Choose The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth
Choose The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth if you want an Adventure experience. The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth launched in 2019.
The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth vs War of the Damned
The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth and War of the Damned both land in Strategy, RPG on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Strategy, RPG on Steam. The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth (2019) is 7 years older than War of the Damned (2026). Both are free to play. No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose War of the Damned
Choose War of the Damned if you want an Indie and Free To Play game with Online PvP and Online Co-op. On Steam, it's the newer release (2026) and ships with the modern feature baseline. War of the Damned launched in 2026.
Both The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth and War of the Damned sit in Strategy and RPG on Steam and both list Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen, and Shared/Split Screen PvP, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.
Side-by-side comparison
 The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth |  War of the Damned | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2019 | 2026 |
| Genres | Strategy, Adventure, RPG | Strategy, Indie, RPG, Free To Play |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Playable | Unrated |
| Price | Free to play | Free to play |
| Steam reviews | 90.4% positive (387 reviews) | 3 reviews |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op | Multi-player, Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op |
| Developers | Fantasy Flight Games | Coki Studio |
Side by side
- Both share Strategy, RPG on Steam.
- The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth (2019) is 7 years older than War of the Damned (2026).
- Both are free to play.
- Both support cooperative play.
- The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth is Deck Playable on Steam Deck; War of the Damned has no Deck rating yet.
The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth vs War of the Damned — FAQ
- Should I play The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth or War of the Damned first?
- If you want chronology, The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth (2019) came out before War of the Damned (2026). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth and War of the Damned similar?
- They overlap on Strategy, RPG on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.
- Do both The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth and War of the Damned have co-op?
- Yes — both list a co-op category on Steam. Specifics differ: The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth ships Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op; War of the Damned ships Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op.
- Does The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth is rated Deck Playable by Valve. War of the Damned doesn't have a Deck rating yet, so its Deck behaviour is currently unverified.