Choose Star Traders: Frontiers
Choose Star Traders: Frontiers if you want a RPG game with Steam Leaderboards. On Steam, it's currently about 25% cheaper on the Steam Store. 3,217 Steam reviews back the pick.
Star Traders: Frontiers vs Hired Stars
Star Traders: Frontiers and Hired Stars both land in Strategy 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 are Strategy games on Steam. Star Traders: Frontiers (2018) is 8 years older than Hired Stars (2026). Star Traders: Frontiers is currently ~25% cheaper on Steam than Hired Stars (14.99 USD vs. 19.99 USD). 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 Hired Stars
Choose Hired Stars if you want an Action, Indie, and Adventure game with Adjustable Text Size, Subtitle Options, and Color Alternatives. On Steam, it's the newer release (2026) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Hired Stars launched in 2026.
Both Star Traders: Frontiers and Hired Stars sit in Strategy on Steam and both list Camera Comfort, Custom Volume Controls, and Playable without Timed Input, 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
 Star Traders: Frontiers |  Hired Stars | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2018 | 2026 |
| Genres | Strategy, RPG | Action, Strategy, Indie, Adventure, Simulation, Early Access |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Playable | Deck Playable |
| Price | 14.99 USD | 19.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 84.1% positive (3,217 reviews) | 3 reviews |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Trese Brothers | Mark Kaps |
Side by side
- Both are Strategy games on Steam.
- Star Traders: Frontiers (2018) is 8 years older than Hired Stars (2026).
- Star Traders: Frontiers is currently ~25% cheaper on Steam than Hired Stars (14.99 USD vs. 19.99 USD).
- Both are Deck Playable.
Star Traders: Frontiers vs Hired Stars — FAQ
- Should I play Star Traders: Frontiers or Hired Stars first?
- If you want chronology, Star Traders: Frontiers (2018) came out before Hired Stars (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 Star Traders: Frontiers and Hired Stars similar?
- They overlap on Strategy 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.