Choose Bigscreen Beta
Choose Bigscreen Beta if you want a Free To Play game with Multi-player, Online PvP, and PvP. On Steam, it's free to play, so the barrier to trying it is zero. 2,550 Steam reviews back the pick.
Bigscreen Beta vs Song in the Smoke
Bigscreen Beta and Song in the Smoke both land in Action, Simulation 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, Simulation on Steam. Bigscreen Beta (2016) is 5 years older than Song in the Smoke (2021). Song in the Smoke scores higher on Steam reviews (86.1% positive) than Bigscreen Beta (84.5% 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 Song in the Smoke
Choose Song in the Smoke if you want an Adventure experience. On Steam, it's the newer release (2021) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Song in the Smoke launched in 2021.
Both Bigscreen Beta and Song in the Smoke sit in Action and Simulation on Steam and both list Tracked Controller Support and VR Only, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (84.5% vs 86.1% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 Bigscreen Beta |  Song in the Smoke | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2016 | 2021 |
| Genres | Action, Simulation, Free To Play | Action, Adventure, Simulation |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Deck Unsupported |
| Price | Free to play | 29.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 84.5% positive (2,550 reviews) | 86.1% positive (36 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer | Single-player only |
| Developers | Bigscreen, Inc. | 17-BIT |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Simulation on Steam.
- Bigscreen Beta (2016) is 5 years older than Song in the Smoke (2021).
- Song in the Smoke scores higher on Steam reviews (86.1% positive) than Bigscreen Beta (84.5% positive).
- Bigscreen Beta is free; Song in the Smoke is paid (29.99 USD).
- Song in the Smoke is Deck Unsupported on Steam Deck; Bigscreen Beta has no Deck rating yet.
Bigscreen Beta vs Song in the Smoke — FAQ
- Should I play Bigscreen Beta or Song in the Smoke first?
- If you want chronology, Bigscreen Beta (2016) came out before Song in the Smoke (2021). 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 Bigscreen Beta and Song in the Smoke similar?
- They overlap on Action, Simulation 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 Song in the Smoke have multiplayer like Bigscreen Beta?
- No. Bigscreen Beta supports multiplayer on Steam (Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer), while Song in the Smoke is listed as single-player only.
- Is Bigscreen Beta free?
- Yes — Bigscreen Beta is a free-to-play Steam title. Song in the Smoke is paid (29.99 USD).