Game Save Genie vs SideSave

Game Save Genie backs up and syncs PC game saves for games without save protection from their launchers. It uses the Ludusavi database to locate saves for more than 19,000 games, and users can track folders and files manually, including emulator saves. Backups run when a game closes and every 10 minutes while it runs. Each backup is an immutable, checksummed snapshot, and users can restore a selected version. The tool supports Google Drive, OneDrive, S3 buckets, and other rclone destinations; unchanged save files are not uploaded again. Users can pull newer saves onto another PC, with save paths remapped across Windows, Linux, and macOS usernames. Before restoring, it verifies and stages downloads, makes a safety snapshot, and avoids restoring while a game is running. The project says it has no accounts, servers of its own, or telemetry. Windows single-machine backups are described as stable; cross-machine sync and Linux/Steam Deck support are beta. It is free and MIT-licensed.

SideSave is free, open-source software that synchronizes save data for non-Steam games added to Steam as shortcuts. It pairs two approved machines and transfers tracked saves over a local network or an internet relay, sending only changed content blocks. Versioned snapshots and branches preserve history, while lineage-based conflict detection asks whether to keep the local copy, remote copy, or both. Saves can be restored individually or as complete versions. Detection reads Steam’s shortcuts.vdf file and offers Proton save locations for tracking. The scan excludes real Steam Cloud games, emulator saves, repack-wrapper detection, and portable installs. Optional backups can mirror snapshots to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV, a webhook, or local/NAS storage. SideSave has no accounts or telemetry; relay traffic is encrypted but not end-to-end. The project publishes no releases, so users build the CLI, desktop app, relay, or Steam Deck components from source.