A Steam Deck owner has found a delightfully impractical way to give digital games a physical presence: launching them with floppy disks. The disks do not store game data. Instead, a custom SteamOS plugin reads a game-specific Steam URL and starts the matching title from the Deck’s internal storage or microSD card.
Key takeaways
The project, created by Reddit user BlackIceLA, turns old storage media into game-startup keys rather than genuine game cartridges.
- The Decky Links plugin launches Steam and manually added non-Steam games.
- Floppy disks contain only a short
steam://run/link. - A USB floppy drive provides the period-correct sounds and delays.
- NFC tags, QR codes and USB drives can also trigger launches.
How the floppy system works
A standard 3.5-inch floppy holds about 1.44MB, making it unsuitable for modern games that can occupy tens or hundreds of gigabytes. Decky Links avoids that limitation by saving a Steam URL to each disk. When the plugin detects the link, Steam opens the associated game, provided it is already installed and owned by the user.
Trigger Steam games from floppy disks!
by
u/BlackIceLA in
SteamDeck
For example, a disk might contain a URL such as steam://run/1174180, which identifies a particular game. The files remain on the Steam Deck, while the floppy acts as a physical shortcut.
A digital library with a physical ritual
The appeal is less about convenience than ceremony. Instead of scrolling through a library, players can select a labeled disk, insert it into a USB-connected drive and wait for the game to launch. The creator even printed game-themed labels sized for the disks, making the collection resemble a shelf of old PC releases.
Removing the configured media can also close the running game, strengthening the illusion that the disk is a required physical copy. It is not a true ownership or copy-protection system, but it recreates the familiar insert-and-play ritual.
More than a floppy-disk novelty
Decky Links is designed to work with several types of physical media, including NFC tags, QR codes, USB drives and CDs. NFC tags are reportedly much faster than floppy disks, while QR codes may be more convenient for users who do not want to connect aging hardware.
The plugin can also launch non-Steam games that have been manually added to a Steam library. That gives the system potential as a customizable front end for mixed collections, although its primary value remains nostalgic.
Early project with practical limitations
The plugin is still under development and is not yet available as a polished Decky Plugin Store installation. Users currently need to obtain and configure the project manually, and the floppy-based process can take several seconds or require repeated attempts.
The concept nevertheless highlights how modders are responding to increasingly digital game libraries. Decky Links does not restore physical ownership, but it adds a tangible, personal ritual to software that would otherwise exist only as an icon on a screen.
Via Reddit