Choose Hard West
Choose Hard West if you want an Indie and Adventure experience. On Steam, it's currently about 50% cheaper on the Steam Store. 2,209 Steam reviews back the pick.
Hard West vs Phantom Doctrine
Hard West and Phantom Doctrine both land in Strategy, 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, RPG on Steam. Hard West (2015) is 3 years older than Phantom Doctrine (2018). Both sit near 74% positive on Steam (Hard West: 2,209 reviews, Phantom Doctrine: 2,032). 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 Phantom Doctrine
Choose Phantom Doctrine if you want an Action game with Multi-player, Online PvP, and PvP. On Steam, it's the newer release (2018) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 2,032 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both Hard West and Phantom Doctrine sit in Strategy and RPG on Steam, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (73.7% vs 74.3% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 Hard West |  Phantom Doctrine | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2015 | 2018 |
| Genres | Strategy, Indie, Adventure, RPG | Action, Strategy, RPG |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Playable | Deck Unsupported |
| Price | 19.99 USD | 39.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 73.7% positive (2,209 reviews) | 74.3% positive (2,032 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Multi-player |
| Developers | CreativeForge Games | CreativeForge Games |
Side by side
- Both share Strategy, RPG on Steam.
- Hard West (2015) is 3 years older than Phantom Doctrine (2018).
- Both sit near 74% positive on Steam (Hard West: 2,209 reviews, Phantom Doctrine: 2,032).
- Hard West is currently ~50% cheaper on Steam than Phantom Doctrine (19.99 USD vs. 39.99 USD).
- Steam Deck: Hard West is Deck Playable, Phantom Doctrine is Deck Unsupported.
Hard West vs Phantom Doctrine — FAQ
- Which is better, Hard West or Phantom Doctrine?
- On Steam reviews the two are nearly tied: Hard West sits at 73.7% positive (2,209 reviews), Phantom Doctrine at 74.3% (2,032). The choice usually comes down to genre fit and the platform features each one supports — see the comparison table above.
- Should I play Hard West or Phantom Doctrine first?
- If you want chronology, Hard West (2015) came out before Phantom Doctrine (2018). 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 Hard West and Phantom Doctrine similar?
- They overlap on Strategy, 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 Hard West have multiplayer like Phantom Doctrine?
- No. Phantom Doctrine supports multiplayer on Steam (Multi-player), while Hard West is listed as single-player only.