Manor Lords, the brand-new medieval city-builder has taken Steam by storm, but does this indie-hit perform well on Steam Deck?
Manor Lords has become a surefire hit since it landed on Steam. The medieval strategy city-builder became the fifth most-played game on the platform when it was released into Early Access on April 26.
Typically, city-builders and the Steam Deck aren’t a match made in handheld heaven. Yet, so long as you can handle using the trackpad, Manor Lords is one of the best city-building experiences available on the Steam Deck.
Can you play Manor Lords on Steam Deck?
Manor Lords is playable on the Steam Deck, but Valve hasn’t fully verified the game due to some functionalities not being accessible with the default Steam Deck controls.
Manor Lords is currently playable on the Steam Deck, though it isn’t fully verified. According to Valve, testing the city-builder on the device revealed that some in-game functionality wasn’t accessible with the default Steam Deck controls. Occasionally, some gameplay requires the use of the Steam Deck’s touchscreen display or built-in keyboard.
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The Manor Lord’s Steam page also indicates that non-Steam Deck icons will appear, and some in-game text may be illegible on the handheld display. That should come as no surprise, as city-builders tend to be very detailed and can be hard to navigate on a small handheld screen.
However, Manor Lords performs well on the go despite other notable city-builders, like Cities Skylines 2 not running well on the Steam Deck at launch. According to Steam Deck Gaming, capping Manor Lords to 30 FPS through the Steam Deck, and Manor Lord in-game settings, creates stable performance, whether you’re zoomed out or at street level in-game. The only caveat is having to get used to using a trackpad when transforming your medieval village.
Manor Lords only requires 15 GB of install space on the Steam Deck. However, with the game still in Early Access, it’s more than likely its storage requirement could get more demanding over time.
Picking up one of the best microSD cards for Steam Deck will ensure you have plenty of storage to install Manor Lords. Especially if you haven’t yet upgraded the SSD, or managed to add the 1TB Steam Deck OLED to your gaming setup.
