A couple of months ago, a Steam Deck modder showed off an ambitious project that involved squeezing the handheld’s hardware into a device roughly the size of a classic Game Boy. At the time, the project was still a work in progress, with one major problem left to solve: getting its custom display to actually work. Now, the creator has returned with some good news, confirming that the Steam Boy is now fully functional.

The project comes from Reddit user PhyFawkes, who originally started experimenting with the idea after realizing how small the Steam Deck’s motherboard actually is. The goal was to build a much smaller handheld while keeping as much of the original Steam Deck hardware as possible. The result is a Game Boy-sized device that uses the motherboard, battery, speakers, and face buttons from an LCD Steam Deck, along with a thumbstick, D-Pad, and trackpad.

Running Clair Obscur on a Game Boy-style Steam Deck

The display was always going to be one of the biggest challenges. The Steam Boy uses a custom 1080 x 1200 AMOLED display running at 90Hz, which is actually a higher resolution than the standard Steam Deck screen. During the earlier stages of the project, the display wasn’t functional, meaning the Steam Boy could only output to an external monitor.

That problem has now been solved. In a new update, PhyFawkes confirmed that the Steam Boy is “now fully functional,” while also sharing footage of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 running directly on the handheld. The creator admitted that getting the display working took some time, but said it wasn’t nearly as impossible as some people had suggested. More technical details about how it was achieved are expected to be shared later.

PhyFawkes also confirmed that almost all of the internals remain unmodified parts taken directly from a Steam Deck. The main exceptions are the new display and the custom adapter PCB required to connect it to the Deck’s motherboard.

Cooling such powerful hardware inside a much smaller body was another challenge. The Steam Boy uses a small 30 x 7mm fan, a heatsink, and a custom 3D-printed mount. Earlier testing showed temperatures in the 70°C range while playing TUNIC, while the system reached around 90°C in Clair Obscur.

About the Author

Abdul Haddi

Abdul is a tech writer and Editor for PC Guide, specializing in all things tech, gaming, and hardware.