Choose Ikaruga
Choose Ikaruga if it's Steam Deck Verified, so handheld play works out of the box. 1,193 Steam reviews back the pick.
Ikaruga vs Sky Mercenaries
Ikaruga and Sky Mercenaries both land in Action, Indie 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 on Steam. Both released in 2014. Ikaruga scores higher on Steam reviews (95.1% positive) than Sky Mercenaries (73.1% 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 Sky Mercenaries
Choose Sky Mercenaries if you want the Steam Turn Notifications side of the pairing. Sky Mercenaries launched in 2014.
Both Ikaruga and Sky Mercenaries sit in Action and Indie on Steam and both list Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen, and Steam Leaderboards, 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
 Ikaruga |  Sky Mercenaries | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2014 | 2014 |
| Genres | Action, Indie | Action, Indie |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows, Linux |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Unrated |
| Price | 9.99 USD | 9.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 95.1% positive (1,193 reviews) | 73.1% positive (26 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player | Multi-player |
| Developers | TREASURE | PolarityFlow, Adrian Zingg |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Indie on Steam.
- Both released in 2014.
- Ikaruga scores higher on Steam reviews (95.1% positive) than Sky Mercenaries (73.1% positive).
- Sky Mercenaries is currently ~0% cheaper on Steam than Ikaruga (9.99 USD vs. 9.99 USD).
- Ikaruga is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; Sky Mercenaries has no Deck rating yet.
Ikaruga vs Sky Mercenaries — FAQ
- Are Ikaruga and Sky Mercenaries similar?
- They overlap on Action, Indie 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 Ikaruga run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — Ikaruga is rated Deck Verified by Valve. Sky Mercenaries doesn't have a Deck rating yet, so its Deck behaviour is currently unverified.