Hello again!!!
As a tentative solution to the issue of the Steam Deck freezing, I have created a branch that you can select to play through Queen Beast on a more modern version of Ren'Py! The default branch still uses the older build so that the save files won't break for people who are in the middle of a play through on PC.
If you would like to play on Steam Deck, please right click on the game in your library, then select properties>betas> then "steamdeckbuild". There isn't any password you need to access this build!
I'll continue to try and figure out a solution to the issue of saves breaking in the meanwhile.
Thank you all for your patience!
Envelope