Just want a solid gaming laptop

Maybe get a Steamdeck if portability is important, otherwise get a desktop. IMO gaming laptops don't last as long because of all the heat stress. Really just my opinion though.
*Funny, just seen this other post on Beehaw about valve selling refurbished Steamdecks. Just thought I would share just in case.
- I'm not sure about Valheim, but I can vouch that No Man's Sky runs well on Steam Deck.
  
  Valheim too, even better than NMS, in my opinion.
- Getting a portable screen is also dead cheap. It ain't a bad option at all.

I want to echo the steam deck recommendations, but not because I have one, but rather because I daily drove gaming laptops for the better part of a decade and hated it
Sincerely. Get a device dedicated for gaming, not a compromise between form factor and expected output. A cheap used Thinkpad with some knock around Linux distro will do 90% of what you likely need a laptop for, and put the rest of your budget into a tricked out steam deck. You'll have money left over relative to a gaming laptop, too, which are always -- and I mean, always, terribly low on battery life, extraordinarily hot, and rarely performant enough to justify either shortfall. Usually they weigh a ton too.
I'm glad gaming laptops are improving steadily and integrated graphics are improving to shore up the slack through things like the steam deck and also just letting most laptops play games better without breaking the bank, but I'd have been far happier with a cheap gaming computer and a cheap laptop than an expensive gaming laptop as my only option. And in lieu of a full tower for gaming, a steam deck is your next best option
The only exception, in my eyes, is if you need a laptop as a portable video editing workstation as well as for gaming. Then gaming laptops become a more valuable proposition, but even still I'd go with the above. I just figured I'd mention something that gaming laptops have over a steam deck or other comparable offerings, steam decks make a creative workload a lot more cumbersome than a proper laptop would be
- The ryzen thinkpads (T14s in my case) deliver graphics good enough for most indie games and older games. Combined with a switch I haven't felt the need for anything else.

Repost my comment why gaming laptop is a scam(can't copy comment link cause the link failed for me):
gaming laptops are pretty much scam anyway, as person "once" fall for such scam.
they are really heavy, not really good with travel.
they are also power hungry, might be less than your actual tower rig, but significantly more than common "business laptop"
the battery won't last with degradation where you constantly plug it in.( to gain the boosted frequency where you can play games at higher settings/frame rate)
your upgrade path is very limited and they won't have the parts after like 2~3 years.(so anything broken you have to try find it on ebay/amazon/aliexpress)
for portable gaming during travel, your best choice is consoles. So switch, steamdeck, heck, even PS4 slim is better than gaming laptop.(hopefully PS5 pro/slim is made into form for easier box/travel format.)
- Gaming laptops aren't a scam, they fill a niche. For people like me they are the best option available. I travel frequently and then stay there for usually a few months before having to travel again. So a desktop doesn't work for me at all. I need a decent computer for work. Most business laptop that fill my needs are also on the heavier side. The ones that are portable usually have integraded gpu's, which just doesn't work for me. So the step from business laptop that fills my needs to gaming laptop is minimal.
  All of the drawbacks of a gaming laptop are barely affecting me. And while this seems like an edgecase, there are a lot more people who have needs that a gaming laptop fulfills and can't be met by other devices.
  
  I completely agree with this take.
  I have my gaming desktop, gaming laptop, and Steam deck.
  My gaming desktop is my strong preference. It’s powerful, I built it myself, and it can handle basically everything I can throw at it.
  My gaming laptop is really nice for travel, where I can’t bring my desktop. I was working at a job that was like 30% travel, lots of flying. It was nice to have in the hotel to get some gaming in.
  On shorter/busier work trips though, I’d usually opt for just taking my iPad and Steam Deck. It’s a bit more limited in terms of what’s available, but the Steam Deck is a super capable machine. The Steam Deck also didn’t exist when I started traveling originally.
  
  A gaming laptop is essential for me, as I work at home and don’t want to be at my desk 14+ hours a day. I can get away from it and game on the sofa if I really want to.
  
  Exactly. It's a niche, but it's a legitimate niche. I needed a "portable desktop" that could run games as well as Solidworks simulations, and a gaming laptop was perfect for me.
  It's a Samsung Series 7 Gamer, and it's lasted me 11 years so far (yes, you read that right). If I could go back and do anything differently, I would unplug the battery to preserve it for the rare instances when I actually needed it.
  
  Same here. In fact, I bought my Legion (which btw I feel like it was a good choice on OPs part because I believe Lenovo's laptops tend to have better cooling engineering in general, for whatever laptop category, compared to other brands) to serve first as a work laptop, and then some gaming on the side, which I'm not too picky about because I don't really play on PC that often anyway. My reasoning for that is that the business laptops I had been looking before going with the Legion were frankly overpriced crap with limited expandability, shoddy components and build, and full of built-in bloatware pre-installed. I find that gaming laptops tend to have higher quality components and slightly better expandability, so it was a win all around.
- I've been happy with my gaming laptops. I used to be like 80% travel for my job, so portable gaming was essential.
  I still use a gaming laptop as my primary desktop, because it's physically small, (relatively) quiet, and I don't need to keep a honking big UPS to give me 20 minutes of time to save work and shut down. The battery's not great, but it's more than enough to get me through power interruptions, or to move the machine between power outlets.
- Before Steam deck these were non options if you cared about pc specific games, now that is obviously the golden option!

Alternate option: see if the performance of the various cloud gaming providers meets the mom approval factor. She's not playing anything the extra latency is really an issue with, and you can then avoid the hot, noisy, expensive gaming laptop category entirely and just get almost ANY laptop your mom likes, instead.
- Good thinking!

I'd also suggest a Steam Deck, but for a different reason. My experiences with switchable graphics (both, nVidia and AMD) have been extremely disappointing. It's quite frustrating to spend €1500 on a gaming laptop, and then constantly facing driver issues, tearing,...
If I were to buy a laptop, I'd therefore also go with an AMD integrated graphics unit, and no switchable graphics. Performance would be comparably bad, but at least an integrated (non-switchable) card works... And now we are at the point of having a dedicated gaming device like the Deck, which lets you have both: A performant enough gaming device, and a laptop that isn't burdened by the price and issues of switchable graphics.

Steam Deck

Wait a year and get a Framework 16
- Asus TUF started freezing on games
  But what did you do to diagnose it?
  ASUS isn't responsible for software, except to guarantee that the laptop can run the version of Windows that it came with. They're just going to run standard hardware diagnostics, and if it passes, it's golden.
  Were there errors in the event logs? Did you remove unneeded startup programs and disable unneeded services? Did you do a full OS reset/reinstall?
  
  Did you do a full OS reset/reinstall
  This, specifically from a fresh install media created directly from Microsoft's site. Every PC manufacturer has a lot of bloatware as they attempt to separate themselves from their competitors via (sometimes hazardous) software.

I’d say get a Steam Deck instead. The screen is really nice and they’re comfortable to hold. Plus, she can hook up a keyboard, mouse, and monitor to it if she really needs a bigger screen.

Steam deck, rog Ally would be good options.
If you want a laptop that’s surprisingly not bad for the price look at the asus g14s. They go on sale every so often. Slap an extra stick of ram in there and you’re golden. Make sure to get gHelper from GitHub to get rid of all the asus bloat ware.

I know this might be off-topic, but damn that's a cool mom!

I can recommend the Acer Nitro 5 series. Have it for a few years now. The main drawbacks are
Portability - You will run into this issue a lot with gaming laptops. But the Nitro series is probably one the lower end when it comes to portability. Especially if you go with the 17 inch screen. It's heavy and big.
Speakers - the newest series apparently upgraded them, but the one I have has terrible built in speakers. I use a headset anyhow while playing. So doesn't concern me. But it just can't be used to watch movies together in bed.
Fan noise - It can get very noisy, especially during gaming session. If you are using a headset, you aren't noticing it. But it can be distracting to others in the room.
Batter life - It's just bad, even if you aren't gaming. But again, while playing you are usually plugged in anyway.
Overall none of the big issues affect me. But could be a dealbreaker for others.
The big pros:
Available in 17 inch - which was a must for me.
Decent cooling - Just make sure you get a 2021 or later model.
Easy to upgrade internal storage & ram - you can put 2 additional SSDs inside. And even upgrading the ram is super easy. This also means they aren't charging absurd amounts for upgrading the stock variant from 256gb to 512 or even 1tb.
Performance for the price - It's not a end of the line model but for the price you will get decent performance.
- I have an Acer Nitro 5 too and I would recommend against it on fan noise alone. Saying that it's very loud is an understatement. It's absurd how loud it is even under light loads. It's like sitting in a jet on take-off.
  My wife has an Asus ROG and it is much, much quieter when gaming than mine is when idling. So, I'd say get the ROG, not the Nitro.

so like a lot of people will suggest a desktop pc, and if thats feasible for u i would go for it, they just tend to have less issues in general and r easier to troubleshoot. i don't know much about steam deck but it seems pretty neat and def costs way less than a gaming laptop. also those games don't seem all that intensive to run? the freezing probs isn't a hardware issue.

As a gaming mom myself, I’d second the Steamdeck recommendations. I love mine! Best thing I have bought in years honestly.
I can play in the living room, while hanging out with the rest of the family, and I take it with me on work trips as well. I don’t have Valheim on it, but I do have No Man’s Sky and it works well. I’m currently playing Baldur’s Gate 3 on the deck - there are so many great options.

It might also be worth looking at Steam Deck alternatives. GPD, AYA, ASUS, etc.
I only own a Steam Deck, but I've seen a couple videos on alternatives and they look pretty good. Since you were already planning on spending laptop money, an upgrade might be worth it so your mom can have that extra power. They might not be as user friendly as the Steam Deck though
i also recommend doing a factory install of your OS with a USB drive