Choose Murder Miners
Choose Murder Miners if you want the Online PvP, Online Co-op, and Shared/Split Screen Co-op side of the pairing. On Steam, it's Steam Deck Verified, so handheld play works out of the box. 3,095 Steam reviews back the pick.
Murder Miners vs Counter Agents
Murder Miners and Counter Agents both land in Action, Indie, Casual 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, Casual on Steam. Murder Miners (2014) is 2 years older than Counter Agents (2016). Murder Miners scores higher on Steam reviews (90.3% positive) than Counter Agents (88.8% 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 Counter Agents
Choose Counter Agents if you want a Strategy, Adventure, and Free To Play experience. On Steam, it's free to play, so the barrier to trying it is zero. Counter Agents launched in 2016.
Both Murder Miners and Counter Agents sit in Action, Indie, and Casual on Steam and both list Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen, and Shared/Split Screen PvP, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (90.3% vs 88.8% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 Murder Miners |  Counter Agents | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2014 | 2016 |
| Genres | Action, Indie, Casual | Action, Strategy, Indie, Adventure, Free To Play, Casual |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Unrated |
| Price | 2.99 USD | Free to play |
| Steam reviews | 90.3% positive (3,095 reviews) | 88.8% positive (80 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer, Online Co-op | Multi-player |
| Developers | JForce Games | James Montgomery, Daniel Paez, Jeff Jackman, Lance Montgomery, Michael Nova |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Indie, Casual on Steam.
- Murder Miners (2014) is 2 years older than Counter Agents (2016).
- Murder Miners scores higher on Steam reviews (90.3% positive) than Counter Agents (88.8% positive).
- Counter Agents is free; Murder Miners is paid (2.99 USD).
- Murder Miners has co-op; Counter Agents does not.
- Murder Miners is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; Counter Agents has no Deck rating yet.
Murder Miners vs Counter Agents — FAQ
- Should I play Murder Miners or Counter Agents first?
- If you want chronology, Murder Miners (2014) came out before Counter Agents (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 Murder Miners and Counter Agents similar?
- They overlap on Action, Indie, Casual 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.
- Is Counter Agents free?
- Yes — Counter Agents is a free-to-play Steam title. Murder Miners is paid (2.99 USD).
- Does Murder Miners run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — Murder Miners is rated Deck Verified by Valve. Counter Agents doesn't have a Deck rating yet, so its Deck behaviour is currently unverified.