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The October 8, 2026 roundup from Steam Deck HQ (written by Noah Kupetsky) lists 20 free-to-claim games and four DLC entries. They come from Steam giveaways, Epic Games Store, GOG and Amazon Prime Gaming. Thirteen of the games are in sections where the roundup marks Prime membership as required, and most of those copies land in a non-Steam store library. Check each deadline before you claim, because this kind of list changes weekly and the earliest dated deadline in it is October 12 (Pony Island, on Steam).
Three kinds of “free” and where each copy lands
The word “free” covers three different offers, and they follow different rules.
Steam giveaways
Five games appear in the roundup’s Steam section: Spooky Cats, Pony Island, Oil Sheik, Inverta and Down the Rabbit Hole Flattened. Spooky Cats is a Fanatical giveaway, and the roundup asks readers to redeem it as soon as possible. Oil Sheik and Inverta are also listed as “ASAP.” These are the only offers in the list that are presented as Steam-library claims.
Epic Games Store and GOG offers
Some games are free to claim on Epic Games Store or GOG without a Prime membership. Others in those same sections are marked as requiring an Amazon Prime account. The table below shows which is which, game by game.
#1 Best Overall
- 1TB NVMe SSD
- 1280 x 800 HDR OLED display with premium anti-glare etched glass, 7.4" Diagonal display size up to 90Hz refresh rate
- Wi-Fi 6E
- 50Whr battery; 3-12 hours of gameplay (content-dependent)
- Carrying case with removable liner
Amazon Prime Gaming
Amazon describes Prime Gaming as a benefit included with Amazon Prime and Prime Video. It gives access to selected games at no additional cost. Amazon’s UK help page warns that offers may vary by country, so a title in the roundup may not appear for every Prime member. Whether a claimed game stays in your library if your Prime membership lapses is not addressed in the sources behind this article. Check Amazon’s current terms before you rely on that.
Claiming a game from Epic, GOG or Amazon does not add a copy to your Steam library. Those games are managed by the store or app that issued them, and Steam Deck compatibility has to be assessed separately (see below).
Rank #2
- International (UK) Version
- 7.4” diagonal, HDR OLED, 1280 x 800 x RGB, up to 90Hz Refresh rate, High performance touch, <0.1 ms Response time, 1,000 nits peak brightness (HDR), 600 nits (SDR)
- SteamOS 3.0 (Arch-based)
- 512GB NVMe SSD, 16GB LPDDR5 on-board RAM (5500 MT/s quad 32-bit channels), microSD UHS-I supports SD, SDXC and SDHC
- 6 nm AMD APU, CPU: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32
Claim windows for every game in the October 8 roundup
Deadlines and labels below are as the October 8, 2026 roundup reported them. They are not a live guarantee. A “Steam Deck label” is the roundup’s reading of Valve’s compatibility rating, not a test performed for this article.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware match| Game | Where it is listed | Deadline (as reported) | Prime required? | Steam Deck label (as reported) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spooky Cats | Steam giveaway (Fanatical) | Redeem ASAP | Not marked in roundup | Not labeled in roundup |
| Pony Island | Steam giveaway | October 12 | Not marked in roundup | Not labeled in roundup |
| Oil Sheik | Steam giveaway | ASAP | Not marked in roundup | Unsupported |
| Inverta | Steam giveaway | ASAP | Not marked in roundup | Not labeled in roundup |
| Down the Rabbit Hole Flattened | Steam giveaway | ASAP | Not marked in roundup | Not labeled in roundup |
| Out of Sight | Epic Games Store | October 15 | Not marked in roundup | Verified |
| TerraScape | Epic Games Store | October 15 | Not marked in roundup | Playable |
| Drop Duchy | Epic section, Amazon-linked | October 14 | Yes | Playable |
| Botany Manor | Epic section, Amazon-linked | October 14 | Yes | Verified |
| RiMS Racing | Epic section, Amazon-linked | October 21 | Yes | Unsupported |
| Hue | Epic section, Amazon-linked | October 28 | Yes | Playable |
| High on Life | Epic section, Amazon-linked | October 28 | Yes | Verified |
| Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit | Epic section, Amazon-linked | November 4 | Yes | Verified |
| DOOM + DOOM 2 | GOG | October 14 | Yes | Verified |
| Zoria: Age of Shattering | GOG | October 28 | Yes | Playable |
| Weakless | GOG | October 28 | Yes | Playable |
| DOOM (2016) | GOG | November 4 | Yes | Verified |
| Conarium | GOG | November 11 | Yes | Playable |
| WarBreeds | GOG | January 8, 2027 | Yes | Not labeled in roundup |
| Havendock | Amazon Prime section | October 28 | Yes | Playable |
The four DLC entries in the Steam section are Gear.Club Unlimited 3, MXGP 26, Rotwood and World of Warships. The coverage used for this article gives no deadline or Deck label for them, so check each listing before you claim.
Rank #3
- Operating System: SteamOS 3.0
The deadlines are a snapshot. The preceding roundup, dated September 10, carried a different set of games and deadlines, so a saved list goes stale quickly.
How to read the Steam Deck labels
The roundup uses four labels: Verified, Playable, Unsupported and Unknown. Valve says its compatibility review is ongoing and that ratings may change. Two cautions apply to every label in the table.
Rank #4
- Valve is entering the gaming console marketplace with the new Steam Deck, a console geared towards PC gamers. The Steam Deck can be docked to a monitor, and used as a PC, or docked to a TV.
- Players can play a huge variety of games at any time with the comfort of a console and the freedom of a PC. Not anti-glare screen.
- Like the name suggests, the Steam Deck will include upgraded 1TB storage, and will include a carrying case. A micro SD slot will also enable expanded storage.
- Valve partnered with AMD to create a specialized APU optimized for handheld gaming, and Valve says the chip will deliver performance to run AAA gaming titles.
- The Steam Deck is outfitted with a 7-inch touchscreen, and two trackpads under the control sticks that allow gamers to operate games never designed outside of mouse and keyboard capabilities.
- The label describes the Steam release. An independent report published September 23, 2026 (Digital Citizen) explains that a Deck rating is a proxy for a copy redeemed through another store. It is not a certification of that separate build.
- “Unknown” and “not labeled” mean no rating was available to report, not that a game is incompatible.
Running non-Steam copies on your Deck
SteamOS, Linux and Proton
Valve describes SteamOS as Linux-based and says it includes Proton, a compatibility layer that can run games without the developer porting them. Valve’s FAQ says non-Steam games can run through Proton. That makes these offers playable in principle, but it does not guarantee that every game, launcher or redeemed build behaves the same way. No hands-on testing of these specific offers was done for this article.
When the Amazon Games app is required
Amazon’s claim guide says many games are offered through GOG, Epic Games Store, Legacy Games or the Amazon Games app. It also says some claimed PC games require installing the Amazon Games app. Read the claim instructions for each game before you assume it will install through another store.
Offline play
Valve says installed games can be played offline unless a specific game requires an internet connection. Confirm that requirement in the game’s listing before a trip without connectivity.
Quick Recap
Battery and storage on the Deck
- Battery: Valve gives a manufacturer estimate of approximately 7 to 8 hours for lighter use, such as game streaming, smaller 2D games or web browsing. The Valve page does not state a year for the figure. It is not a measured result for any game in this roundup.
- Storage: Valve’s FAQ says the Deck supports microSD cards and formats them for its own use. A card is optional and is only useful if your library is outgrowing the internal storage.
When a claim does not go as expected
- The Prime-linked game does not appear for your account: Amazon says offers may vary by country. Confirm your Prime membership is active and that your account region matches the offer’s region.
- The game is labeled Unsupported: The roundup marks Oil Sheik and RiMS Racing this way. Treat the claim as an experiment, and read the store’s refund or return terms before you install.
- The game is labeled Playable or Verified but will not launch: Check whether it is a Steam-release label applied to a different build. If the game came from GOG, Epic or Amazon, look for store-specific install notes first, then check whether the Amazon Games app is required.
- The deadline has passed: The dates reflect the October 8 roundup. Once a claim window closes, check the store directly for a newer offer rather than relying on an older list.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
