Choose Guardians of Middle-earth
Choose Guardians of Middle-earth if you want the Steam Leaderboards side of the pairing. Guardians of Middle-earth launched in 2013.
Guardians of Middle-earth vs Paladins®
Guardians of Middle-earth and Paladins® both land in Action, Strategy 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 Action, Strategy on Steam. Guardians of Middle-earth (2013) is 5 years older than Paladins® (2018). Paladins® scores higher on Steam reviews (82.1% positive) than Guardians of Middle-earth (20.8% 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 Paladins®
Choose Paladins® if you want an Adventure, Massively Multiplayer, and Free To Play game with Online PvP and PvP. On Steam, it carries the stronger Steam consensus at 82.1% positive across 127,515 reviews.
Both Guardians of Middle-earth and Paladins® sit in Action and Strategy on Steam and both list Multi-player, 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
 Guardians of Middle-earth |  Paladins® | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2013 | 2018 |
| Genres | Action, Strategy | Action, Strategy, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer, Free To Play |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Playable | Deck Unsupported |
| Price | Price unknown | Free to play |
| Steam reviews | 20.8% positive (168 reviews) | 82.1% positive (127,515 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer |
| Developers | Zombie Studios | Evil Mojo Games |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Strategy on Steam.
- Guardians of Middle-earth (2013) is 5 years older than Paladins® (2018).
- Paladins® scores higher on Steam reviews (82.1% positive) than Guardians of Middle-earth (20.8% positive).
- Paladins® is free; Guardians of Middle-earth is paid (Price unknown).
- Steam Deck: Guardians of Middle-earth is Deck Playable, Paladins® is Deck Unsupported.
Guardians of Middle-earth vs Paladins® — FAQ
- Which is better, Guardians of Middle-earth or Paladins®?
- On Steam reviews Paladins® scores higher (82.1% positive) than Guardians of Middle-earth (20.8% positive). Both have enough reviews to trust the signal, so for players using reviews alone, Paladins® is the safer pick. Genre fit still matters — check the side-by-side table for the categories each game lands in.
- Should I play Guardians of Middle-earth or Paladins® first?
- If you want chronology, Guardians of Middle-earth (2013) came out before Paladins® (2018). 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 Guardians of Middle-earth and Paladins® similar?
- They overlap on Action, Strategy 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 Paladins® free?
- Yes — Paladins® is a free-to-play Steam title. Guardians of Middle-earth is paid (Price unknown).