Most Steam app updates aren’t that interesting, but Valve is new beta for the Steam client on PC added a feature I can’t stop using. It’s a new Notes app, a simple rich text editor to take some notes.
But it’s a little more than just that. It’s an overlay that can float above your in-game window (with adjustable opacity), so your to-do list is always in view, if you want it to be. It can save new notes per game, and better yet, those notes will be synced across PCs you’re logged into, even if you’re in offline mode.
To enable it, press the Shift and Tab keys simultaneously during the game, then find it along the new taskbar at the bottom of the interface that appears. Then hit the pin icon in the top right corner of the Notes app to pin it to a desired position on your screen.
Paper and pen can still win you over, especially for games that require you to draw solutions to puzzles. But this is exactly what I need for most of the games I play. It will be great for when I need to remember which locker code is written in blood on the wall The last of us part 1 on PC. Or to remind me how many items I need to upgrade a level in a skill tree so I don’t have to scroll through a game’s UI for the hundredth time. Now there’s an easy place to keep everything in view for later.
It could be Real useful in games with day and night cycles, such as Stardew Valleyor the more recently released Dredging, where some missions can only be completed during certain times of the day. I honestly don’t think I could play another Persona game without this note-taking feature so I can remind myself which relationship or activities to prioritize.
The new Steam update lets you pin even more stuff to your game window, including game guides written by Steam users, the discussion forum for each game, or a full web browser so you can watch videos while you play. If you want to sign up for the Steam beta, there are some instructions on how to do this here.