Choose The Lab
Choose The Lab if you want the Steam Leaderboards and SteamVR Collectibles side of the pairing. On Steam, it carries the stronger Steam consensus at 95.1% positive across 4,429 reviews.
The Lab vs The Red Stare
The Lab and The Red Stare both land in Free To Play 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 Free To Play games on Steam. The Lab (2016) is 1 year older than The Red Stare (2017). The Lab scores higher on Steam reviews (95.1% positive) than The Red Stare (88.5% 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 The Red Stare
Choose The Red Stare if you want an Action and Indie experience. The Red Stare launched in 2017.
Both The Lab and The Red Stare sit in Free To Play on Steam and both list Tracked Controller Support and VR Only, 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
 The Lab |  The Red Stare | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2016 | 2017 |
| Genres | Free To Play | Action, Indie, Free To Play |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Unsupported | Deck Unsupported |
| Price | Free to play | Free to play |
| Steam reviews | 95.1% positive (4,429 reviews) | 88.5% positive (399 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Valve | Play:D |
Side by side
- Both are Free To Play games on Steam.
- The Lab (2016) is 1 year older than The Red Stare (2017).
- The Lab scores higher on Steam reviews (95.1% positive) than The Red Stare (88.5% positive).
- Both are free to play.
- Both are Deck Unsupported.
The Lab vs The Red Stare — FAQ
- Which is better, The Lab or The Red Stare?
- On Steam reviews The Lab scores higher (95.1% positive) than The Red Stare (88.5% positive). Both have enough reviews to trust the signal, so for players using reviews alone, The Lab is the safer pick. Genre fit still matters — check the side-by-side table for the categories each game lands in.
- Should I play The Lab or The Red Stare first?
- If you want chronology, The Lab (2016) came out before The Red Stare (2017). 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 The Lab and The Red Stare similar?
- They overlap on Free To Play 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.