Utilities hidden gems on Steam

Every game here is tagged Utilities on Steam, sits between 1,000 and 5,000 reviews, is rated at least 80% positive, and carries a catch drawn from its own negative reviews. All 19 of them. How these pages are made.

EVGA Precision X1

81% positive from 4,826 reviews2014Deck Unsupported

This is a PC utility software for overclocking and monitoring EVGA graphics cards. It offers real-time performance tuning and visual customization for gamers.

The catchThe software has been abandoned for years and breaks with current drivers and Windows.

Games like EVGA Precision X1 →

Chill Pulse

96% positive from 4,781 reviews202423% finish itDeck Playable

This is a productivity app with ambient environments and integrated tools. It features a Pomodoro timer and unlockable content for focused work.

What players likedPlayers praise "Chill Pulse" as a motivating productivity tool with aesthetic appeal and helpful study features.

The catchIt eats a huge share of CPU and battery despite barely anything happening on screen.

Games like Chill Pulse →

Borderless Gaming

81% positive from 4,616 reviews2015Deck Unsupported

A utility that forces any game into borderless fullscreen with saved per-game profiles, adds a GPU effect and upscaling pipeline, and rewindows old titles that only run fullscreen.

What players likedPlayers praise it as an intuitive app that makes unplayable games, like Ultra Street Fighter 4 and EA Sports PGA Tour, work flawlessly in borderless mode.

The catchThe UI rework buried the basic borderless toggle and broke what used to work.

Games like Borderless Gaming →

OVR Toolkit - Desktop Overlay

87% positive from 3,352 reviews2019Deck Unsupported

This is a VR utility that lets you view and interact with your desktop within virtual reality. It features window management and a virtual keyboard for seamless desktop use in VR.

What players likedPlayers praise its helpfulness, responsiveness to feedback, and useful watch interface, despite some features being available in SteamVR.

The catchRecent updates left a clunky UI where windows freeze, fail to open or reset themselves.

Games like OVR Toolkit - Desktop Overlay →

Bigscreen Beta

85% positive from 3,238 reviews2016

Virtual reality social platform for watching media and playing games together. It offers shared desktop screens, a video player, and customizable virtual screens for immersive experiences.

What players likedPlayers praise Bigscreen Beta as a virtual watch party experience akin to a cinema or home setting.

The catchCrashes or refuses to launch through SteamVR often enough to be unusable.

Games like Bigscreen Beta →

SAO Utils: Beta

88% positive from 3,032 reviews20183% finish itDeck Unsupported

This is a customizable 3D app launcher with a slide-to-launch mechanic. It offers desktop widgets and stereo web browsing for a virtual desktop experience.

What players likedPlayers say it's like a highly customizable desktop overlay, praised for its immersive anime interface and functional widgets.

The catchLarge parts of the interface stay untranslated, leaving English users guessing.

Games like SAO Utils: Beta →

YoloMouse - Cursor Changer

92% positive from 2,905 reviews2020Deck Unsupported

YoloMouse is a utility that lets you customize your computer cursor with various effects and designs. It's useful for gaming, productivity, and presentations, offering a personalized and enhanced visual experience.

What players likedPlayers praise it as an essential tool for ARPGs and other games, making the cursor visible and customizable to prevent in-game deaths.

The catchSupport is patchy, failing outright or glitching the display in plenty of games.

Games like YoloMouse - Cursor Changer →

Controller Companion

90% positive from 2,644 reviews2015Deck Unsupported

Controller Companion is a PC utility that lets you control your desktop and media with a gamepad. It offers mouse, keyboard, and media playback control from the couch.

What players likedPlayers praise it as a perfect tool for couch gaming, offering customizable controller functions for non-Steam games and mouse replacement.

The catchAbandoned by the developer, so it breaks with Windows updates and support never comes.

Games like Controller Companion →

Stream Avatars

95% positive from 2,451 reviews2017Deck Unsupported

Interactive overlay for streamers. Viewers can attack each other on screen, with customizable avatars and community content.

What players likedPlayers praise Stream Avatars for its interactive, customizable characters that make streams feel more alive and fun for viewers.

The catchThe interface is clunky and confusing, turning simple setup and tweaks into a chore.

Games like Stream Avatars →

Discord Bot Maker

86% positive from 2,412 reviews201726% finish itDeck Unsupported

This is a visual programming tool for creating Discord bots. It uses a drag-and-drop interface to build bots based on commands and events.

The catchOfficial Discord support staff mock and belittle beginners who ask for help.

Games like Discord Bot Maker →

Ropukas Idle Island

95% positive from 2,352 reviews2025Deck Playable

This is a desktop idle game where you manage a frog's garden by cutting grass for upgrades and decoration. It offers a relaxing, co-working experience with lofi and ambient audio options.

What players likedPlayers praise it as a true, non-interactive idle game, like a comforting background companion with great customization and music.

The catchAlmost nothing to do beyond buying upgrades, and progression slows to a crawl.

Games like Ropukas Idle Island →

fpsVR

97% positive from 2,338 reviews2018Deck Unsupported

This is a SteamVR utility that displays performance metrics in-game. It allows users to adjust SteamVR settings and track headset cable twist.

What players likedPlayers say fpsVR is like "ovr toolkit" and "ovr advanced settings" combined, praising its performance monitoring and post-game results.

The catchThe overlay refuses to appear in a lot of games, especially Oculus API titles.

Games like fpsVR →

FPS Monitor – hardware in-game & desktop overlays

83% positive from 2,264 reviews2018Deck Unsupported

This is a PC utility that displays hardware performance data as an in-game overlay. It provides real-time monitoring of system components and alerts for critical conditions.

What players likedPlayers praise FPS Monitor as a comprehensive hardware overlay, similar to MSI Afterburner and GPU-Z, for displaying in-game stats.

The catchThe overlay often fails to appear in games or crashes them when it does.

Games like FPS Monitor – hardware in-game & desktop overlays →

[Unsupported] GameMaker Studio 2 Desktop

81% positive from 2,257 reviews2017Deck Unsupported

This is a 2D game development tool. It offers drag-and-drop and coding options for creating games.

The catchBuyers of the lifetime licence were later pushed into paying for a subscription.

Games like [Unsupported] GameMaker Studio 2 Desktop →

Clickteam Fusion 2.5

88% positive from 2,022 reviews2013Deck Unsupported

This is a game development tool that uses a drag-and-drop event editor for rapid prototyping. It allows users to create games and apps without traditional coding, offering a user-friendly and flexible creative experience.

What players likedPlayers praise Clickteam Fusion 2.5 as a simple, easy-to-use engine, comparable to the one used for "Five Nights at Freddy's," allowing them to build their game ideas.

The catchBadly outdated for the price, with core features locked behind expensive paid add-ons.

Games like Clickteam Fusion 2.5 →

Standable: Full Body Estimation

80% positive from 1,685 reviews2023

This is a VR software that uses headset data to estimate full body tracking. It enhances existing 3-point tracking for more natural movement and versatile poses.

What players likedPlayers praise Standable as a great, affordable full-body tracking alternative, especially for VRChat, making avatar movements more natural and smooth.

The catchThe leg and body estimation is jittery and inaccurate rather than smooth.

Games like Standable: Full Body Estimation →

XSOverlay

86% positive from 1,584 reviews2020Deck Unsupported

Desktop overlay application for VR. Access and interact with your desktop or apps within VR.

The catchIt breaks itself every few months, needing restarts or config deletion to work again.

Games like XSOverlay →

Wallpaper Maker （造物主视频桌面）

83% positive from 1,527 reviews2019

This is a desktop customization tool that lets users set videos as their wallpaper. It supports many video formats for a dynamic desktop experience.

What players likedPlayers praise "Wallpaper Maker" as a free, easy-to-use alternative to Wallpaper Engine, offering beautiful live wallpapers and support for custom videos.

The catchThe interface stays in Chinese and downloading wallpapers demands a Baidu account.

Games like Wallpaper Maker （造物主视频桌面） →

ScreenPlay

80% positive from 1,458 reviews2021

An open source desktop app rather than a game, running video, web or QML wallpapers and widgets. It pulls content from the Steam Workshop and supports 4K, HDR and ultra-widescreen displays.

The catchIt crashes constantly and often fails to set the wallpaper at all.

Games like ScreenPlay →

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