To start with:

After my previous post 24 hours ago (the link to which is here), I asked you all if the way I share mostly Steam Deck news here is okay, and if you’d enjoy more of these.

I hope you’ll endure one more such post in this short time. Consider this maybe…idk, news you may already know, but that which I’m sharing while I practice formatting these posts in a better way…?

Here we go!

GOG THINGS

GOG-CHAN

Perhaps my favorite GOG decision was back in 2018, when GOG got their JRPG-obsessed graphic designer (KosmicznaPluskwa) to create a mascot for their Japanese Games Sale of the time. GOG-Chan was created, and the internet being as internet-y as it is, she’s never been allowed to be forgotten. She’s also adorable!

(if you want a link to explore KosmicznaPluskwa’s pintrest page - this will give you a good look at the graphic designer’s inspirations and looks!)

Purple is my favorite color (along with my friend, ‘AA’ - the developer of Decky Loader! Hi, 'A!), and GOG’s essence is purple. I’m guilty of trying to dye my hair the same shade as this once, but I did a terrible job and tried hiding my pony-tail until I could fix it…

GOG FORUMS

Being my fav platform for the Steam Deck (honestly, the amount of Steam games I have VS how many GOG games…mine is literally a GOG Deck), I’m sometimes surprised by not only how few people know about it, but how few explore it more than just a platform to buy games.

The GOG forums are a great space to post. It’s not only GOG’s games, there’s plenty of general interest spaces to chat about everything. My fav however, is the totally niche, interesting things like the ‘Unofficial DVD Covers for GOG.COM Games’ thread.

You’ve guessed it, it’s a space for people to create physical covers for their digital games. It’s very niche - for people who miss physical games collections, and who are great at designing their own covers. I’m going to leave the link to the most recent page of the forum thread here, if you wanna take a closer look, but I’ll share just one or two images of one cover for those who don’t:

GOG UPDATES

There’s been quite a lot of games updates over the last week (or two?). I keep up with these, because I get a lil OCD with making sure my library (at least my installed library…which can be hard to admit is extensive) is the best it can be. This might be a bit boring, but I’ll rapid-fire some of the more notable (subjective, I know) titles which have had recent updates:

• Darkest Dungeon II (this updates SO often!) - 5 days ago
• Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition (wins for the longest running updates/mods for any game, at least in my experience!) - 7 days ago
• Art of Rally (my FAV racer, I LOVE it!) - 11 days ago
• Core Keeper - 11 days ago
• Myst - 11 days ago
• Planet Crafter - 11 days ago
• Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector - 12 days ago
• Drova - Forsaken Kin - 12 days ago
• No Man’s Sky - 12 days ago
• Resident Evil 2 - 12 days ago

…okay I could keep on going. There’s something inherently, and weirdly, therapeutic about ticking off a list I made. Yeah. Odd, I know.

MORE ON WHAT I USE TO PLAY GAMES ON MY DECK

I had a few comments/messages yesterday asking more about what I use. Why I choose Heroic Games Launcher, RetroDECK and Junk-Store. I thought maybe if you cared, I’d share a few links for you to follow here. It might be a bit more specific-to-those-curious, so feel free to skip past this if its not for you!

Heroic

Heroic is for more than the just the Steam Deck. Being open-source, it is also made for MacOS, Windows, and…well obv for Linux distros. I love the little things in Heroic’s design:

The UI (by default, but choosable by the user!) stays monochrome for each game’s cover…until you install it. Then it’s in beautiful color for that title.

I adore Comet integration, meaning achievements and playtime are logged with GOG, so when I’m done playing, I can log in to GOG on my computer and see all my progress has been noted.

• You can find their website here with this link
• You can find their GitHub page here with this link
• I’ve forgotten if I shared this last post, but you can find a great video by fediverse-adorer Gardiner Bryant, here in this YouTube link. He compares Heroic with Junk-Store, and is also a lovely person too (Hi, Gardiner!)
• Heroic’s community and ‘help desk’ is on Discord, which you can find with this last link here
• You can find more on their work, through Liam’s (GamingOnLinux) site, or Noah’s (SteamDeckHQ), if you wanna read up more on Heroic!

Junk-Store

Junk-Store is built specifically for the Steam Deck. And that is its benefit in my eyes, the program (plug-in*) was built from the ground up for the Deck. Eben, the dev, started the project as a way to add his own games to the Deck for he and a handful of friends.

What started off that way became something he released. Like I said in my last post, the design of Junk-Store is different, it works (for now, though in the future this will be changing to be possible in another way) as a plugin via Decky Loader. It will open up as a library of your games, Epic will show up in a tab and you’ll see all your redeemed or purchased Epic titles in there.

Eben tells me I’ll be raked over the hot coals if I share what he has planned for Junk-Store next. But there is more than just what JS has right now. At the moment it supports Epic and GOG, but there is more to come.

• You can find a link to the site here, for Junk-Store, where you can find out more about it, and follow a guide to installing
• You can find the github page for it here, too
• This is the link to their Discord. In the Discord server you’ll find users who share all kinds of settings and findings of (often obscure) games they own, and how to run them best! Also…everything else.

RetroDECK

This is less about links (I’ll share though), and more about a rapid-fire for the features I adore most about it. I was a user of EmuDeck when I first got my first Steam Deck, but the record of things that break is there for all to see. My installation ran three emulators, and the storage it took on my SSD (in a trillion-and-one different places, not organized) was over 33GB. Again, this is my personal opinion of which software I favor. No hate for those on EmuDeck, it does the job. For me I adore RetroDECK because:

• It runs everything from one SD card. You run the emulators, the ROMs, the bios, the file trees, mods, texture packs. It sits neatly organized on the SD card and leaves the SSD free for PC games. I find this helps me a lot. There is no performance drop or any issue running it from a nice SD card. Nor is it locked to only run from a card. You can choose to install it wherever you want!
• RetroDECK only updates periodically. There is no emulator updates individually. Some users find this inconvenient, but I find it a nice relief to know the team waits to see that each update is stable for the user. There’s been countless issues over time where a update to one can ruin an experience, I much prefer stable to flying too close to the sun!
• ‘The radial wheel’ …honestly I’ve forgotten if that’s what it is called, but Retro has the left trackpad on the Steam Deck default (via their custom controller configuration) to being a lovely radial dial. From there you can fast-forward a game (if it is old enough to support the feature, no, you’re not fast-forwarding a PS3 game -_-), save quickly, open a quick setting to quickly upscale the resolution. It’s extensive and fun. I love that damn dial.

There is more, but I tend to ramble (I already shudder to think at the length of this. Again, watch Russ from Retro Game Corps’ recent video on RetroDECK, he takes you through it step-by-step and is lovely with the details!

Or alternatively, if you want to read more on my thoughts in my guide with plenty of pictures! …you can find it here with this link. I take you through setting it up, and even some specific things like replacing textures with HD texture packs on PS2, etc

• Find the RetroDECK website here

IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR, I ACTUALLY HAVE TWO GAME CODES, FEEL FREE TO REDEEM

^TXV6-HP3TV-DC262-7DYXJ-C4FVZ is Wolfenstein: Youngblood for PC (Windows’ Microsoft Store) - it’s objectively a terrible game, but hey…someone may want this! The ‘^’ is actually the number after 6

^FHXQ-4T2RP-JC4J2-CTXGW-626QZ is Wolfenstein: Youngblood for Xbox - it’s just as terrible on Xbox, sadly no improvement on the game depending on the platform! The ‘^’ is the number after 2.

EPIC GAMES

Epic has a sordid reputation. Personally, I have no qualms with them, if there is a game cheaper there (as was the case when they ran their coupons - long since abandoned) then I’m all for it. Their free weekly games on their site are a absolute gift for gamers who can’t afford much, or any, modern gaming.

One of my fav things on their site is the blogs they run, or blog posts. Occasionally they will have some truly amazing personalities in the game dev world there to, ostensibly promote a game, but then go into detail of their own lives. Some of my favs on this theme are (click the link to go to the page!):

• The interview Creative Director (of Sonic X Shadow Generations) Takashi Lizuka gave with them. He himself is the man who created the Shadow character in the first place
• An interview with Alan Wake 2: The Lake House’s Director and lead writer

There’s countless others. The hard thing is knowing what is filler, and which are interesting from a creative and development standpoint. Regardless, I love things like this, as these days with stupid attention-grabbing conflict headlines and A.I. articles, it’s harder to find this kind of content.

A NEW GAME FROM MercurySteam

This was the crew responsible for developing Castlevania: Lord of Shadows and Metroid Dread. They have a new game coming called Blades of Fire - and it will be exclusive (on PC) to Epic Games, but available to Series X and PS5 as well.

*EPIC GAMES’ 2024 YEAR IN REVIEW:

• if you wanna see the image in full resolution, this is a link to it on imgur here

QUICKLY, THIS IS INTERESTING:

If you missed it, and you’re interested in the PC gaming landscape - particularly in regards to how Steam is the clear favorite above others like GOG + Epic Games and Amazon’s own Prime Gaming then this LinkedIn post by the former VP of Prime Gaming at Amazon is a fascinating read. He details why he thinks the attempt at winning gamers over with their platform failed.

• It did the rounds a few days ago, but I know a lot missed it, it’s a fascinating read on a company trying to enter an established landscape of gaming, and…clearly this is the link

Really, worth a read for all!

Ironically, the weekly Prime Gaming giveaways are my fav part of gaming lately

JUST A COUPLE’ GAMES I RECOMMEND!

We’re winding down here, I think I have a terrible habit of using 750237634563456 words, when I could say the same thing with 15. But if you’re still interested, I might just take the opportunity to recommend (quickly!) two games I’ve enjoyed on my Steam Deck, kinda cozy, but also not quite so. But, here we go:

Tunic

My cozy gaming recommendation today, which does actually have some souls like elements to it (sounds strange, I know!) is this adorable fox.

If you love the old (or remake) Nintendo Zelda games (Link’s Awakening) then you’ll LOVE this game:

“Explore a land filled with lost legends, ancient powers, and ferocious monsters in TUNIC, an isometric action game about a small fox on a big adventure.”

You’re an adorable fox with puzzles and combat, and it is SO good on the Deck!

Graveyard Keeper!

Think…Stardew Valley, but if you like the idea of management a sim with a gothic twist, this one’s worth checking out.

You’ll bury bodies, craft, and maybe even question your life choices as you balance morality and efficiency. Plus, there’s a talking skull. What more could you want?

It’s adorable. I think by now I’m well and truly addicted. And it’s on sale on GOG so often

Srsly, kinda dark! 💀💀💀

Racing games I love on the Steam Deck:

This is (yet again) weirdly niche, but I’ve been rather obsessed with rally racing in general the last few months. Specifically Group B…which, if you’re interested was just the most terrifying time of motor racing, where people’s hair, skin and even fingers would be found after the races were over; stuck in the grills of the cars because the crowd were so close to the sidelines.

A great mini 10 min doco on YouTube called The Absolute INSANITY of Group B Rally is here, if you wanna see it for yourself

• Art of Rally is a beautiful alternate history game, where Group B rally racing never stopped being a thing. I love their quote: “To do something dangerous with style is art…”. Racing is isometric, the colors are beautiful, the atmosphere is so pretty, and the driving can be casual or require great skill. I love this game on my Steam Deck! It is also -50% off on GOG right now, if you want to check it out!

• DRIVE: Rally: “DRIVE Rally lets you relive the 90s in the most exciting era in motorsport history, where dust, mud, and snow are badges of honor. Unleash the raw power of legendary rally beasts, admire every second of the stunning landscapes, and remember: the faster you go, the better! DRIVE Rally not only nails the spirit of the 90s. It reignites it for a new generation of drivers. Whether you’re a veteran of dirt roads or a rookie just looking to get their tires wet, this game will let you redefine speed over and over again.” - I love this game because it is just pure fun. Arcade-y as heck, the art style is very distinct, and it feels like what you imagine a Playstation 1 game made today would be like. [https://www.gog.com/en/game/drive_rally](The store page on GOG is here, if you want to see the trailer and GIFs embedded in the page to get a good look at it

FINALLY?

Maybe that should be it for now. Please let me know how the formatting looks this time 'round. I hope I figured this out a little better, I know the last one was rough, but with each subsequent post I hope it gets prettier.

Some of you may remember me on reddit, I went by flwwhtrbt there. There was a time where I was ‘interviewing’ not only developers of everything Steam Deck had running on it (Lutris, Heroic, Decky, Junk-Store, EmuDeck, and others!), but I was also interviewing the big names in gaming piracy last year also: befriending FitGirl, Dodi, even chatting to Empress, KaOs and more.

If I can find my files (I think I purged everything, but may have back-ups!), then I might share them here, if anyone is interested.

Please share your thoughts, if there’s something I can do better here, let me know! If there’s a better way to format this, then by all means I need to know.

If you wanna reach out elsewhere, I am on Matrix and Mastodon: