If you are a Steam Deck owner and a Palia fan, this guide is for you. One of the hyping games right now is Palia, but unfortunately, it is not available on Steam, so you won’t be able to play it just like that on Steam Deck. So follow our instructions on how to play Palia on Steam Deck.
Here’s what it is about: how to download the game’s launcher on Steam Deck, how to add it to the library, how to set it up, and eventually get the opportunity to play Palia in nature, on holiday, traveling or just lying in bed.
How to Play Palia on Steam Deck
For your convenience, we have divided all the actions you need to do into a few simple steps.
Read more: Palia Cooking Guide: How to Start, Ingredients & Kitchen
Download Palia Launcher
So, first, you need to download the Palia launcher. To accomplish this, you have to switch your Steam Deck to desktop mode. You can do this using the Switch to Desktop button in the settings. After that, go to the official Palia website and download the launcher.
Add the Launcher to the Library
When the launcher is downloaded, you will have to add it to your library as a non-Steam game.
- Open the Steam app.
- Go to the library.
- Find the Add a Game button at the left bottom of the screen and click on it.
- Select Add a Non-Steam Game.
- After that, you will see a menu where you need to click the Browse button.
- Then find PaliaLauncher.exe in the folder where you installed it, select it and click Open, then Add Selected Programs.
Set Up the Launch Options
After adding the Palia launcher, you need to change its settings:
- Find Palia Launcher in the game library and go to Properties.
- Next, in the Launch Options field, insert the following text “STEAM_COMPAT_MOUNTS=/run/media/mmcblk0p1/ %command%”, it is important to insert it without quotes. This step is necessary for optimal performance, especially if you plan to install the game on an SD card.
Set Up Compatibility Settings
- Next, in the same menu, on the left, find and click the Compatibility button.
- Then, to Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool, tick the box and select the latest version of Proton. It is best to choose a stable version of Proton rather than an experimental one.
Install the Game
This step can be quite difficult, as the game’s launcher is not optimized for Steam Deck and can be very glitchy, and it will not work with Steam Deck controls, so you will have to use the touch screen. Although this adds some difficulties, it does not affect the final result.
So, to install the game, do the following:
- First, to install the game on your SD card: Press the Steam button > go to Settings > Storage > Select your SD Card and press X.
- Find PaliaLauncher.exe in the Steam library, left-click on it, and press Play.
- Next, for convenience, it is better to make the installer full screen.
- After that, click the Install button.
- Then scroll down and click on the left bottom corner of the installer to tick the box, and then click on the right bottom corner to continue. Keep in mind that at this point the installer may be glitchy, and the buttons may not be visible, so click them blindly.
- Then the game will start the installation and this process will last from 25 to 40 minutes.
- When the installation is complete, click on the Steam button in the lower-left corner of the taskbar and click on the search bar.
- Browse to the following directory “/home/deck/.local” and select the folder that appears below.
Next, open the following folder:
- share > Steam > steamapps > compatdata > 2559736334 > pfx > drive_c > users > steamuser > AppData > Local > Palia > Launcher
There you will see the PaliaLauncher.exe file, so just right-click to open the menu and select Copy Location. Next, reopen the game properties by selecting it in the library and paste the copied directory into the Target field.
Set Up Controls
At this point, you’re almost ready to play, you just need to set up the controls. To do this, click on the gamepad located next to the Play button, click on Current Layout, then Community Layouts and choose one of the layouts you like. And then you can exit this menu and press Play and enjoy the game wherever you want. If you notice that the game is glitchy, just lower the settings. Also, if you are looking for more content, then be sure to check out our guide on how to find the carrot cream soup recipe in Palia.
Want to join our community and discuss Palia? Then join our Discord server or visit us on Facebook, we are looking forward to you!
The first step is to find the launcher where we installed it???
So where is the step where we install the launcher in the first place???
That is the most important step 1!
And also an explanation how to do that WITHOUT steam ignoring that we want to install on SD card so it doesn’t try to fill the internal storage under downloading resulting in everything crashing due to no space left.
How do you select these 13 folders, when they are parent to each other???
You can go into the folders in the following order, but you can’t select all of them, as entering one folder, will deselect the previous one!!!
This guide misses everything and even the basic computer terms is wrong!
No effort have been put into this!
Please correct it and provide a REAL guide!
How to get the Launcher on the Steam Deck is explained. Maybe you skipped that part.
To select the SD Card, you need to select it as Storage in the Steam Deck settings: Settings > Storage > Select your SD Card and press X. We will add that part, but it should be common knowledge for every Steam user.
The part about folders may not be worded in a foolproof way; we have adjusted that. Of course, it means that you should open the launcher folder, and we explain the way to find it.
Otherwise, the Guide is still correct, and misses nothing. Thanks for your feedback anyway.