EmuDeck is slowly taking over my PC gaming setup

I was once like you. I thought EmuDeck was just a quick and easy way to set up emulators on my Steam Deck, and despite using it for years, I never thought more of it than that. But slowly over the past few months, EmuDeck has become one of the most essential apps I have installed on my gaming PC.

EmuDeck showed up on the scene in 2022, originally built as a “collection of scripts that allows you to autoconfigure your Steam Deck” for emulation. It will install your emulators, configure them, create directories for your games, and hook into apps like Steam ROM Manager so you can see all of your emulated games in your Steam Deck library. It’s been an essential tool for retro and emulation enthusiasts since release, but EmuDeck has grown into something much more powerful — and it’s not slowing down.

Always humble beginnings

Although most of the documentation for EmuDeck is signed by the “EmuDeck team,” a sole developer remains the main producer of the project — DragoonDorise on GitHub. Speaking with the developer, he told me that the Steam Deck actually wasn’t the inspiration behind the project. “The very first code I built was because when I bought my Odin,” he told me. The Odin is a handheld emulator built on Android. “I didn’t want to do all the setup manually again.”

EmuDeck was originally built for Android, and it was under the name Pegasus Installer. “Everything started with the RetroidPocket 2 and the Pegasus frontend. Setting that up was a chore, so I tried to automate it,” the developer told me. Eventually, the Steam Deck was revealed, and DragoonDorise said it was “a huge deal” for him. “I was lucky enough to get [a Steam Deck] on the first wave and that’s how EmuDeck was born. It took me a weekend to release the first version, and boy, it was rough… but it worked.”

Pegasus Installer became EmuDeck, and at first, it was just for the Steam Deck. Given the handheld form factor and problems getting around desktop mode without a keyboard and mouse, EmuDeck made perfect sense. If nothing else, it minimized the amount of time you’d need to spend on the desktop, all while installing and configuring everything you need through a single, easy-to-use package. But it didn’t stop there.

Eventually, the ROG Ally came out, following on the Steam Deck’s success. And EmuDeck responded in kind by developing a Windows version of the utility. Now, you’ll find installers for SteamOS, Windows, ChimeraOS, Android, and general Linux distros. You can get EmuDeck on just about any platform now as a quick and easy way to set up your emulators, but I’ve been so drawn to the utility for everything it does beyond its core function.

More than emulation

EmuDeck could’ve stopped at just being a utility that automatically configures a bunch of emulators, but it’s grown to encompass a ton of additional features. Here’s a sampling:

• Compressor — Compresses your ROM library to reduce its size.
• Auto save — Automatically saves your progress in emulated games when closing them so you don’t need to manually create a save state.
• Cloud sync — Uses an online storage service like Box or Google Drive to store and sync your save files for emulated games.
• EmuDecky — A plug-in specifically for the Steam Deck that allows you to access emulator hotkeys from the Steam Deck’s game mode.
• Local multiplayer — Allows you to start local multiplayer games for emulated titles.
• Rom Library — A dedicated second Steam Library for the Steam Deck filled only with emulated games.
• Game mode — A tool that bypasses Windows processes to launch directly into Steam Big Picture mode.

That is just a sampling, too. EmuDeck has a slew of smaller features, from a BIOS checker to Retro Achievements support to migration utilities that allow you to carry your entire library to other systems. All of these features were developed on top of the “gazillion of hours invested in testing” of the core of EmuDeck, too, according to DragoonDorise.

Although I’ve used most of EmuDeck’s features on various machines, game mode has really made the difference in the way I play PC games. As anyone who’s tried to set up a console-like PC knows all too well, you need a keyboard and mouse on hand to at least get into whatever controller-support interface you’re using (usually Steam), and even then, notifications, start-up apps, and other pesky windows can get in the way. With game mode, I’m finally able to have the console-like PC experience I’ve dreamt about for years.

Rebirth of the Steam Machine

Ever since Valve tried (and failed) to get the Steam Machine to catch on, there’s been countless attempts to make a small form factor PC behave like a console. You start it, grab a controller, and plop down on the couch to start playing games. Although there are ways to get close to that experience — specifically with Linux distros like ChimeraOS or HoloISO — you’ve always needed to settle either for a portable keyboard or spotty compatibility due to Linux. Game mode gets around that entire issue.

DragoonDorise describes it like this: “What it does is replace your Windows desktop with Steam, so it boots faster into Big Picture mode — it’s kind of like a Steam Deck.” You can already have Steam immediately launch into Big Picture mode — the controller-friendly interface that mirrors the Steam Deck — and you can set Steam as a startup app. But game mode is doing more than that in EmuDeck.

From what I can tell, it’s doing two main things. First and most important is that it never starts (or at least significantly limits) Windows File Explorer. You might think of File Explorer as just a way to browse your files, but the process in Windows actually does a lot more. It commands the taskbar, your desktop wallpaper, the Start menu, and even your desktop icons. EmuDeck runs a PowerShell script to bypass all of the junk you don’t need for a living room setup and goes directly into Big Picture mode. It takes only a few seconds — if I don’t turn on my TV fast enough, I’ll completely miss the script running.

The other thing it does is suppress notifications and other windows that try to go on top of the Big Picture interface. In my case, I have a VPN installed on my living room PC, along with an outdated AMD driver that I don’t use. I may get everything in order for the PCs I use for work, but when I’m sitting down to relax and game, I’m lazy. They aren’t causing problems, and I couldn’t care less. Both want to command the screen when I sit down and power on my PC and EmuDeck’s game mode stands in the way to block them.

As impressive as game mode is, it can’t actually log you into Windows. Thankfully, I’ve found a simple way around that if you aren’t concerned about security. Go to the Registry Editor and head to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionPasswordLessDevice. Then, set the value of DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion to 0. Restart your PC, press Windows + R and enter netplwiz. Uncheck the box that requires a password, click Apply, enter your current password, and you’re done.

With this setup, I’m able to press the power button on my PC, turn on a controller, and start playing. Since I started using EmuDeck in this way, I haven’t had to break out a Bluetooth keyboard. It feels like I’m properly playing on a console — just with much better performance.

An essential app

EmuDeck started as a way to set up emulators on the Steam Deck, but it’s become a critical part of my PC setup since then. Never since I installed Special K — make sure to read my column on that app — have I found something that will go on any new PC I build. Game mode is the main draw for me, but I’ve engaged with EmuDeck’s other features, too. I have a treasure trove of ROMs on an external hard drive, and EmuDeck allows me to sync my saves between my PC and Steam Deck, as well as keep my configuration consistent between devices.

Even better, most of what EmuDeck offers is free. New features, particularly those developed by EmuDeck alone, first show up for members of its Patreon, but you can get a lot of functionality out of EmuDeck — including its core function of setting up emulators — free of charge. And if you want to sign up and get the latest features, it’ll run you about $35 per year.

Since installing EmuDeck, I’ve played retro classics I would’ve never touched, modded modern games in ways I never thought was possible, and let my consoles gather dust as I transition all of my gaming to PC. If you’re even remotely interested in emulation, give EmuDeck a shot — you’ll be impressed by how powerful it really is.