Choose Playback Trauma®: The Beach
Choose Playback Trauma®: The Beach if you want a Simulation experience. On Steam, it's currently about 25% cheaper on the Steam Store. Playback Trauma®: The Beach launched in 2022.
Playback Trauma®: The Beach vs What Happened to Lily?
Playback Trauma®: The Beach and What Happened to Lily? both land in Adventure, 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 share Adventure, Casual on Steam. Playback Trauma®: The Beach (2022) is 3 years older than What Happened to Lily? (2025). What Happened to Lily? scores higher on Steam reviews (82.4% positive) than Playback Trauma®: The Beach (66.7% 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 What Happened to Lily?
Choose What Happened to Lily? if you want an Indie experience. On Steam, it's the newer release (2025) and ships with the modern feature baseline. What Happened to Lily? launched in 2025.
Both Playback Trauma®: The Beach and What Happened to Lily? sit in Adventure and 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
 Playback Trauma®: The Beach |  What Happened to Lily? | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2022 | 2025 |
| Genres | Adventure, Simulation, Casual | Indie, Adventure, Casual |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Unrated |
| Price | 2.99 USD | 3.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 66.7% positive (21 reviews) | 82.4% positive (51 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Undying Joy | Montee Games |
Side by side
- Both share Adventure, Casual on Steam.
- Playback Trauma®: The Beach (2022) is 3 years older than What Happened to Lily? (2025).
- What Happened to Lily? scores higher on Steam reviews (82.4% positive) than Playback Trauma®: The Beach (66.7% positive).
- Playback Trauma®: The Beach is currently ~25% cheaper on Steam than What Happened to Lily? (2.99 USD vs. 3.99 USD).
Playback Trauma®: The Beach vs What Happened to Lily? — FAQ
- Should I play Playback Trauma®: The Beach or What Happened to Lily? first?
- If you want chronology, Playback Trauma®: The Beach (2022) came out before What Happened to Lily? (2025). 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 Playback Trauma®: The Beach and What Happened to Lily? similar?
- They overlap on Adventure, 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.