Choose Waves
Choose Waves if you want an Action experience. On Steam, it's free to play, so the barrier to trying it is zero. Waves launched in 2011.
Waves vs Return Home
Waves and Return Home both land in Indie 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 Indie games on Steam. Waves (2011) is 8 years older than Return Home (2019). Waves is free; Return Home is paid (4.99 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 Return Home
Choose Return Home if it's the newer release (2019) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Return Home launched in 2019.
Both Waves and Return Home sit in Indie 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 |  Return Home | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2011 | 2019 |
| Genres | Action, Indie | Indie |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Unrated |
| Price | Free to play | 4.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 95.6% positive (884 reviews) | 5 reviews |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Squid In A Box Ltd | Verran |
Side by side
- Both are Indie games on Steam.
- Waves (2011) is 8 years older than Return Home (2019).
- Waves is free; Return Home is paid (4.99 USD).
- Waves is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; Return Home has no Deck rating yet.
Waves vs Return Home — FAQ
- Should I play Waves or Return Home first?
- If you want chronology, Waves (2011) came out before Return Home (2019). 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 Return Home similar?
- They overlap on Indie 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.
- Is Waves free?
- Yes — Waves is a free-to-play Steam title. Return Home is paid (4.99 USD).
- Does Waves run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — Waves is rated Deck Verified by Valve. Return Home doesn't have a Deck rating yet, so its Deck behaviour is currently unverified.