Is Tales of Kenzera: Zau Steam Deck compatible?

Metroidvanias feel like a perfect fit on the Steam Deck because they’re so easy to play on the go, but it’s always tricky to know if a game is compatible.

Surgent Studios’ debut title Tales of Kenzera: Zau is a striking title that uses the Metroidvania genre as an engine through which to tell a touching story that aims to help players process their feelings and experience the influences of many African cultures along the way. It looks visually stunning and exactly like a game I’d love to download to my Steam Deck on day one so I can play through wherever I have to go. But compatibility is key.

Is Tales of Kenzera: Zau Steam Deck compatible?

Yes, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is Steam Deck compatible. While it wasn’t initially, once the game’s demo hit Steam during February 2024’s Steam Next Fest, it was quickly brought up to standard so that it ran on the Steam Deck. The demo is still available on Steam, so any Steam Deck owners can give it a try for themselves to see how it runs before purchasing. That green tick counts for a lot, though.

What are the best Steam Deck settings for Tales of Kenzera: Zau?

At the time of writing, a couple of weeks before Tales of Kenzera: Zau‘s release date, it’s hard to say exactly what the best settings for running the game will be. The best course of action, in my experience, is to load up the game first and see if there are any hiccups without tweaking the settings at all. From there, you can lower them if the framerate suffers or increase them to get a better visual experience, provided the gameplay doesn’t stutter or degrade because of that increase.

According to users who joined in with a Reddit AMA with Surgent Studios’ founder Abubakar Salim, the performance of the game’s demo can vary. I’ve seen reports of it being caught between 30 to 60 FPS before falling to as low as 15 FPS. It’s unclear if this was before the game’s Steam Deck verification or after.

The fact that Surgent Studios promoted the podcast where Abubakar Salim speaks about getting Tales of Kenzera: Zau Steam Deck verified shows the company is proud of the work it has done for this platform. This makes me confident that it should run well upon release, but I’ll update this section of the article with the best settings I can get as soon as the game is in my hands.