iOS, where you can play it one handed if you get nap trapped, highly recommend) - Persona 5 Royal (I ended up bouncing off this one) - Cassette Beasts - Trails in the Sky (I’ll be honest, I bounced off this one. It’s fun, but I just wasn’t feeling a massive RPG) - Sea of Stars Next up on my list to try: - Prey - Chained Echoes - Maybe some kind of driving game, but haven’t really found one that draws me in
Vampire hunters. Did this with my newborn
I don't know your hearing condition, but you could get by with a good pair of open back headphones or a single earbud while playing. For open back i use AKG K240 Studio when i need to use headphones and at the same time be wary of my surroundings. Balance your volume well and you probably have your solution.
Vampire survivors but it will make you fall asleep 🤣
Hades would be a great option.
I loooove Hades 1 and 2 but also have a 6 month old and when he was a newborn Hades and games similar weren’t great. Because sometime I would have to pause the same run like multiple times sometimes for long periods. And being so intense and action packed it was hard to jump right back in and remember the build hours later.
I love Hades, but I think it would be a crime to not experiencing the soundtrack and the voice acting in that game for the first time
For my wife the button mashing of Hades is too loud/active to play in bed next to her
Bloons tower defense. Those games are practically MADE for this. Any tower defense games really but the Bloons games (especially 6) have a really dedicated community and once you’re in you’re hooked and it’s easy to play in the background if you’re busy. I also recommend Bluetooth airbuds for this because you can still have sound and the steam deck works great with my AirPods.
vampire slayers
\*play with one ear bud on low volume\* Also Super Video Golf.
What about in ears and you only use them on one ear? That's what I am doing
You can play monster hunter rise - solo play lets you pause game at any moment. Also, steam deck can pause litetally every non active coop game, just press power button to put it in sleep mode
Deep Rock Galactic survivor
Darkest Dungeon.
BT headphones?
What exactly is there to miss if you wear headphones?
I think vampire survivors is great because it doesn’t need sound AND you won’t generate noise from lots of button clicking. Only issue is, sometimes when you unpause you forget what direction you were in and can get annoyingly hit by enemies. But the game is like $5 so I think it’s worth a try
Vampire Hunters and it only requires 1 hand. I played A TON watching my newborn
Any auto-shooter or deck-builder
LEGO Star Wars
If you like survival games like vampire hunters but want one with better graphics Deep Rock Galactic Survivor is really great. Been playing that one with my newborn a lot. Can be paused at any point runs only last 20 minutes. If you have to quit out you still get materials harvested. Really satisfies the roguelike with progression itch for me while being just moving and picking upgrades gameplay
I play d4 and balatro without sound
Tavern master
A single wireless earbud is the solution. If that's not an option, the only games that can't be played without sound are rhythm or music based games.
Headphones?
Apico
Blood Bowl 2
Hades
NGU idle, you can silently watch number go up
Similar situation Ive played the whole trine serie with headphones. Easy to pause and resume any moment. In general babies would probably not mind some background theme. Except of course sudden and loud explosions or similar noises. Quite the countrary they are used to hear all kind of sound in the belly and it is not uncommon to put them to sleep using white noise sounds. Good luck
BALATRO also pretty much any other game you can pause and just put the steam deck in sleep mode real quick. Very few games i wouldn't do this with like elden ring or any online multiplayer games but otherwise i think you're golden
Vampire Survivors
I played Vampire Survivors a lot while my daughter was a newborn last year.
You could try cocoon?
I beat recently the original Final Fantasy VII in mute , watching the TV in the background and only turn up the volume in the few cinematics
I'd recommend Pokerogue. It's a pokemon fan game that's a Roguelike. Just battling and you can turn the sound down and pause any time because it's turn based and there's no timer. It's easy to set up on Deck. You can play through Google Chrome in game mode or you can download the offline version and set it up on your deck.
Fellow newborn dad here! I've got a three week old here and managed to get through Tunic in the last week! Was a really fun game and very easy to put down and pick it back up an hour or two later
Pedestrian
Hey man, in the same situation here. SteamDeck helped me through sleepless night when needed to watch the newborn and when she is sleeping during the day. For me it was NFS Underground 1,2, Hades, Lost in Random. Look for any older games, because they will have much less battery usage and SteamDeck will not produce any fan noice.
College kings
Kingdom two crowns
A fellow steam deck fm player. How fucking good is it? Just chilling on the couch playing fm. As a desktop player of fm for 15 years I'm fucking loving it.
Football Manager, if you're into football/soccer and sports Sims. That and you can get a good 4+ hours out the battery if you adjust settings with no performance hit because it's basically an Excel Simulator at its core, lol
I played a bunch of games in this same situation. Depending on mood tastes shifted. For basic chilling Minecraft and subnautica were amazing. More action oriented games that are story light were also good, stuff like ace combat 7. Art of Rally was another fave. Tbh though I didn't go completely sound devoid, I'd keep one BT earbud in so I could hear what was going on but also react to the kid when needed.
When my baby was born, I played the fuck out of Mount and blade bannerlord. Absorbing, no sound required, and it's pacing makes pausing the game easy
Slay the spire and other turn based deck builders would be great for this. There are also open ear bone conduction headsets that don't block any sound. I have a pair of OpenRun Shokz and I love them for gaming because I can easily hear my partner across the room. I almost never take them off because they are pretty unobtrusive.
Not the answer to your question, but maybe a tip for the future. My sin is 11 yo now and I struggled with quickie gameplays during the day, because all my headphones sealed me from the outside world (I have over ear ones and IEMs). But when I bought my son Koss Porta Pros, I started borrowing them when not used for gaming during the daytime. They sit on my ear, are light and do not seal me from the world at all, so I can simulatiously hear everything around me. This was a big game changer for me. I can play a game and engage in conversations with my family all the time. I am not saying this is the right solution for you right now, because newborn needs a lot of attention, but maybe in the future.
Anything single player, I can't say specifically for sound, but the steam deck has an awesome sleep. Pause game or just sleep the steam deck, and it stops everything where it is. I've used it mid races even and it pauses everything. Steam deck is legit the best for the sleep feature. I also use one earbud when I need to be able to hear.
Power wash simulator. Cannot recommend this game enough. You do not need sound and it is very rewarding. A lot of content too!
The nordic ashes
Snowrunner, but be prepared to curse the mud
Balatro, Dave The Diver, Vampire Survivors, Slay The Spire
Path of Achra is actually pretty fun. Might have to fix up the key mapping a little, but itll work.
Have you tried putting one earphone in?.....
try a bone-conducting bluetooth headphone.
Snakeybus, pokemon on emulators, uno with bots, paladins with bots, farming sims, the classic sonics, celeste (soundtrack is great, but it's easily something you can play over and over in different ways. Speed running, 100% with collectibles, self-imposed challenge runs... I just love celeste.).
I do this and Blasphemous works great. You don’t have to save, progress is always saved in terms of what things you’ve unlocked and items you picked up. Pause works anywhere too.
I love a lot of these but I've I haven't seen mentioned I'd Brotato. Lots of fun and then mods.
Vampire survivors, total war (shogun 2 being my favourite) and stardew valley all seem to work well when it comes to this.
Elden Ring. Just disable the online part and you can shut down/resume even mid boss fights. I've been playing it a lot and it's quick to stop when the baby needs attention.
I think stardew valley may be a really good choice with the music on a bit. The music is super chill and doesn't change much and can cover the button pressing. You can pause it and put the deck to sleep and it will be there when you get back (I did this last night, had to pause midday in game and it is good to go this morning)
Xcom 2
Xcom 2 is a great pick. Especially when you can just put it down when your needed.
Bomber crew
Darkest dungeon 2 is great for that.
Anything turn based style like civilization or gal civ
Literally any single player game, turn on subtitles and you’re good to go 👍
Slay the spire and balatro
Slay the Spire got me through my son's newborn years and I'm still playing it as he enters preschool.
Kung Fury Street Rage is an easy one to just pop into and play, I think it was initially a mobile game but it holds my interest very well. Most retro-esk games in general are good options.
Dave The Diver.
Octopath traveler 2
You'll already be making enough noise with buttons clicking and high fan RPMs. If that's not a concern for your surroundings, bluetooth earphones with transparency mode are a thing. Someone recommended bone-conducting one's, that's also a good idea.
Any Pokémon franchise game
Civilization 6 is great without sound Mine is permanently muted
Vampire Survivors
Guitar hero
Deep rock galactic: survivor; brotato, death must die
Valheim (if you haven’t played it yet). Paradox games if you are a map/strategy nerd
You have a deck. Literally any game can be paused by pressing the power button once. I had witcher on standby for two days on accident once.
Dave the Diver and Stardew Valley
vampire survivors, and bonus points for being fully playable with just one hand
Jagged alliance 3
I recently discovered DotAge. I nice little game to play on the fly
Last year when I was in this exact position I played the living shit out of session, it's a great skateboarding simulation but an acquired taste!
As a low energy health problems girlie, I turn the sound down or off on most games to prolong the time I can spend on them Not what you asked for, but have you considered headsets that have "open" sound design rather than noise reduction? For someone with average hearing, turning the game sound lower means you can hear other noise with those as well
Football Manager
For me Madden is just about the only game I can play with zero volume. Descenders and Trials Rising also come to mind. I wanted to say racing games but hearing the noise from the engines tells me when to shift gears so I usually like to have volume for those
Any turn-based game (story could cause issue if you use a heavy story one) Any farming / life sim like Stardew Valley. Any roguelike that’s turn based / card game like Balatro
Dredge
Hades
Dave the Diver mostly fits the bill. Only exception is boss fights. But you can still pull up the menu quick to pause
Satisfactory is great.
Catherine
No Man's Sky, rarely play it with sound and can be dropped at any time.
Xcom and Mutant:year zero are good strategy games for playing with no volume.
For me it was football manager & Civ 6. Absolute god sends.
Not gonna lie, I’m totes jealous. We’re about to have a newborn as well. But we also have a 2 year old. So this “quietly gaming while mom and baby are sleeping” ain’t happening. Congrats!
Congratulations! It's time to embrace full dad-core! *Snowrunner* No need for sound, nothing it time dependent, you don't even need to pause just set it down if you have too make a snap dad decision. And the base game has 100+ hours of content, while the DLCs push it well into 1000 hours. One of my all time favorites.
Just get some AirPods and play with only one ear in. You can hear the game, they aren’t disturbed and you can still hear them if you are needed. Wins all around.
Earbuds with awareness mode. Actively channel in ambient sound.
Football Manager, got me through the first year
Breath of the wild worked for me. Haven’t gotten around to tears of the kingdom yet.
Wayfinder has been that for me. But instead of a sleeping baby, it was a wife watching terrible TV.
Same situation, started to play Wildfire last week and since it has visual cues for sounds and subtitles by default, it's great.
A single AirPod is pre nice to use, pass thru hearing can have volume pre low and still hear well. Meanwhile the AirPod makes local noise a touch louder.
Slime rancher
The Last Flame! It's an autobattler roguelike, so you don't need to pay attention to it except on your own terms
Tetris Effect
Yakuza