Guide to Adding Non-Steam Games to Your Steam Deck Using Heroic Games Launcher

Valve’s Steam Deck, right? It kinda shook things up when it first came out. I mean, it was like, boom! Handheld gaming gone wild. But now, with everyone and their grandma making these things, it’s easy to think the Steam Deck’s lost its oomph. But nope! It’s still the king. Or queen. Whatever works.

Now, you might be thinking, “Oh, it’s just for Steam games!” And I thought the same. But nope, not true!

The trick is to roll up your sleeves and dive into something called the Heroic Games Launcher. Yep, it’s a thing. I learned about it while fumbling around with my janky Linux setup. This launcher’s a game-changer. Pardon the pun. You can bring in games from GoG, Amazon, Epic… you get the picture. Those freebies we snag but never actually play (story of my life, gah).

Anyway — hold on, where was I? Right! Now you can game on the go, in bed, or, you know, even when you’re just pretending to be doing something important.

About my little project to smush Heroic into my Steam Library. Why? ‘Cause playing from my couch sounds infinitely better than any other option.

First step: slap Heroic onto the Steam Deck. Here’s the weird bit—press the Steam button and switch to the desktop. Desktop? On a handheld? My brain did a somersault.

Next, hit up the Discover icon. It’s like the app store but for Steam Deck—it’s where the magic happens. Type in ‘Heroic’ like you’re some kind of tech wizard. Boom, there it is. Install it. Flashback to downloading tunes in the early 2000s, waiting forever.

Heroic opens, and there’s a whole setup ritual. I linked my Epic account ‘cause, I mean, who doesn’t love the Ninja Turtles? Heroic just makes that happen. Plus, adding more game libraries? Easy peasy. Trust me, it’s almost too simple.

Pick Proton Experimental for your games. Proton, that sounds science-y, right? It might be glitchy at times, just saying. But when it works, oh man, it’s smooth!

Testing time! Some games install like a breeze. Others—Cyberpunk, looking at you—take forever. But patience is a virtue, they say.

So, my goal: nestle Heroic right in the cozy arms of Steam Library. Why? Just because. Go to Games, find Heroic, and say “Add to Steam.” Done. Simple. Like alphabet soup without the soup.

Oh, there’s more. A bit of digital decoration: steamgriddb. What a name! A treasure trove of images to pimp out Heroic in the library, so it feels more “official.” Yeah, that sounds silly, but it looks neat.

Download, apply, repeat. It’s like a mini art project—without the messy paint. Clicking around, setting images, sprucing up the launcher with custom artwork—oddly satisfying.

Double click “Return to Gaming Mode” (sounds grand, right?) to jump back into regular Steam shenanigans. Steam Deck’s all decked out (see what I did there?).

So, every time I fire up my Steam Deck, Heroic’s just chilling there, within reach. Ready to throw more games at me than I have time for. But hey, it’s cool. Gaming on the go never felt so snazzy!