I have to wonder why Aperture Desk Job doesn't just come built into the Steam Deck. The game provides an excellent onboarding to the portable machine and is a must play for new owners. I only found out about it through word of mouth, though, as you have to search for and download it on the Steam Store yourself, and only on the store page does it say that it is a Steam Deck demo app -- I thought it was some Portal gag-spin-off at first.

It's a very welcome introduction to Valve's new gadget. The premise is simple: you're an Aperture employee tasked with certifying the company's products. You're assisted by a robot called Grady, who quickly develops ambitions of climbing the corporate ladder and drags you along with him. It's a short (30 minutes) experience that boasts incredible production values, and will walk you through all of the Steam Deck's functionality, from "what are all the buttons on it" to "how to open the virtual keyboard in-game".

It's great when console manufacturers do this sort of thing, like Nintendo bundling Wii Sports with the Wii and the AR stuff with the 3DS, or Sony adding the Welcome Park to the Vita. With the gains from generational leaps getting ever smaller, getting a new console doesn't have the same spark as it once did -- "new machine that does previously unthinkable things" has given way to "new machine does the same as previous machine, probably even shares much of the same games, but performs slightly better". Having these demo apps helps give a bit more personality to the new toy, and Aperture Desk Job is brimming with character.