While the Steam Deck, Valve’s souped-up mini PC, offers a wealthiness of gaming experiences successful a portable format, the deficiency of a kickstand has been a sore spot. Enter the Deckmate: A simple, integrative bracket that lets you connect not conscionable a precise useful kickstand, but besides respective different specialized mounting solutions to the backmost of the Deck.

The Deckmate is the brainchild of merchandise plan technologist Siri Ramos. Ramos has described however the Steam Deck community’s enthusiasm and enactment has helped them turn what was erstwhile a amusive idiosyncratic task into a afloat featured product. To beryllium sure, the community’s emotion for tiny maker-style projects is evident conscionable from scrolling done r/SteamDeck. The Deckmate evolved from a bid of prototypes and aboriginal 3D-printed parts to a professional-feeling last product. Now having utilized it for a fewer weeks, it feels similar a precise earthy hold of my Deck, 1 with a fewer surprises of its own.

At the halfway of the Deckmate “system,” arsenic the creator calls it, is the “grip,” a elemental integrative claw that, well, grips the backmost of the mini-PC similar a headcrab connected a mediocre zombie. And similar that headcrab, this is simply a beauteous seamless attachment, 1 that doesn’t interfere with the system’s banal protective case. The grip tin besides clasp 2 spare SD cards, and similar a headcrab, is apt to privation to enactment wherever you enactment it. I’ve transferred it to different Steam Deck conscionable once, and bending the integrative backmost to get it disconnected feels similar thing I lone privation to bash a fistful of times astatine most.

The clips are disposable connected the apical and bottommost of the instrumentality erstwhile looking astatine it from the front, but the colour and texture of the integrative blends successful good with the Deck. I hardly announcement it anymore, and don’t consciousness it with my hands erstwhile playing.

The grip bracket itself doesn’t bash much. Instead, it allows for a assortment of “mounts” to slot into the backmost of the device. These fastener into spot with a brace of springs. Available mounts see that remarkably useful kickstand, “pucks” with adhesives to fasten a artillery oregon USB-C hub, partition mounts, and adjacent a 75mm VESA equine similar you spot connected the backs of PC monitors.

While I utilized 1 of my pucks for a useful USB-C hub that allowed maine to plug successful a assortment of USB devices on with an ethernet cablegram to velocity up downloads, the kickstand felt astir indispensable to me.

You mightiness not deliberation overmuch of a kickstand; it’s a precise basal instrumentality and concept. But fixed the size and value of the Steam Deck, being capable to connect 1 to the backmost has been benignant of similar increasing a 3rd arm, particularly erstwhile playing connected a sofa oregon bed.

This dawned connected maine erstwhile I decided to occurrence up Spider-Man: Remastered 1 night. Laying successful bed, with the kickstand successful place, I could conscionable remainder the instrumentality successful beforehand of maine to ticker the opening cutscene, past prime it up erstwhile I was acceptable to commencement swinging astir Manhattan island. That whitethorn not look truthful revelatory if you haven’t enactment successful excessively galore hours connected a Deck, truthful fto maine springiness immoderate context.

The Steam Deck is astir arsenic dense arsenic it looks. It’s a large device! And playing for extended periods of time, astatine slightest for me, kinda makes my hands get prickly and then, numb. Being capable to acceptable it down with the surface inactive facing maine and springiness my hands a interruption during non-interactive cutscenes has allowed maine to walk much clip gaming. The kickstand besides has a bully magnitude of adjustment. It tin determination a afloat 120 degrees, and it ne'er feels similar that notoriously flimsy portion of junk attached to the Nintendo Switch, which ever seemed to endanger to drawback close off. The Deckmate kickstand is besides perfect for mounting the portion down connected a table and connecting a keyboard.

Read More: Yes, You Can Use The Steam Deck As A Computer (Here’s How)

One unexpected payment involves the Deck’s precocious vigor output. Being capable to prop it up with the exhaust instrumentality pointing successful a much vertical absorption feels similar a amended mode to acceptable the instrumentality down portion it’s downloading thing oregon playing a graphically intensive cutscene. If Reddit’s to beryllium believed, determination whitethorn besides beryllium aromatherapeutic benefits to enjoy.

Another astonishing usage of the kickstand was that, portion laying successful furniture oregon connected a couch, I could benignant of usage it similar a monopole, letting it enactment much of the value of the device. As a result, my hands weren’t doing the enactment of some playing the instrumentality and holding it. Overall, the Deckmate with the kickstand accessory has conscionable made the Deck a much cozy instrumentality for me.

Though I recovered the kickstand to beryllium the prima of the show, others mightiness find much inferior successful mounting other accessories onto the adhesive pucks. As the Deckmate’s tract warns, the adhesive utilized connected these pucks is virtually permanent. So if you privation to adhere a large artillery battalion oregon USB hub oregon whatever, beryllium alert that you’re creating a beauteous imperishable enslaved betwixt the puck attachment and the accessory. They’re going to beryllium friends for life.

A fewer different caveats exist. If you person immoderate benignant of smartphone-style lawsuit wrapped astir your Deck, thereby expanding its thickness, the basal grip bracket astir apt won’t acceptable astir it. Fortunately, a Deckmate adapter that sports the aforesaid 3M adhesive arsenic the pucks offers an alternate means by which to fasten the grip to the backmost of a third-party case. It whitethorn beryllium intolerable to resoluteness conflicts with definite docks, though. While the Deckmate’s FAQ seems precise optimistic astir it fitting into thing similar a JSAUX dock, I recovered the grip bracket was conscionable a spot excessively large and made it unstable erstwhile sitting successful my dock.

You tin besides lone usage 1 equine astatine a time, truthful if you privation to some usage the kickstand and complaint the instrumentality with an outer battery, you’ll person to take which is getting attached to the device. Granted, if you’re utilizing the kickstand, you astir apt person a level aboveground to remainder that artillery down anyway.

Critically, if you’re utilizing a USB-C hub, you should wage cautious attraction to cablegram length, particularly erstwhile making the last determination to adhere a puck to the hub. In my case, I fishy I adhered the puck a small excessively debased connected my hub, and arsenic a result, the USB-C cablegram has a spot excessively overmuch hostility erstwhile reaching each the mode up to my Deck’s azygous USB-C port. I’m apt going to effort and reposition this, but fixed that the adhesive is simply a one-time usage thing, I’m astir apt going to person to get creative. Moral of the story: Measure your cablegram lengths and marque usage of right-angle adapters wherever it makes sense.

Once detached, the kickstand and immoderate puck-equipped devices volition easy acceptable successful the retention lawsuit the Deck comes with. You tin conscionable tuck it into that compartment connected the underside that galore a Steam Deck idiosyncratic has found creative uses for. That said, if your accessory needs widen to a gamepad, keyboard, and yet different other peripherals, you’ll request a larger bag. For those times you privation to question light, you tin conscionable detach the Deckmate mounts and permission the hardly noticeable “grip” bracket.

If you conscionable privation to get the kickstand, you’ll request the grip bracket, which runs for $20, and past the kickstand equine itself for an other $15. Individual pucks are $7 each. You tin besides opt to bargain the “Entire System,” which includes the grip, 2 pucks, the VESA mount, a partition mount, and the case-agnostic adapter for $49. While you tin surely find cheaper kickstand options connected Amazon and elsewhere, the Deckmate strategy feels sturdy and reliable. Sitting the Deck down with the Deckmate kickstand, it ne'er feels similar it’s going to topple implicit (as agelong arsenic the space is acceptable right). Its size and physique prime consciousness similar a bully lucifer for the Deck itself.

You tin besides spell the DIY way by downloading the Deckmate’s integer files and people them yourself. I ideate it volition instrumentality immoderate proceedings and error, but the files are escaped and distributed, arsenic each things should be, nether a Creative Commons license.

Overall, the Deckmate, peculiarly with its kickstand, is simply a large Steam Deck accessory that expands wherever (and how) I tin play games connected it. It’s precocious quality, looks good, and meshes nicely with the DIY tone of the device. With immoderate luck we’ll spot much unique, prime projects of this benignant arsenic the Deck settles into the wider scenery of gaming hardware.