Choose Police Stories: The Academy
Choose Police Stories: The Academy if you want an Indie, Simulation, and Free To Play experience. On Steam, it's free to play, so the barrier to trying it is zero. Police Stories: The Academy launched in 2022.
Police Stories: The Academy vs Ghostward
Police Stories: The Academy and Ghostward 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. Police Stories: The Academy is free; Ghostward is paid (Price unknown). Both support cooperative play. 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 Ghostward
Choose Ghostward if you want the Online PvP, Shared/Split Screen PvP, and LAN PvP side of the pairing.
Both Police Stories: The Academy and Ghostward sit in Action and Strategy on Steam and both list Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen, and Online Co-op, 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
 Police Stories: The Academy |  Ghostward | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2022 | — |
| Genres | Action, Strategy, Indie, Simulation, Free To Play | Action, Strategy |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Unrated |
| Price | Free to play | Price unknown |
| Steam reviews | 87.7% positive (366 reviews) | — |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer, Online Co-op |
| Developers | HypeTrain Digital | Julio Carmona |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Strategy on Steam.
- Police Stories: The Academy is free; Ghostward is paid (Price unknown).
- Both support cooperative play.
Police Stories: The Academy vs Ghostward — FAQ
- Are Police Stories: The Academy and Ghostward 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.
- Do both Police Stories: The Academy and Ghostward have co-op?
- Yes — both list a co-op category on Steam. Specifics differ: Police Stories: The Academy ships Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op; Ghostward ships Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op.
- Is Police Stories: The Academy free?
- Yes — Police Stories: The Academy is a free-to-play Steam title. Ghostward is paid (Price unknown).