Steam Deck owner and Reddit user Alpha-Quartz had a problem.
"I love my Steam Deck but I've got one huge problem," they said on June 28. As they explained, "I have an abnormal hand, where I have two small thumbs instead of one big one, on my left hand."
This makes it difficult to use the Steam Deck's left analog stick comfortably. It's too far "towards the screen for my thumbs to reach it," Alpha-Quartz said.
So, they asked the Steam Deck Reddit community if they had any ideas. "Is there a simple mod where I can like move the stick to the left, or some thumb extenders or something?"
Folks, the Steam Deck Reddit community had some ideas.
Steam deck helperfrom r/SteamDeck
The very next day, user SpecificGreen9140 shared a video of their 3D printed thumbstick extender in action. "I designed a little help for people with two thumbs on one hand," they said in their post.
It's essentially two staggered circles – a duplicate pad attached to another pad that latches onto the thumbstick itself, shifting the stick's movement arm to the left. They even shared a link to the Printables blueprint. "I saw someone who maybe need this, its a bit hard to press the stick with it," they said in their post.
"This is AMAZING!" Alpha-Quartz responded. "Would it be possible for you to slightly move it just slightly further out?"
SpecificGreen9140 said they'd take another crack at it, but another user, Woogies, also gave it a go. The Printables data from Woogies, which SpecificGreen calls "much better than my version," combines an offset stacked pad with more contouring and a center indent.
The chain of prototyping didn't end there. SpecificGreen later shared some "upgraded versions" of their own in response to another post. That post was from D_Bagggg, who "printed something for people who want to use u/SpecificGreen9140's helper but only have one thumb on each hand."
I printed something for people who want to use u/SpecificGreen9140's helper but only have one thumb on each handfrom r/SteamDeck
Finally, we two-thumbed users can experience the three-thumbed Steam Deck life. Modern problems require modern solutions.
"I totally rot in hell," SpecificGreen said in the replies, "I laughed hard".
D_Bagggg – who really doesn't seem like a d-bag – said they hope the post lands in good humor, and if "it's too much, I'll gladly take it down. What inspired this stupid post was the idea that someone with two normal (boring) thumbs might see an awesome accessibility thing and say 'well what about me??' and go out of their way to make it for them. No ill will towards OOP intended whatsoever!"
In a previous comment, Alpha-Quartz said that they haven't had corrective surgery for their additional thumb not just because "I like it," but also because "if we did get rid of it I would be left with a super small thumb which sucks."
"The inner thumb is more precise, the outer thumb is stronger," they explained.
I reached out to Alpha-Quartz to see how their Steam Deck stick search is going. They said they're still testing and looking for the ideal solution. They've tried 3D printing two models, but the way they attach to the Steam Deck itself wasn't super clean.
"At this point I’m simply overwhelmed with the amount of support and positivity," they told me. "I'm out of words."
"The only two times I’ve felt that I was at disadvantage is 1) with the Steam Deck and 2) certain workouts in the gym," they said of their extra digit. "In gaming this has usually been an advantage, especially in older school Tekken / Mortal Kombat style games. For strategy games on PC as well. I play a lot of DoTA 2 and similar games, and having an extra thumb helps."
"Overall I am simply overwhelmed with the amount of positivity I’ve gotten from the community. I expected maybe a few dozen views and 4-5 suggestions. Instead I’ve got 100 different people trying to print different attachments and mailing them to me.
"Nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."
I wildly underestimated the Switch 2, and after just getting a Steam Deck, I'm almost regretting it.
