For me, the Steam Deck’s aha moment came when I figured out how to play the PC version of Stranglehold without a mouse and keyboard. The John Woo–produced, somewhat underappreciated third-person shooter didn’t include controller support when it launched on Windows in 2007, and neither did the re-release on GOG a few years ago. That and some other odd display issues kept me from ever giving it a try on my gaming PC.
But after I sideloaded the game through Steam Deck’s desktop mode, Valve’s button remapping tool saved the day. This Steam Deck feature is so extensive that you can get practically any game to work well with the portable console’s thumbsticks, triggers, and buttons, and I’ve since used it to breathe new life into other old PC games as well.
Here’s an in-depth guide to everything Steam Deck’s button remapping can do:
