It’s not an “app” in the strictest sense, but a collection of clever scripts that take care of all the manual installation and configuration for you.

Let’s take a quick look at some of your emulation options on the Steam Deck.ĮmuDeck is a tool that integrates many functions into one: it will download emulators from their official sources, pre-configure your settings and hotkeys, and work together with EmulationStation and the Steam ROM Manager. Updating EmuDeck and emulators CryoUtilities Table of ContentsĮmuDeck vs Batocera vs RetroDeck vs EmulationStation If you are looking for a general setup guide for the Steam Deck itself, I recommend this comprehensive Steam Deck guide from GitHub user mikeroyal. This guide will primarily use an app called EmuDeck to set up your emulation experience, but I will also touch on other solutions like RetroDeck and Batocera. In this guide I’ll show you how to play your favorite retro (and modern) game systems via software emulation. Valve’s Steam Deck is the perfect storm of handhelds: it has an exceptional price-to-performance ratio, a large game library thanks to its Steam integration, and it is becoming more readily available every month.

Last updated: 31JUL2023 (see Changelog for details)