Choose Royal Merchant
Choose Royal Merchant if you want a Sports, Indie, and Simulation experience. Royal Merchant launched in 2023.
Royal Merchant vs Portal Worlds
Royal Merchant and Portal Worlds both land in Strategy, Adventure, 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, Adventure, RPG on Steam. Royal Merchant (2023) is 3 years older than Portal Worlds (2026). Portal Worlds scores higher on Steam reviews (65.5% positive) than Royal Merchant (64.3% 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 Portal Worlds
Choose Portal Worlds if you want a Free To Play experience. On Steam, it's free to play, so the barrier to trying it is zero. Portal Worlds launched in 2026.
Both Royal Merchant and Portal Worlds sit in Strategy, Adventure, and RPG on Steam and both list Multi-player, Online PvP, and PvP, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (64.3% vs 65.5% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 Royal Merchant |  Portal Worlds | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2023 | 2026 |
| Genres | Sports, Strategy, Indie, Adventure, Simulation, RPG, Casual | Strategy, Adventure, RPG, Free To Play, Casual |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Deck Unsupported |
| Price | 0.99 USD | Free to play |
| Steam reviews | 64.3% positive (28 reviews) | 65.5% positive (29 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer |
| Developers | Badim | Game Hollywood Games |
Side by side
- Both share Strategy, Adventure, RPG on Steam.
- Royal Merchant (2023) is 3 years older than Portal Worlds (2026).
- Portal Worlds scores higher on Steam reviews (65.5% positive) than Royal Merchant (64.3% positive).
- Portal Worlds is free; Royal Merchant is paid (0.99 USD).
- Portal Worlds is Deck Unsupported on Steam Deck; Royal Merchant has no Deck rating yet.
Royal Merchant vs Portal Worlds — FAQ
- Should I play Royal Merchant or Portal Worlds first?
- If you want chronology, Royal Merchant (2023) came out before Portal Worlds (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 Royal Merchant and Portal Worlds similar?
- They overlap on Strategy, Adventure, 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.
- Is Portal Worlds free?
- Yes — Portal Worlds is a free-to-play Steam title. Royal Merchant is paid (0.99 USD).