Alpakka 2 Puts Mouse Control in a DIY Gamepad

The line between PC games and console games is now really blurry, which means many of us now play PC games with gamepads while sitting on our couches. On top of that, many people with disabilities and mobility difficulties find playing with a gamepad more comfortable. That works great until the game in question demands a mouse. Alpakka 2 is an upcoming hacker-friendly “gyro-to-mouse” controller that solves that problem.

Gyro-to-mouse is a Steam feature, which can players can use on their Steamdeck or with specific controllers. It uses gyroscope sensors inside the gamepad to translate tilting motions into mouse movements, which is something a lot of players really appreciate. It works great for games designed for mice and can sometimes be preferable to traditional gamepad joystick remapping.

The Alpakka 2 from Input Labs does that natively, whether you’re using Steam or not. It even works with games that don’t support remapping or reassignment at all.

In addition to the four gyroscopes used for that functionality, it also has a d-pad, four face buttons, a thumb-sense touch surface, four select/start buttons, two joysticks, two mouse-style scroll wheels, two bumper buttons, two triggers (swappable between clicky and analog), and four more buttons on the back.

It should work great with the default configuration, but anyone wanting special functionality can reconfigure the firmware using a simple app with a user-friendly GUI. The Alpakka 2 will retain its configuration and work with any operating system — no special drivers, utilities, or bloatware necessary.

Best of all, Alpakka 2 is an open source project. While it will launch through Indiegogo for anyone who just wants to play, DIYers can build their own Alpakka 2 controllers. And anyone can hack, upgrade, or repair their controllers, whether they purchased them or built them.

If you’re interested, you can follow the campaign page on Indiegogo and get notifications as that progresses.