Aperture Desk Job isn't exactly a new Portal game, but it's on Steam Deck

What you need to know

• The Steam Deck handheld gaming system is now out in the wild and in the hands of players.
• To showcase the capable console, Valve is releasing Aperture Desk Job, a free playable short designed specifically for Steam Deck.
• The title is set in the Portal universe, complete with the franchise's classic tongue-in-cheek humor, but is absolutely not Portal 3.
• The free game is releasing on Steam and for Steam Deck on Mar. 1, 2022.

February is proving to be a hectic month for the video game industry, with multiple high-profile releases scattered throughout the four short weeks. On Friday, Valve released its long-awaited Steam Deck handheld gaming console, which pairs surprisingly powerful hardware and custom Linux software the portability pioneered by the Nintendo Switch. At the same time, Valve announced a new game designed specifically for its brand-new hardware.

Aperture Desk Job is a "playable short" (read: very small game) built from the ground up to showcase the Steam Deck, to the point where it doesn't even support mouse and keyboard input. It's probably not the most exciting of February's game releases, but Aperture Desk Job is set in the legendary Portal universe (no, it's not Portal 3). The game's trailer and descriptions strongly feature the franchise's infamous tongue-in-cheek humor and writing. To help matters further, Aperture Desk Job is completely free.

While it's almost certainly not joining our list of best PC games, the combination of a free price tag and Portal-esque humorous writing make for a winning combination. Aperture Desk Job officially releases on Mar. 1, 2022.

In our Steam Deck review, we concluded that Valve's latest foray into gaming hardware is "a brilliantly designed and remarkably capable portable gaming device that redefines the way players can enjoy their Steam libraries." If you're among the first to secure a Steam Deck, or you're considering purchasing a Steam Deck, Aperture Desk Job may make the perfect first experience to ease into this ambitious handheld console's capabilities.