Handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck have truly made the portable gaming dream come true. Gaming laptops are, of course, portable to some extent and significantly more powerful, but you can’t really use them unless you’re sitting down or at a table. With its own display and built-in controls, the Steam Deck lets you play anywhere and in any position, whether you’re standing up waiting in line or lounging in bed.

But what gives the Steam Deck its power can also become its liability, especially when that display stops working. Of course, the rest of the handheld computer can still be used, though not in the original design anymore. If that’s the case, then you don’t really need to stick to that design and embrace a different shell that will let you continue using the Steam Deck but in a very different way.

Designer: ColliBoy

The built-in screen is even more important to the essence of a handheld PC than it is to a laptop. A laptop with a broken display can still be used as a desktop replacement, but a Steam Deck would lose its core value that way. It’s not the end of the world yet, of course, because you can theoretically still play the Steam Deck on the go, at least with the right enclosure and peripherals.

The Steam Deck Motherboard Case concept tries to give such broken Steam Decks another chance by becoming a portable console instead. As the name suggests, it involves gutting the Steam Deck to take out its motherboard and put it in a thin 3D printed shell on its own. No display, no controls, just the computer and perhaps a battery. To actually use the console, though, you’ll need some “AR” glasses like Xreal or Rokid, and perhaps a telescopic Bluetooth controller you can clamp around this enclosure.

The design of the enclosure itself is pretty interesting in that it was made to not require screws. This would make maintenance of the board inside a bit easier, though it might also raise concerns about its stability. The design has a large ring in one corner to fit a keychain or carabiner, emphasizing its portable nature. The shell also has vertical grooves that make it look like it was made from a suitcase, but these are actually large grilles with a mesh underneath for ventilation.

This isn’t the first “headless” Steam Deck mod we’ve come across, and its purpose is clearly different from the others. While some are just simply trying to reduce the footprint of the Steam Deck, this motherboard shell concept is trying to reduce e-waste in its own little way by reviving still functional handhelds that just happen to have their screens broken.