This guide explains how to Steam games using an Android phone. While the process may work on other architectures, it is intended specifically for arm64 Android devices.
Set Up Termux
Download and install Termux, then open it and run the following commands.
pkg update
termux-setup-storage
Set Up Proot (Debian)
Install Proot-Distro and set up a Debian environment.
pkg install proot-distro
proot-distro install debian
proot-distro login debian
Enable armhf support and install required packages.
dpkg --add-architecture armhf
apt update
apt upgrade
apt install build-essential cmake gcc-arm-linux-gnueabihf git libc6:armhf python3
Set Up Box86
Clone and build Box86 inside the Debian environment.
git clone https://github.com/ptitSeb/box86
cd box86
mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. -DARM64=1 -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo -DBAD_SIGNAL=ON
make -j$(nproc)
make install
box86 --help
Clean up the source directory.
cd ~
rm -r box86
Set Up SteamCMD
Create a directory for SteamCMD and download it.
mkdir Steam
cd Steam
curl -sqL "https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz" | tar zxvf -
cd ~
Run SteamCMD using Box86. You may need to execute this command multiple times until the SteamCMD shell appears.
box86 /root/Steam/linux32/steamcmd
LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/root/Steam/linux32/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH" box86 /root/Steam/linux32/steamcmd
Log in to your Steam account using:
login username
Enter your password when prompted, then exit SteamCMD by typing:
quit
Create a SteamCMD Script
Create a script for easier usage.
nano steamcmd.sh
Paste the following line into the file and replace username with your Steam username.
LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/root/Steam/linux32/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH" box86 /root/Steam/linux32/steamcmd +@sSteamCmdForcePlatformType windows +login username
Save and exit nano using CTRL + X, then make the script executable.
chmod +x steamcmd.sh
Using SteamCMD
Launch SteamCMD with:
./steamcmd.sh
To download a game, use:
app_update appid
Replace appid with the game’s App ID from SteamDB.
Accessing Downloaded Games
Downloaded games are stored in:
/root/Steam/steamapps/common/
To copy a game to your phone’s internal storage:
cp -r /root/Steam/steamapps/common/title /storage/emulated/0/
Replace title with the game’s folder name.
If the folder name contains spaces, type the first few letters and press Tab (available in the Termux soft keys) to auto-complete the name. The same applies to paths under /storage/emulated/0/.
Installing on PC
Move the downloaded game folder to a Steam library directory on your PC. Then use the Steam client to install the game to that location. Steam should verify the files without re-downloading them.
Notes
An unlimited or high-cap mobile data plan is recommended if you plan to download large games.