Valve’s Steam Deck, man, did it shake things up when it first hit the scene, right? Like a tidal wave that just kept rolling. But now? It’s like the sea has calmed down with all these new handhelds popping up. Still, the Steam Deck is the granddaddy of them all. Bet you think you’re stuck with just Steam games on it, huh?
Nah, totally not the case!
You can actually load up way more than just Steam games. It takes a bit of tinkering (which is kinda fun, really). Ever heard of the Heroic Games Launcher? I stumbled upon it when I was messing around with a Linux gaming PC — it’s like some magic portal that lets all your GoG, Amazon, and Epic games spill out onto your Deck. Those same games we collect for free and let collect digital dust (don’t lie, you do it too).
Instead of letting them rot, now you can play them on the bus or while pretending to sleep. Works like a charm with friends too.
I’m straying a bit. Anyway — no, wait — where was I? Oh yeah, Heroic Games Launcher! Imagine integrating it into your Steam library, so you’re not swapping apps like a chef at a buffet.
Step one: Get that Heroic thing onto your Steam Deck. Here’s what I did:
Pressed the Steam button, navigated to Power, and switched to Desktop. That was kinda like finding Narnia behind an old coat… or something like that.
Once you’re in this mystical desktop realm, find this thing called Discover. It’s like Steam Deck’s lil’ app store. Who knew, right? I could practically hear the click as I hit that Discover icon.
Next, search for “Heroic.” Prepare for pure gold when you install it — even if it does take a hot minute. Better is the enemy of good, they say.
Alright, so once it’s done spinning its wheels, fire up Heroic from the Games menu. I swear I was like a kid on Christmas setting up my Epic games account. Oh, by the way, I threw in some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles nostalgia for good measure. You can add more libraries if you’re that kind of collector. Just poke around.
Pick a game and hit Show Wine settings — sounds weird, I know — then you choose Proton Experimental. Sounds shaky but, trust me, it works… most of the time. And it’s like a mini adventure itself watching these games load. Deathloop muddled my resolution due to capture gear, but whatever, right?
Back in regular Steamville, let’s blend Heroic in so it’s all one big happy library. Literally like cutting and pasting two puzzle pieces together.
So, go to the main menu, hover over Games, give Heroic a right-click hug and — bada bing, bada boom — add to Steam. And there you have it: Heroic’s now one of Steam’s own.
But hey, why stop when you’re on a roll? I jazzed it up a notch with some artwork from steamgriddb. It was an art gallery visit but online. The library never looked so good, seriously.
Anyway, at the end of all this, every time you tap that power switch on your Deck, Heroic’s sitting right there just waiting. Ready to unleash all the gaming goodness and then some. Like, can we say game-changer?
