Valve’s Steam Deck kinda exploded onto the scene. Everyone was buzzing. But then, y’know, lots of other handhelds came out and kinda stole its thunder. Still, you can’t really deny it’s the go-to for handheld gaming. There’s a catch, though. You’d think it’s only for Steam games, right? Well, surprise, surprise—it’s not!
You can play more than just Steam stuff on this thing. It takes a bit of fiddling, but that’s where the Heroic Games Launcher comes in. I used it once on a Linux project. It’s like a magical door to your GoG, Amazon, and Epic libraries. Those libraries—aren’t they the ones giving away free games that I hoard like a magpie? I can’t be the only one. Anyway, why let them gather digital dust when you can play them all cozy in bed or on your way to work?
So, my mission? Hook up the Heroic Games Launcher into my Steam deck. Simple goal: play all those awesome games on my couch. Here’s the journey:
First, install that Heroic Launcher onto your deck. Hit the Steam button, go to Power, and then switch to Desktop. Oh man, feels like such a process, but it works. Honestly, it’s like opening a new world.
Got your desktop? Cool. Click on the Discover icon. It’s just the app store for Steam Deck. So, not that exciting, I guess. Find Heroic in there and install it. Does it take ages? Sometimes, but patience makes perfect… or something like that.
Once it’s downloaded, open the Heroic from the Games menu. Don’t be put off by random pop-ups—it’s just updates. I love setting up Epic first. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is my jam. You can add other libraries, step by step. It’s like arranging books on a shelf, a virtual shelf.
Choose your game. I think I picked Shredder’s Revenge first, of course. Screwed around with Wine settings. Proton Experimental is one tricky customer—it can be unstable but somehow still works more often than not. And then, you wait. Some games install super fast, others, like Cyberpunk 2077, might as well take the scenic route.
Once the game’s set, play it. I mean, that’s the endgame, right? My experience? Mostly smooth, except when my capture equipment went on strike with the screen resolution. Ugh, tech. But strip that away, and it’s a dream.
Okay, so back to making things seamless. The Heroic Launcher should be chilling in your Steam library now. This is where I could stop. Nah, let’s integrate it into the Steam library for that full experience.
Go back to that Steam desktop. Main menu, go to Games, find Heroic, and right-click. ‘Add to Steam’ is your friend here. Afterwards, you basically have Heroic in your library. Looks pretty, right? But I’m not done.
Fancy a little art session? Head to steamgriddb and find some artwork. It’s like making Heroic part of the family, turning it from a guest to a permanent resident. Download it, slap it onto the launcher in Steam—looks as good as new.
Each setup step lets it blend better until it’s part of the furniture. Now, every time you power up Steam Deck, boom, Heroic’s right there waiting. It’s ready to serve up games like a buffet. Remember that old catchy commercial tune? Something to the effect of ‘Have it your way’? Well, here you can.
