What are some light-hearted, feel-good, comforting games to play on the deck?

Spiritfarer, it's the most chill game I've ever played.
Oh, yeah and Dredge, one of my favourite games.

If you like english humor, check out "Thank goodness your here". Alternatively "Tiny terry's turbo trip" or "Untitled goose game".
- Oh I remember playing the Goose game, will check out the British one, thanks!

I should preface this by saying I don't actually have a steam deck yet, so I haven't tested these on there. So I'm only commenting on the games themselves. These are listed as deck "verified" in the steam store, though.
One I haven't seen mentioned yet is Yoku's Island Express. Breezy summer vibes, not much difficulty. It's kind of a pinball metroidvania.
Tinykin is another game with a very cozy/low stakes feel. It's an exploration/collectathon platformer with cute environments made up of household objects.
Littlewood is a life sim sort of game, kind of like Stardew Valley, but it's extremely chill. There's no time limit or anything like that.
And others have mentioned these, but Toem, Alba, and Donut County are all very good and gentle games too.
Oh, and Tchia. That one has some dark moments at times, mostly in cutscenes, but when you're actually playing it's mostly gentle and island-y.
Maybe also Wuppo? It's a strange one. The story and humor and animation are pretty great in that one, but there are some boss fights that can get a little frustrating. It's mostly a fairly chill platformer, but then it's got kind of bullet-hell-adjacent bosses. I still really like the game, but it's not quite as purely relaxing as some of the others here.
Pikuniku is kind of in the same position as Wuppo, but I liked it a bit less. The humor feels a little more forced or stilted, and the frustrating bits are because the controls are kinda floaty. My niece really liked it when she was 8, though, so it had that going for it.
Hope this helps! I've been looking for this kind of game a lot the past few years

I recommend Cobalt Core. Super cute characters and story, and very satisfying even after completing the main quest. It and Balatro are currently my standing "twenty minutes on a lunch break" games.
- Or, you might want to go to the studio's original title, Sunshine Heavy Industries. It's pretty much just building spaceships out of legos.

My list of endorphin-boosting games:
Dorfromantik
Unpacking
A Little To The Left
Tiny Glade - though this one barely qualifies as a game
If you want something a little more gamified: Balatro is amazing and addictive.

The Last Campfire is like being read a bedtime story - its delightful

Lost in Play - adorable game about two siblings and their imagined adventure...or is it?
Tinykin - platform puzzler collectathon with zero enemies. Just cozy vibes.
Freshly Frosted - Want to feel personally encouraged by a soothing narrator while making donut machines?
Tiny Glade - make cute castles. That's it!
KeyWe - kiwi mail delivery. Literally.
The Were Cleaner - werewolf janitor.
Little Inferno - silly game where you burn things to get more things to burn. Also, Sugar Plumps!
A Hat in Time - puzzle platformer collectathon that's cute and creative
Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate - silly point and click adventure. Looks like I'm gonna have to jump...!
Hidden Through Time - Where's Waldo but more animated.
Thomas Was Alone - platformer where Thomas might not be as alone as he thinks (in a good way).
- thomas was alone is the most i've cried at rectangles
  
  Same. I should replay that one.
- Fantastic list, thank you!
- While Little Inferno is a great game, and starts light and breezy it turns pretty dark later on. May not be exactly what OP is looking for.

I expected to open this thread and see 30 recommendations for stardew valley but I don't see any. So stardew valley.

Cult of the Lamb
Vampire Survivors
Halls of Torment
- I didn't think of survivors games but they fit perfectly, thank you!

Monster Hunter series.

helltaker
Awaria is the second game by the same dev. I won’t lie, it is kinda high energy. Enemies chase you in real time around the tile board rather than it being a turn-based puzzle game. But I still find it fun and it has a lot of the same story vibes. Also there is an easy mode if you want a truly chill experience.

Because you mentioned Islanders, maybe Dorfromantik?
- Good idea, I'll reinstall it, thanks!

spec ops the line (just kidding)
I'm imagining someone cozying up with a blanket, a lap kitty, some tea, and the horrors of mankind.
- Casually dropping white phosphorus to relax

Journey to the Savage Planet is grossly underated: fun, simple game, just challenging enough and extremely well polished.
- Oh my gawd the person who did the commercials for that, Davyforce, is one of my favorite creators ever. He made the movie “Not4Sale: TV Sheroff and the Trailbuddies” and it’s one of my favorite movies ever. Every time I trip with someone new for the first time, I put it on without explaining anything. 100% success rate of laughing until we cry.
  
  Do you have a link to this movie?

20 mins till dawn Mario Mario kart Desk Job(it's more of a deck tutorial but funny)

Sayonara Wild Hearts. I love that game and often load it up when I'm feeling out of sorts.
- Fantastic game that does not get the love it deserves. I think it was on sale for a few bucks recently.
  I have an urge once or twice a year to play through the game again and it makes me cry every time. Just played it last week actually. Still have some of the music stuck in my head.
- Great music

Some great games being listed already! Here are some nobody mentioned yet: Hoa, Abzu, Toem and Donut County.
Take it easy and pace yourself with the depressing stuff. We’re all in this together.

I'm a huge fan of Mice Tea (nsfw), it's more comic than game (it's actually a choose-your-own-adventure) but I read it on my Deck <3
It's an erotic romance about a nerdy girl, a bookstore, and some magic tea that turns you into a furry. Tons of literal and metaphorical aftercare.
- TF me into a furry? Uhhhh how have I not played that yet

TOEM is usually the game that I suggest for this sort of genre. I got it from someone who had an extra key from a humble bundle, and in hindsight I wish I bought it because they deserve the money.

I would recommend grabbing this bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/safe-in-our-world-charity-bundle-2025 It's got a kinda weird mix of games, but a lot of the games are great and several are fantastic for what you're asking. Of particular note:
Edit: unfortunately that bundle is out of stock, and I just realized it. Sorry. My recommendation for the following games is still valid though:
Little Kitty Big City - play as a cat doing cat things and exploring a japanese city. Very chill, fun animal characters, real fun experience.
Thank Goodness You're Here - very well animated adventures in a british town. Less of a game and more of an experience, but very enjoyable.
- Too bad, but I'll check the games individually, thank you!

Various levels of puzzle/chill:
A little to the left
Viewfinder
Unpacking
Bonfire peaks
Moncage
Chronescher
Humanity
Superliminal
Manifold garden
Gridroad
Dredge?
Far (lone sails and the second one)?
Vampire therapist (maybe)
- Dredge is great on the deck!
  
  One of my favourite games
- Thank you!
  
  Probably would recommend avoiding dredge XD

Have you considered Snowrunner, Farming Simulator and American/Euro truck simulator? All games capable of unplugging your brain for a while. Just remember to manually set Proton if you play either truck sim, they have a terribly unoptimized Linux native version that runs poorly on the Deck.
- Also, if I am allowed to do some absolutely shameless self promotion: Bus Simulator 21 is verified, and 18 is playable.
- Just remember to manually set Proton if you play either truck sim
  How do I do this? Is it the compatibility setting?
  
  Yep! Just pick any Proton, and it’ll work… my favorite is experimental as it’s always updated, but the latest one is fine, same if you want to use proton GE.
- No wonder it was so laggy on Bazzite. So I should download the Windows version, I guess.

Someone else mentioned Superliminal, and I second that recommendation. Very cool puzzles, very nice message.

Sable - but you'll want to use protontricks to install dxvk
Stonefly
Far - 1 & 2 are both good, but I still prefer the first one
Vane
Lightmatter

- Can absolutely vouch for Chuzzke Deluxe. Only problem I have with it now is that last I checked, some of the settings don't work if you are on Linux and using proton. Mainly just the setting for windowed mode, if I remember correctly. But that's a minor thing considering how cheap the game is on Steam.
  Edit:
  It's $4.99USD, so it's not really that expensive, but I for some reason thought it was a slightly lower price. Still recommended if you don't mind spending that little amount to pick it up.
  
  oh yeah it is more of a 2$ game

terra nil
what the golf

Fields of Mystria is a Stardew-like that plays excellently on the steam deck!

Night in the Woods felt very comforting to me. Its not really the "cozy game. For me it felt more like the movie Juno. Cool and funny characters getting along with some everyday and some harsh toppics. Combined with a cool artstyle and soundtrack.
- Night in the Woods is so god damn good. Heartbreaking what happened with the dev, though.
  
  Yeah : A real tragedy

Check out Natsu-Mon: 21st Century Summer Kid. It’s not Deck verified, but it’s platinum on ProtonDB, so it should work. I played it on Linux (albeit not on Deck) with no issue.
You just get to be a kid in the summer in a small Japanese town. I grieved when it was over because I wouldn’t get to see all the friends I had made anymore or go fishing or hunt treasure or catch bugs…
So wholesome!

Unpacking (if mouse control via touch pads is ok for you)

UFO 50 and Star of Providence!

What I've played on my Deck over the last months and would consider more of the type of games you listed:
Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip
Paper Trail
Smushi Come Home
Little Kitty, Big City
Slash Quest
Haven Park
Loddlenaut
Edit: Formatting

Try out Loddlenaut or Toem!

Don’t think I saw these mentioned so here ya go:
Little Kitty, Big City
Any of the Atelier games if you don’t mind anime, though the upcoming one may not be as relaxing in terms of its story.
Timberborn, though some might feel stressed about handling droughts. You can turn the difficulty down and it’ll just be a cute diorama where you build a city (or cities) with beavers.
And this is extra but grab your friends and family and play some couch co-op. It can help get your mind off things and just enjoy being in company of loved ones.
Aand if you want to eventually find something that will keep you hopeful in the face of despair, in a healthy way, I recommend the first part of Honkai Impact 3rd. It’s long, has lots of depressing moments, enough to make fans call it Depression Impact. The story touches on themes of existential horror, suicide, duty, death of loved ones, humans who have no morals and believe that all rights and wrongs as transient, cosmological threats, etc. Despite all that, I’d actually say that it’s a story about hope, and what can lay the foundations for hope. It’s definitely fan-service-y, and it’s a gacha game, but very much ignorable and playable without investing any money in it. It’s also made by a Chinese company, but maybe that can help with recalibrating perceptions on Chinese people, instead of what we’ve come to know through their government. Of course, if you’re susceptible to gambling addictions, please feel free to ignore this recommendation.

I've been playing Keep Driving quite a bit. Fun game and great on deck.

Coffee talk might be a good one

Doronko Wanko is a short free game with a funny name about being a dog and making a mess

Cat fishing (maybe it's called fishing with cat?) glad you already did for detective, cat quest 1-3, trine is pretty laid back, Thomas was alone, undertale,

Reus2 has been most of my deck commuting playtime if I'm honest. Great little game with endless replayability.
- Never heard of it, sounds fun!

Transport fever 2 is very chill.
- Thanks for the suggestion!

The rookie

Smushi Come Home is a good one. You play as a little mushroom trying to find the way back home. It kinda has a similar vibe to A Short Hike

I've only played the demo, but Caravan SandWitch has a cozy vibe and seems very chill.
- Oh, and Harold Halibut. It's stop-motion and heavy on character interaction, with a story that keeps the action mild (on a level with a kid's TV show). A very calm protagonist. Aside from the visual style, all those things are reasons that it got mixed reviews, but could fit what you want.
  I had trouble with very long loading times on the deck sometimes, but it's a slow-paced game, so I didn't even mind too much.

Not sure if this qualifies but I enjoy Catherine: Full Body on the steam deck. It’s kind of a cozy game.

A few more not mentioned. All of them are games where you can play and your in-game choices are small.
A Good Snowman is Hard to Build
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
Hexologic
Harmony's Odyssey
Luna's Fishing Garden

Ill give you some more fast paced than the other recommendations. Games that really suck me in for hours zoned out.
Nova Drift helped me zone out for hours and is good on the steam deck. It's an Asteroids style game. It's just shoot up fun with more upgrades the longer you survive.
Crab Champions is a silly shooter with the same basic recipe. Survive, get upgrades. It's silly though because you are a crab, fighting other crabs. It's fun.
Comedy option - Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. Face your life frustrations head on and play a game designed to make you angry.