Choose Surge
Choose Surge if it's free to play, so the barrier to trying it is zero. Surge launched in 2016.
Surge vs Beat Saber
Surge and Beat Saber both land in Indie 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 Indie games on Steam. Surge (2016) is 3 years older than Beat Saber (2019). Both sit near 96% positive on Steam (Surge: 209 reviews, Beat Saber: 52,878). 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 Beat Saber
Choose Beat Saber if you want the Multi-player, Steam Leaderboards, and Online PvP side of the pairing. On Steam, it's the newer release (2019) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 52,878 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both Surge and Beat Saber sit in Indie on Steam and both list VR Only, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (95.2% vs 95.9% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 Surge |  Beat Saber | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2016 | 2019 |
| Genres | Indie | Indie |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Unsupported | Deck Unsupported |
| Price | Free to play | 29.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 95.2% positive (209 reviews) | 95.9% positive (52,878 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Multi-player |
| Developers | House of Secrets | Beat Games |
Side by side
- Both are Indie games on Steam.
- Surge (2016) is 3 years older than Beat Saber (2019).
- Both sit near 96% positive on Steam (Surge: 209 reviews, Beat Saber: 52,878).
- Surge is free; Beat Saber is paid (29.99 USD).
- Both are Deck Unsupported.
Surge vs Beat Saber — FAQ
- Which is better, Surge or Beat Saber?
- On Steam reviews the two are nearly tied: Surge sits at 95.2% positive (209 reviews), Beat Saber at 95.9% (52,878). The choice usually comes down to genre fit and the platform features each one supports — see the comparison table above.
- Should I play Surge or Beat Saber first?
- If you want chronology, Surge (2016) came out before Beat Saber (2019). 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 Surge and Beat Saber similar?
- They overlap on Indie 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 Surge have multiplayer like Beat Saber?
- No. Beat Saber supports multiplayer on Steam (Multi-player), while Surge is listed as single-player only.
- Is Surge free?
- Yes — Surge is a free-to-play Steam title. Beat Saber is paid (29.99 USD).