Nintendo DS & 3DS Steam Deck Citra Emulator Setup Guide (2024)

Recently we’ve had a few readers ask us how they can play 3DS games and DS games on their Steam Deck. This article will be covering how to emulate both the Nintendo DS and 3DS handheld systems so you can play your favorite games on the Steam Deck screen.

Thanks to all the advancements we’ve seen in emulation over the last years, you can run games on tons of different hardware. The Steam Deck can run both 2DS and 3DS games fantastically as well in both handheld mode and if you decide to connect it to a TV for a couch gaming mode session.

Without further ado, let’s jump in and get into the guide.

How To Play DS and 3DS Games On Steam Deck?

EmuDeck for Steam Deck

First things first, EmuDeck is a handy retro gaming emulation software that allows you to play retro games from a ton of different older systems. EmuDeck makes the process quite simple too and emulator installation and configuration is all taken care of you for the most part. We highly recommend using it.

Not only that, but EmuDeck can also compress your ROMs using their compressor tool to save you up to 70% of space, it supports cloud backups for your save files, and it can enable gyroscope controls for the 3DS, Switch, Wii, and Wii U. Cross platform syncing is also a feature that is supposed to be coming soon.

EmuDeck supports both the Nintendo DS and 3DS, but also these systems as well:

• Atari
• Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
• Sega CD
• Sega 32X
• PC Engine
• Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
• Super Nintendo (SNES)
• MAME
• FinalBurn Neo
• Master System
• Game Boy
• Neo Geo Pocket
• Game Gear
• Sony PSP
• Sony Dreamcast
• Playstation (PS1)
• Playstation 2 (PS2)
• Nintendo 64 (N64)
• Wii
• GameCube
• Wii U
• Nintendo Switch

Installing EmuDeck and the Citra Emulator

Getting EmuDeck on your Steam Deck couldn’t be simpler:

• If you plan to load ROMs off of an SD card, you’ll need to first make sure you have your SD card formatted to either ext4 or btrfs
• On your Steam Deck, open up the web browser and head to the EmuDeck website to download it: https://www.emudeck.com/#download
• After you have installed EmuDeck, go to your downloads folder and drag the file onto your main desktop screen and then open up EmuDeck
• The first time that you boot up EmuDeck you’ll be greeted with some prompts that will take you through the setup process
• You’ll choose which system emulators you want to install; keep in mind that if you plan to play games from systems other than the DS and 3DS, it’s pretty easy to just install of the available emulators at once right at the beginning and won’t take too long at all
• For playing DS and 3DS games, you’ll want to make sure you install the Citra emulator

Citra is the best 3DS emulator you can use and you really can’t go wrong with it. It has top notch performance and boasts the highest number of compatible DS and 3DS games.

Optimizing Citra Settings For The Steam Deck

We recommend the following resolution settings depending on if you are playing in portable handheld mode or if you’re connected to a TV:

• First open up the Graphics tab and select Renderer
• You should see a dropdown appear and be able to choose your resolution
• If you’re playing the Steam Deck in handheld mode, the recommended choice would be 3x native resolution
• Do keep in mind that 3x native resolution is the highest output that the Steam Deck supports and it should really only be used while playing in handheld mode
• For when you’re playing in docked mode, you’ll want to select the different resolution options until you find the one that looks best for your setup
• You can also setup custom control configurations if you wish, but this isn’t necessary if you’re fine with the defaults

Using The Steam ROM Manager

Because we installed EmuDeck, the good news is that we already have the Steam ROM Manager installed on our Steam Deck.

• Boot up the Steam ROM Manager and choose which game systems you want it to work for
• Go ahead and click to preview and if you’re happy with how things look, you can select to generate your app list
• The Steam ROM Manager will automatically pull in your game library’s artwork for you
• Once it has finished, be sure to save your app list
• Now if you head back to the Steam Deck home screen, you’ll see your ROMs listed there for you to easily boot up and play 3DS games and DS games

Summary

And just like that, you should now be all setup and ready to play your favorite 3DS games and DS games on your Steam Deck. We told you the process was straightforward and easy to setup! All it takes it knowing which program to install and how to optimize it for the best resolution.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Steam Deck Play 3DS Games?

The Steam Deck absolutely can play 3DS games and DS games very well with great performance. All you need to do is install the proper software and you can be playing your favorite classic games in literal minutes. We recommend installing EmuDeck because it makes the entire process extremely simple and is quite intuitive to use.

EmuDeck will even automatically install any of the emulators you need to play games from most retro systems.

How Do I Get Citra on Steam Deck?

You have two main choices when it comes to installing the Citra emulator on your Steam Deck. The first option is to install EmuDeck and then install Citra through that. This is the route we recommend because it will mostly automate the entire process for you and saves a ton of time.

EmuDeck is the simplest way to install Citra. The other option is to download the Citra standalone emulator and install it yourself manually. This will require a bit more work but you can visit the Citra website to download it here.

Are you an Android user as well? Be sure to check out our guide on how to setup the Citra 3DS emulator for Android.