Choose Temple of Rust
Choose Temple of Rust if you want a Casual experience. On Steam, it's the newer release (2023) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Temple of Rust launched in 2023.
Temple of Rust vs Infected Shelter
Temple of Rust and Infected Shelter both land in Action, Indie, Adventure 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, Adventure on Steam. Infected Shelter (2019) is 4 years older than Temple of Rust (2023). Infected Shelter is free; Temple of Rust is paid (7.99 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 Infected Shelter
Choose Infected Shelter if you want a Free To Play game with Shared/Split Screen PvP and PvP. On Steam, it's free to play, so the barrier to trying it is zero. Infected Shelter launched in 2019.
Both Temple of Rust and Infected Shelter sit in Action, Indie, and Adventure on Steam and both list Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen, and Shared/Split Screen Co-op, 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
 Temple of Rust |  Infected Shelter | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2023 | 2019 |
| Genres | Action, Indie, Adventure, RPG, Casual | Action, Indie, Adventure, RPG, Free To Play |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Deck Verified |
| Price | 7.99 USD | Free to play |
| Steam reviews | 3 reviews | 80% positive (135 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op | Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op |
| Developers | James Mearman | Dark Blue Games |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Indie, Adventure on Steam.
- Infected Shelter (2019) is 4 years older than Temple of Rust (2023).
- Infected Shelter is free; Temple of Rust is paid (7.99 USD).
- Both support cooperative play.
- Infected Shelter is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; Temple of Rust has no Deck rating yet.
Temple of Rust vs Infected Shelter — FAQ
- Should I play Temple of Rust or Infected Shelter first?
- If you want chronology, Infected Shelter (2019) came out before Temple of Rust (2023). 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 Temple of Rust and Infected Shelter similar?
- They overlap on Action, Indie, Adventure 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.
- Do both Temple of Rust and Infected Shelter have co-op?
- Yes — both list a co-op category on Steam. Specifics differ: Temple of Rust ships Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op; Infected Shelter ships Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op.
- Is Infected Shelter free?
- Yes — Infected Shelter is a free-to-play Steam title. Temple of Rust is paid (7.99 USD).