Mantel
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Mantel

Free · Open source · Windows

A console-style home screen for Windows handhelds.

Steam, Xbox, Epic, GOG, Ubisoft and any .exe on one fullscreen shelf. Pick up the controller and play.

Download for Windows View on GitHub

Windows x64 installer. Built on the ROG Xbox Ally X. About the SmartScreen warning

Mantel's Games screen: Hades II's art and logo with 45.2 hours played, a Play button, and a row of game covers below Mantel's Library screen: a grid of game covers with filters for favorites, recent, most played, not installed and each store Mantel's game details screen for Hades II: playtime, Metacritic score, size on disk and Play, Favorite, Folder and Hide buttons

Games. Your games on one shelf, with time played, when you last played and the size on disk.

Features · 6 installed

Look closer.

01 / 06 · Works on first launch

Finds your games

Mantel finds installed games on its own: no plugins, no per-store setup.

Library · all games

02 / 06 · Controller first

Pad, touch or keys

Every screen works with the gamepad, the touchscreen or a keyboard. The control center (≡) closes games, restarts or powers off the device.

Games · hint bar

03 / 06 · Playtime that adds up

Every hour counts

Mantel times every session itself and, with your accounts connected, brings in playtime from Steam and Xbox across all your devices.

Games · playtime

04 / 06 · Your whole collection

Owned, not installed

Sign in to Steam or Xbox to also see the games you own but haven't installed. Picking one opens its install page in Steam or the Xbox app.

Library · filters

05 / 06 · Steps aside while you play

Out of your way

Mantel minimizes when a game starts and comes back when it exits.

Details · play

06 / 06 · Art for everything

Art for everything

Covers, backgrounds and logos come from Steam and GOG; a free SteamGridDB key covers the rest.

Games · covers

Controls · the same on every screen

  • APlay
  • BBack
  • YDetails
  • XFavorite
  • LBRBGames ↔ Library ↔ Settings
  • LTRTLibrary filters
  • Search
  • Control center: close game, restart, power off, desktop

On a keyboard: arrows, Enter, Esc, I details, F favorite, Q / E tabs, / search, M menu.

Stores · 5 supported · plus anything else

Five launchers.
One shelf.

Mantel reads what each store has already installed and launches games through that store, so nothing gets reinstalled or reconfigured.

Steam

Installed games
Library folders and app manifests, playtime from Steam's own files
With your account
Every owned game, playtime from all devices

Games always launch through their own store.

Accounts and privacy

Zero servers.
Zero telemetry.

Mantel talks only to the services you use. Signing in is optional: it adds the games you own and your playtime from other devices.

Settings › Privacy
Servers
NoneMantel has no servers of its own.
Telemetry
NoneNo analytics, no usage data.
Steam
You sign in on Steam's own page inside Mantel; Mantel never sees your password, and email Steam Guard codes work. It then reads your owned games with the same short-lived token the Steam store page uses.
Xbox
You sign in on Microsoft's own page and allow Mantel to read your Xbox profile. Mantel reads your play history and minutes played from Xbox Live.
Artwork
Steam's store and image servers, GOG's public API and, if you add a key, SteamGridDB.
Your data
Stays on your PC in %APPDATA%\com.playmantel.launcher\. user.json holds settings, favorites, playtime and the account tokens; cache.json can be deleted at any time.
Sign out
Settings → Accounts signs you out and deletes the tokens.
Read the full privacy statement

Help · 7 answers

FAQ

Windows says “Windows protected your PC”. Is that expected?

Yes, for now. That's Microsoft Defender SmartScreen, and it warns about installers that aren't code-signed. Mantel's installer isn't code-signed yet, so choose More info → Run anyway.

Every release is built by GitHub Actions from the public source code, so you can see exactly what goes into it.

How is it different from Playnite?

Playnite is a mature, open-source library manager with a big plugin ecosystem and both a desktop and a fullscreen mode; you can make it do almost anything. Mantel is narrower on purpose: one controller-first home screen that finds games from the supported stores on first launch, with no plugins and no per-store setup.

If you love tuning your setup, Playnite is great. If you want a handheld that boots straight into your games, try Mantel.

How is it different from the Xbox full screen experience on the ROG Xbox Ally?

The Xbox full screen experience is Microsoft's console-style shell for Windows handhelds, built around the Xbox app. Mantel is an independent, open-source app that treats every store the same, shows the games and playtime from your Steam and Xbox accounts side by side, and launches each game through its own store.

It's a regular Windows app, so you can try it without changing how your handheld boots, and turn on Start with Windows when you want it as your home screen.

Is it free?

Yes. Mantel is free and open source under the GPL-3.0-or-later license, with no ads, no subscription and no account required. The source code is on GitHub.

Which handhelds does it run on?

Mantel is built on and for the ROG Xbox Ally X, and it should feel at home on any Windows handheld or a TV PC. The installer is for 64-bit (x64) Windows. If something looks off on your device, open an issue.

Do I have to reinstall or move my games?

No. Mantel reads what your stores have already installed and launches each game through its own store, so nothing gets reinstalled or reconfigured.

Does Mantel collect any data?

No. Mantel has no servers and sends no telemetry; your settings, playtime and account tokens stay on your PC. The privacy statement lists every service it talks to.

Boot into
your games

Free for Windows handhelds. Turn on Settings → Start with Windows to boot the handheld straight into Mantel.

Download for Windows View on GitHub
  • Run Mantel_x.y.z_x64-setup.exe
  • SmartScreen warning? More info → Run anyway
  • Updates: one button in Settings