About
PokeWilds is a Pokemon fan game that blends open-world exploration with survival and crafting mechanics inspired by Minecraft and Animal Crossing. It features a procedurally generated world, 300+ Pokemon, base building, and Gen 2 Game Boy Color-style graphics. Completely standalone — no ROM files or original Pokemon games required.
Built with Java and libGDX. For Steam Deck, grab pokewilds-linux64.zip from GitHub releases (github.com/SheerSt/pokewilds/releases) or pokewilds.com — it extracts to a folder containing the native PokeWilds-x64 executable with a bundled JRE, so no separate Java install is required.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- PokeWilds-x64
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Runtime
- Runs as
- Native Linux
- Proton
- not needed
The one thing to know
Standalone: Completely standalone — no original Pokemon files required.
Use the linux64 build: Download pokewilds-linux64.zip (NOT pokewilds-otherplatforms.zip). The linux64 build is a packr-bundled native binary that ships its own JRE — no separate Java/JDK install is needed. Only the otherplatforms / 32-bit builds require Java to be installed manually.
Install: Extract the zip, chmod +x PokeWilds-x64, then add PokeWilds-x64 as a non-Steam game (leave Compatibility/Proton OFF — it is native Linux) for a clean Game Mode launch.
Controller: No native gamepad support is documented; the game is keyboard-driven (with remappable keys), so map the Deck's controls to keyboard via Steam Input.
Community guides
Write-ups and threads from people who got this (or a similar) game running. deckport links to them — it doesn't reproduce them.
Get the artwork
deckport never hosts game images. Open this game on SteamGridDB, pick
the cover / hero / logo / icon you like, and drop them into the
game folder under .deckport-art/ before you push it to the
Deck. The importer files them under the right names automatically.
Run it on your Deck
Two files: the one-time importer (deckport.py) in your
Deck's home folder, and this game's install helper. Copy the game
into ~/Games and run the helper with Steam closed — it
writes the recipe (binary, launch options)
and registers the shortcut with artwork.