Choose Dying Light
Choose Dying Light if you want the Valve Anti-Cheat enabled side of the pairing. On Steam, it's Steam Deck Verified, so handheld play works out of the box. 96,634 Steam reviews back the pick.
Dying Light vs Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite
Dying Light and Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite both land in Action, 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 Action, RPG on Steam. Dying Light (2015) is 11 years older than Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite (2026). 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 Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite
Choose Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite if you want an Adventure and Massively Multiplayer game with Custom Volume Controls, Stereo Sound, and Surround Sound. On Steam, it's the newer release (2026) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite launched in 2026.
Both Dying Light and Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite sit in Action and RPG on Steam and both list Multi-player, Online PvP, 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
 Dying Light |  Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2015 | 2026 |
| Genres | Action, RPG | Action, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer, RPG |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Unrated |
| Price | 24.99 USD | Price unknown |
| Steam reviews | 94.2% positive (96,634 reviews) | — |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Online Co-op, Co-op | Multi-player, Online Co-op, Co-op |
| Developers | Techland | Hola Floop |
Side by side
- Both share Action, RPG on Steam.
- Dying Light (2015) is 11 years older than Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite (2026).
- Both support cooperative play.
- Dying Light is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite has no Deck rating yet.
Dying Light vs Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite — FAQ
- Should I play Dying Light or Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite first?
- If you want chronology, Dying Light (2015) came out before Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite (2026). 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 Dying Light and Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite similar?
- They overlap on Action, 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.
- Do both Dying Light and Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite have co-op?
- Yes — both list a co-op category on Steam. Specifics differ: Dying Light ships Online Co-op, Co-op; Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite ships Online Co-op, Co-op.
- Does Dying Light run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — Dying Light is rated Deck Verified by Valve. Starnded: Gardens of the Rubellite doesn't have a Deck rating yet, so its Deck behaviour is currently unverified.