by theygamesMost hardware hackers don’t need an excuse to tear their tech apart, but this total Steam Deck conversion might be a step too far for most. A modder has taken a Steam Deck, removed the screen and controller, and compressed it down into a single box-like chassis called the Steam Brick. Not in the name of science, but just so that the handheld can finally fit into their backpack.
The Steam Deck is one of the best gaming handheld PCs you can buy, kickstarting a whole industry of portable PCs with their own screens. This particular modded Steam Deck now has more in common with a set-top box than a handheld, and while we wouldn’t recommend you try it yourself at home, it’s certainly a unique way to downsize your gaming setup.
The details of this particular build were shared on GitHub by crastinator-pro. Describing himself as “not a smart man” and confirming that it definitely isn’t Valve endorsed or approved, crastinator-pro confirms that while the Steam Deck offers great portability, they found “more often than not” that they were leaving it at home because it didn’t fit in their bag.
Of course, most gamers might just buy a new backpack instead, but crastinator-pro had a different approach. Instead, they took a 1TB Steam Deck OLED and tore it down, making sure that the handheld would boot without features such as the display or battery attached.
With this confirmed, crastinator-pro made a few customizations to the internal aluminum motherboard frame before 3D-printing a custom plastic chassis (the so-called brick) to place it in, reusing the original battery pack and fan, while ditching the display and controls, leaving just a USB port and power button. The all-new Steam Brick is “about a third of the size” of the original, while also being 24% lighter, according to crastinator-pro.
Without the screen, the Steam Deck is usable via an external monitor, although crastinator-pro prefers using XReal Air 2 Pro AR glasses while he’s on the move. To replace the Steam Deck’s built-in controls, the modder also uses a variety of different third-party controllers, including an 8BitDo Pro 2 and SN30 Pro. Crastinator-pro is even considering a few more additional enhancements, such as a USB hub and a secondary battery, to improve on the original Deck’s design.
This isn’t a mod we recommend as such, but it’s intriguing to see how adaptable the Steam Deck’s components can be. If you want a handheld gaming rig yourself but don’t fancy tearing it apart like this hacker did, you can check out our Steam Deck OLED review to see our thoughts on the original.