Choose Containment Initiative
Choose Containment Initiative if you want the Steam Leaderboards side of the pairing. On Steam, it's currently about 50% cheaper on the Steam Store. Containment Initiative launched in 2017.
Containment Initiative vs Automata Break
Containment Initiative and Automata Break both land in Action, 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 share Action, Indie on Steam. Containment Initiative (2017) is 3 years older than Automata Break (2020). Both sit near 91% positive on Steam (Containment Initiative: 400 reviews, Automata Break: 11). 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 Automata Break
Choose Automata Break if you want a Strategy and Early Access experience. On Steam, it's the newer release (2020) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Automata Break launched in 2020.
Both Containment Initiative and Automata Break sit in Action and Indie 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. Steam reviews are nearly tied (90.3% vs 90.9% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 Containment Initiative |  Automata Break | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2017 | 2020 |
| Genres | Action, Indie | Action, Strategy, Indie, Early Access |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Unsupported | Unrated |
| Price | 9.99 USD | 19.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 90.3% positive (400 reviews) | 90.9% positive (11 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op | Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op |
| Developers | Gwyn Games LLC | Pumpkin Head Studio |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Indie on Steam.
- Containment Initiative (2017) is 3 years older than Automata Break (2020).
- Both sit near 91% positive on Steam (Containment Initiative: 400 reviews, Automata Break: 11).
- Containment Initiative is currently ~50% cheaper on Steam than Automata Break (9.99 USD vs. 19.99 USD).
- Both support cooperative play.
- Containment Initiative is Deck Unsupported on Steam Deck; Automata Break has no Deck rating yet.
Containment Initiative vs Automata Break — FAQ
- Should I play Containment Initiative or Automata Break first?
- If you want chronology, Containment Initiative (2017) came out before Automata Break (2020). 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 Containment Initiative and Automata Break similar?
- They overlap on Action, 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.
- Do both Containment Initiative and Automata Break have co-op?
- Yes — both list a co-op category on Steam. Specifics differ: Containment Initiative ships Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op; Automata Break ships Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op.