Choose Trombone Champ
Choose Trombone Champ if you want an Indie game with Steam Leaderboards and Steam Timeline. On Steam, it's currently about 63% cheaper on the Steam Store. 7,030 Steam reviews back the pick.
Trombone Champ vs Heads Up! Phones Down Edition
Trombone Champ and Heads Up! Phones Down Edition both land in Casual 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 are Casual games on Steam. Trombone Champ (2022) is 1 year older than Heads Up! Phones Down Edition (2023). Trombone Champ is currently ~63% cheaper on Steam than Heads Up! Phones Down Edition (14.99 USD vs. 39.99 USD). 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 Heads Up! Phones Down Edition
Choose Heads Up! Phones Down Edition if you want the Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen, and Shared/Split Screen Co-op side of the pairing. On Steam, it has co-op, so you can bring a friend. Heads Up! Phones Down Edition launched in 2023.
Both Trombone Champ and Heads Up! Phones Down Edition sit in Casual on Steam, 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
 Trombone Champ |  Heads Up! Phones Down Edition | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2022 | 2023 |
| Genres | Indie, Casual | Casual |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Playable | Deck Playable |
| Price | 14.99 USD | 39.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 98.2% positive (7,030 reviews) | 7 reviews |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op |
| Developers | Holy Wow Studios LLC | Aspyr |
Side by side
- Both are Casual games on Steam.
- Trombone Champ (2022) is 1 year older than Heads Up! Phones Down Edition (2023).
- Trombone Champ is currently ~63% cheaper on Steam than Heads Up! Phones Down Edition (14.99 USD vs. 39.99 USD).
- Heads Up! Phones Down Edition has co-op; Trombone Champ does not.
- Both are Deck Playable.
Trombone Champ vs Heads Up! Phones Down Edition — FAQ
- Should I play Trombone Champ or Heads Up! Phones Down Edition first?
- If you want chronology, Trombone Champ (2022) came out before Heads Up! Phones Down Edition (2023). 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 Trombone Champ and Heads Up! Phones Down Edition similar?
- They overlap on Casual 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.
- Does Trombone Champ have multiplayer like Heads Up! Phones Down Edition?
- No. Heads Up! Phones Down Edition supports multiplayer on Steam (Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op), while Trombone Champ is listed as single-player only.