I've never used Steam before. Is there a way to sort games based on system requirements? I'm thinking about repurposing an older laptop so my kid can play a couple of basic games. I know it doesn't have the horsepower for most of the new games, but it's been a really long time since I played games on anything other than console. Do you need all the bells and whistles for pretty much all the games now?

Steam does not have anything like that.

System requirements vary so much by age of the game but also scale and scope of the game it's hard to just make a blanket statement that all the bells and whistles are required.

If you're wanting the newest AAA releases there is a good chance the game won't run well or at all on a significantly older laptop. Currently I am running a 3 year old Lenovo Flex for my steam computer but it almost exclusively runs games that are >5 years old.

If you're looking at older games I'd also look at GoG.com which will redo older games to work on modern PCs.

My sisters purchased a Steam Deck OLED for my son as a birthday gift. I'm not familiar with how Steam works since I have never used it, and have a few questions:

• Do I need to worry about parental controls? He just turned 14 and I want to make sure he doesn't access anything he shouldn't.
• How large are the game files? He has a 1TB system, and I wonder if I need to get a memory card just in case.
• What are some good games to download?

TIA

I would recommend setting parental controls. There are some adult themed games (sex, violence, etc.) that he could stumble into.

1TB should be enough for the early going (definitely until Christmas) and by that time you could find some deals on compatible memory cards.

Steam library is VAST. From puzzles, to FPS, to strategy. I'd suggest downloading the steam client on your desktop and logging in that way to first set parental controls. Steam gives you some handy options of what games you like and will refresh weekly some recommended games (some free - most are not).

There are a number of us on here that have an enormous catalog of games we purchase on sale, but we just never get around to it. Been a steam user for (just checked my profile badge) 19 years here.

Regarding parental controls review this:
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6B1A-66BE-E911-3D98

Game sizes are going to vary considerably. Some are going to be >100 GB each. Some are going to be considerably smaller.