Regular Steam Deck users (and those who enjoy gaming on the variety of mini-PCs out there) are likely familiar with a certain physical sensation: wrist pain, tingling, and numbness. It’s not fun, and typically cuts your gaming short long before the battery gives out. These devices are just heavier and bulkier than the handhelds of yore, and even outweigh the Switch by a significant margin. But there’s a way to enjoy hours of gaming on them without that extra weight taking a toll on your wrists. If you don’t already have a kickstand, either by way of something like a Deck Mate or a case with a built-in stand, consider it one of the most essential investments you can make in your mini-PC gaming quality of life.
It really doesn’t matter how strong you are. Muscling through signs of strain is a good way to give yourself pain and, even if you’re willing to grit your teeth and endure it, consider that powering through the pain is a great way to increase the likelihood that you’re going to accidentally drop your very expensive gaming device. As I’ve learned in Olympic weight training lately, doing unnecessary reps or spending too much time under tension decreases your potential to keep carrying something. That may seem obvious when we’re talking about carrying over a hundred pounds, but it’s not something that clicked so easily for me when it came to the Steam Deck.
However, replaying Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater on Steam Deck recently made this glaringly obvious. As I sat there watching the game’s notoriously lengthy cutscenes, that familiar tingly sensation I often get in my wrists from prolonged Steam Deck sessions started kicking in, and I realized that given the length of the game, this would be a problem. That feeling is a prelude to pain and tens of minutes spent flexing out my wrists instead of gaming. It became obvious to me that, during these cutscenes, there was no good reason for me to be holding this device. I flipped out the stand on the JSAUX case that currently houses my Steam Deck (I have another one for the Ally X as well) and just put it down on the nearest table while I watched the remainder of the cutscene.
It’s become common practice now when I’m playing on either the Steam Deck or Ally X. If I don’t need to be pressing buttons, the machine is resting on its stand–provided there’s a table somewhere nearby. I only rarely experience wrist pain as a result and have a far greater experience with the devices, especially since the stands keep the screen facing me, as opposed to just laying them flat. This small practice has also dramatically increased how much time I spend on Steam Deck.
So however you get one on the back of your device, please save your wrists and put your machine on its stand whenever you don’t have to be actually holding the thing. You’ll thank me later, after many hours of blissful portable gaming.