The Steam Deck’s button mapper is the best feature you're not using

How to make pretty much any PC title work with a game controller.

- JARED NEWMAN

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:

HOW TO FIND THE STEAM DECK’S BUTTON REMAPPER

Once you’ve loaded a game on the Steam Deck, click the Steam button, select Controller Settings, then press the A button again.

Scroll down from here and you’ll find some quick settings such as y-axis inversion and sensitivity levels for the mouse and trackpad. Keep in mind that these are independent of the in-game control settings, so I would only make adjustments here if the game itself doesn’t offer them.

Still, those quick settings only hint at what’s possible. To truly take advantage of Steam Deck button mapping, you’ll need to create your own layout. Pick a PC game from your library that has poor or nonexistent controller support, then read on for details.

CREATING A STEAM DECK CONTROLLER LAYOUT: THE BASICS