Choose Essence of Illumination: The Beginning
Choose Essence of Illumination: The Beginning if you want a RPG experience. On Steam, it's currently about 95% cheaper on the Steam Store. Essence of Illumination: The Beginning launched in 2020.
Essence of Illumination: The Beginning vs Moss
Essence of Illumination: The Beginning and Moss both land in Indie, Adventure, Casual 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 Indie, Adventure, Casual on Steam. Moss (2018) is 2 years older than Essence of Illumination: The Beginning (2020). Essence of Illumination: The Beginning is currently ~95% cheaper on Steam than Moss (0.99 USD vs. 19.99 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 Moss
Choose Moss if you want an Action game with SteamVR Collectibles. 1,778 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both Essence of Illumination: The Beginning and Moss sit in Indie, Adventure, and Casual 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.
Side-by-side comparison
 Essence of Illumination: The Beginning |  Moss | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2020 | 2018 |
| Genres | Indie, Adventure, RPG, Casual | Action, Indie, Adventure, Casual |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Deck Unsupported |
| Price | 0.99 USD | 19.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 5 reviews | 94.7% positive (1,778 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Luminous4D, LLC | Polyarc |
Side by side
- Both share Indie, Adventure, Casual on Steam.
- Moss (2018) is 2 years older than Essence of Illumination: The Beginning (2020).
- Essence of Illumination: The Beginning is currently ~95% cheaper on Steam than Moss (0.99 USD vs. 19.99 USD).
- Moss is Deck Unsupported on Steam Deck; Essence of Illumination: The Beginning has no Deck rating yet.
Essence of Illumination: The Beginning vs Moss — FAQ
- Should I play Essence of Illumination: The Beginning or Moss first?
- If you want chronology, Moss (2018) came out before Essence of Illumination: The Beginning (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 Essence of Illumination: The Beginning and Moss similar?
- They overlap on Indie, Adventure, Casual 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.