Should I play Half-Life: Alyx or The Stone first?

If you want chronology, The Stone (2017) came out before Half-Life: Alyx (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 Half-Life: Alyx and The Stone similar?

They overlap on Action, 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.

Half-Life: Alyx vs The Stone

Half-Life: Alyx and The Stone both land in Action, 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, Adventure on Steam. The Stone (2017) is 3 years older than Half-Life: Alyx (2020). The Stone is currently ~78% cheaper on Steam than Half-Life: Alyx (12.99 USD vs. 59.99 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 Half-Life: Alyx

Choose Half-Life: Alyx if you want the Subtitle Options, Custom Volume Controls, and Stereo Sound side of the pairing. On Steam, it's the newer release (2020) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 60,789 Steam reviews back the pick.

Choose The Stone

Choose The Stone if it's currently about 78% cheaper on the Steam Store. The Stone launched in 2017.

Both Half-Life: Alyx and The Stone sit in Action and Adventure on Steam and both list Tracked Controller Support and VR Only, 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.

Half-Life: Alyx vs The Stone — Steam metadata comparison
	Half-Life: Alyx	The Stone
Released	2020	2017
Genres	Action, Adventure	Action, Adventure
Platforms	Windows	Windows
Steam Deck	Deck Unsupported	Unrated
Price	59.99 USD	12.99 USD
Steam reviews	98.2% positive (60,789 reviews)	3 reviews
Multiplayer	Single-player only	Single-player only
Developers	Valve	Bornteks Entertainment

Side by side

Both share Action, Adventure on Steam.
The Stone (2017) is 3 years older than Half-Life: Alyx (2020).
The Stone is currently ~78% cheaper on Steam than Half-Life: Alyx (12.99 USD vs. 59.99 USD).
Half-Life: Alyx is Deck Unsupported on Steam Deck; The Stone has no Deck rating yet.