Choose The Banner Saga: Factions
Choose The Banner Saga: Factions if you want a Free To Play game with Multi-player. The Banner Saga: Factions launched in 2013.
The Banner Saga: Factions vs The Banner Saga 2
The Banner Saga: Factions and The Banner Saga 2 both land in Strategy, Indie, 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, Indie, RPG on Steam. The Banner Saga: Factions (2013) is 3 years older than The Banner Saga 2 (2016). The Banner Saga 2 scores higher on Steam reviews (90.6% positive) than The Banner Saga: Factions (73.9% 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 The Banner Saga 2
Choose The Banner Saga 2 if you want the Steam Leaderboards side of the pairing. On Steam, it carries the stronger Steam consensus at 90.6% positive across 1,781 reviews.
Both The Banner Saga: Factions and The Banner Saga 2 sit in Strategy, Indie, and RPG 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
 The Banner Saga: Factions |  The Banner Saga 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2013 | 2016 |
| Genres | Strategy, Indie, RPG, Free To Play | Strategy, Indie, RPG |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Deck Verified |
| Price | Price unknown | 24.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 73.9% positive (566 reviews) | 90.6% positive (1,781 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer | Single-player only |
| Developers | Stoic | Stoic |
Side by side
- Both share Strategy, Indie, RPG on Steam.
- The Banner Saga: Factions (2013) is 3 years older than The Banner Saga 2 (2016).
- The Banner Saga 2 scores higher on Steam reviews (90.6% positive) than The Banner Saga: Factions (73.9% positive).
- The Banner Saga 2 is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; The Banner Saga: Factions has no Deck rating yet.
The Banner Saga: Factions vs The Banner Saga 2 — FAQ
- Which is better, The Banner Saga: Factions or The Banner Saga 2?
- On Steam reviews The Banner Saga 2 scores higher (90.6% positive) than The Banner Saga: Factions (73.9% positive). Both have enough reviews to trust the signal, so for players using reviews alone, The Banner Saga 2 is the safer pick. Genre fit still matters — check the side-by-side table for the categories each game lands in.
- Should I play The Banner Saga: Factions or The Banner Saga 2 first?
- If you want chronology, The Banner Saga: Factions (2013) came out before The Banner Saga 2 (2016). 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 The Banner Saga: Factions and The Banner Saga 2 similar?
- They overlap on Strategy, Indie, 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.
- Does The Banner Saga 2 have multiplayer like The Banner Saga: Factions?
- No. The Banner Saga: Factions supports multiplayer on Steam (Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer), while The Banner Saga 2 is listed as single-player only.