Choose Waves
Choose Waves if you want an Indie experience. On Steam, it carries the stronger Steam consensus at 95.6% positive across 884 reviews.
Waves vs PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate
Waves and PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate both land in Action 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 Action games on Steam. Waves (2011) is 4 years older than PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate (2015). Waves scores higher on Steam reviews (95.6% positive) than PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate (87.7% positive). 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 PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate
Choose PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate if you want the Multi-player and Shared/Split Screen side of the pairing. On Steam, it's the newer release (2015) and ships with the modern feature baseline. PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate launched in 2015.
Both Waves and PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate sit in Action on Steam and both list Steam Leaderboards, 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
 Waves |  PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2011 | 2015 |
| Genres | Action, Indie | Action |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Deck Verified |
| Price | Free to play | 9.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 95.6% positive (884 reviews) | 87.7% positive (155 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Multi-player |
| Developers | Squid In A Box Ltd | Q-Games Ltd., Double Eleven |
Side by side
- Both are Action games on Steam.
- Waves (2011) is 4 years older than PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate (2015).
- Waves scores higher on Steam reviews (95.6% positive) than PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate (87.7% positive).
- Waves is free; PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate is paid (9.99 USD).
- Both are Deck Verified.
Waves vs PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate — FAQ
- Which is better, Waves or PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate?
- On Steam reviews Waves scores higher (95.6% positive) than PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate (87.7% positive). Both have enough reviews to trust the signal, so for players using reviews alone, Waves is the safer pick. Genre fit still matters — check the side-by-side table for the categories each game lands in.
- Should I play Waves or PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate first?
- If you want chronology, Waves (2011) came out before PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate (2015). 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 Waves and PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate similar?
- They overlap on Action 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 Waves have multiplayer like PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate?
- No. PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate supports multiplayer on Steam (Multi-player), while Waves is listed as single-player only.
- Is Waves free?
- Yes — Waves is a free-to-play Steam title. PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate is paid (9.99 USD).
- Do Waves and PixelJunk™ Shooter Ultimate both run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — both are Steam Deck Verified, meaning Valve confirms they run with full controller support, legible text, and default settings out of the box.