Choose Beholder
Choose Beholder if you want an Indie experience. On Steam, it's currently about 92% cheaper on the Steam Store. 3,028 Steam reviews back the pick.
Beholder vs Mind Scanners
Beholder and Mind Scanners both land in Strategy, 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 Strategy, Adventure on Steam. Beholder (2016) is 5 years older than Mind Scanners (2021). Both sit near 82% positive on Steam (Beholder: 3,028 reviews, Mind Scanners: 553). 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 Mind Scanners
Choose Mind Scanners if you want a Simulation and RPG experience. On Steam, it's the newer release (2021) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Mind Scanners launched in 2021.
Both Beholder and Mind Scanners sit in Strategy and Adventure on Steam, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (82% vs 82.1% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 Beholder |  Mind Scanners | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2016 | 2021 |
| Genres | Strategy, Indie, Adventure | Strategy, Adventure, Simulation, RPG |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Deck Verified |
| Price | 1.39 USD | 16.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 82% positive (3,028 reviews) | 82.1% positive (553 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Alawar Stargaze (Warm Lamp Games) | The Outer Zone |
Side by side
- Both share Strategy, Adventure on Steam.
- Beholder (2016) is 5 years older than Mind Scanners (2021).
- Both sit near 82% positive on Steam (Beholder: 3,028 reviews, Mind Scanners: 553).
- Beholder is currently ~92% cheaper on Steam than Mind Scanners (1.39 USD vs. 16.99 USD).
- Both are Deck Verified.
Beholder vs Mind Scanners — FAQ
- Which is better, Beholder or Mind Scanners?
- On Steam reviews the two are nearly tied: Beholder sits at 82% positive (3,028 reviews), Mind Scanners at 82.1% (553). The choice usually comes down to genre fit and the platform features each one supports — see the comparison table above.
- Should I play Beholder or Mind Scanners first?
- If you want chronology, Beholder (2016) came out before Mind Scanners (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 Beholder and Mind Scanners similar?
- They overlap on Strategy, 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 Beholder and Mind Scanners both run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — both are Steam Deck Verified, meaning Valve confirms they run with full controller support, legible text, and default settings out of the box.