Which is better, Striving for Light or Heretical?

On Steam reviews Heretical scores higher (86.3% positive) than Striving for Light (80% positive). Both have enough reviews to trust the signal, so for players using reviews alone, Heretical is the safer pick. Genre fit still matters — check the side-by-side table for the categories each game lands in.

Should I play Striving for Light or Heretical first?

If you want chronology, Heretical (2024) came out before Striving for Light (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 Striving for Light and Heretical similar?

They overlap on Action, Indie, Adventure 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 Heretical have multiplayer like Striving for Light?

No. Striving for Light supports multiplayer on Steam (Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op), while Heretical is listed as single-player only.

Striving for Light vs Heretical

Striving for Light and Heretical both land in Action, Indie, Adventure 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, Indie, Adventure on Steam. Heretical (2024) is 1 year older than Striving for Light (2025). Heretical scores higher on Steam reviews (86.3% positive) than Striving for Light (80% 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 Striving for Light

Choose Striving for Light if you want a Casual game with Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen, and Shared/Split Screen Co-op. On Steam, it's Steam Deck Verified, so handheld play works out of the box. Striving for Light launched in 2025.

Choose Heretical

Choose Heretical if you want an Early Access experience. On Steam, it carries the stronger Steam consensus at 86.3% positive across 502 reviews.

Both Striving for Light and Heretical sit in Action, Indie, and Adventure 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.

Striving for Light vs Heretical — Steam metadata comparison
	Striving for Light	Heretical
Released	2025	2024
Genres	Action, Indie, Adventure, RPG, Casual	Action, Indie, Adventure, RPG, Early Access
Platforms	Windows, Linux	Windows
Steam Deck	Deck Verified	Deck Playable
Price	12.59 USD	14.99 USD
Steam reviews	80% positive (100 reviews)	86.3% positive (502 reviews)
Multiplayer	Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op	Single-player only
Developers	Igniting Spark Games	Three Swords Studio

Side by side

Both share Action, Indie, Adventure on Steam.
Heretical (2024) is 1 year older than Striving for Light (2025).
Heretical scores higher on Steam reviews (86.3% positive) than Striving for Light (80% positive).
Striving for Light is currently ~16% cheaper on Steam than Heretical (12.59 USD vs. 14.99 USD).
Striving for Light has co-op; Heretical does not.
Steam Deck: Striving for Light is Deck Verified, Heretical is Deck Playable.