Lurking behind the scenes of the Steam Deck UI is a fully-fledged (albeit read-only) operating system based on Arch Linux. They're ranked in descending order, with the most popular at the top, and you can always switch back to the default layout if anything feels wrong. Press the controller icon before launching any game in your library to see a selection of bindings, including layouts directly from the developers and alternatives shared by the community. The beauty of having so many buttons and a variety of input methods is finding what's most comfortable for you, so there's no obligation to use twin-stick aiming if it doesn't feel right in shooters. Plenty of games are fine with the default control scheme on Steam Deck, but it's worth checking out community-made presets and sharing your own. Steam Deck community controller layouts (Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central) Check them out if your favorite titles are struggling to maintain a steady framerate. New websites have recently been launched with community-based recommendations for game settings, including ShareDeck and Steam Deck HQ. Some older titles may struggle to correctly identify the internal GPU or amount of RAM, resulting in unusually low-quality visuals and shoddy performance.Įven modern titles can burn through the handheld's battery life by exaggerating some graphical luxuries adjusting the in-game settings is worth a few extra minutes to improve your experience.

Plenty of games will automatically detect your hardware and enable the appropriate graphical settings, usually providing decent gameplay on Steam Deck. Usually, a game listed as playable by Valve can run perfectly after a few extra steps, so don't be disheartened by the official verification status. Should you discover that your favorite game isn't officially verified, check ProtonDB for a breakdown of why. Some need a simple switch to their Proton version on Steam Deck, and other multiplayer titles are often held back by an incompatible anti-cheat system.

Thankfully, the community at ProtonDB keeps a comprehensive list of all necessary tweaks to get these games performing as well as they would on a desktop Windows PC. Steam Deck ProtonDB (Image credit: Valve | ProtonDB)Īlthough Valve lists games on the Steam Store with its verified system, some titles are reported as merely playable, which might discourage some new users from trying them out.

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