IMHO.

The friends of Ringo Ishikawa vs Fading Afternoon

The friends of Ringo Ishikawa and Fading Afternoon both land in Action, Indie, 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, Indie, Adventure on Steam. The friends of Ringo Ishikawa (2018) is 5 years older than Fading Afternoon (2023). Both sit near 89% positive on Steam (The friends of Ringo Ishikawa: 494 reviews, Fading Afternoon: 239). 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 The friends of Ringo Ishikawa

Choose The friends of Ringo Ishikawa if you want the Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen, and Shared/Split Screen Co-op side of the pairing. On Steam, it's currently about 25% cheaper on the Steam Store. The friends of Ringo Ishikawa launched in 2018.

Choose Fading Afternoon

Choose Fading Afternoon if you want the Steam Leaderboards side of the pairing. On Steam, it's the newer release (2023) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Fading Afternoon launched in 2023.

Both The friends of Ringo Ishikawa and Fading Afternoon sit in Action, Indie, and Adventure on Steam, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (88.7% vs 88.7% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.

Side-by-side comparison

The friends of Ringo Ishikawa vs Fading Afternoon — Steam metadata comparison
The friends of Ringo Ishikawa — Steam game coverThe friends of Ringo IshikawaFading Afternoon — Steam game coverFading Afternoon
Released20182023
GenresAction, Indie, Adventure, RPGAction, Indie, Adventure, RPG
PlatformsWindows, macOSWindows
Steam DeckDeck PlayableDeck Playable
Price14.99 USD19.99 USD
Steam reviews88.7% positive (494 reviews)88.7% positive (239 reviews)
MultiplayerMulti-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-opSingle-player only
Developersyeoyeo

Side by side

The friends of Ringo Ishikawa vs Fading Afternoon — FAQ

Which is better, The friends of Ringo Ishikawa or Fading Afternoon?
On Steam reviews the two are nearly tied: The friends of Ringo Ishikawa sits at 88.7% positive (494 reviews), Fading Afternoon at 88.7% (239). The choice usually comes down to genre fit and the platform features each one supports — see the comparison table above.
Should I play The friends of Ringo Ishikawa or Fading Afternoon first?
If you want chronology, The friends of Ringo Ishikawa (2018) came out before Fading Afternoon (2023). 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 The friends of Ringo Ishikawa and Fading Afternoon similar?
They overlap on Action, Indie, 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.
Does Fading Afternoon have multiplayer like The friends of Ringo Ishikawa?
No. The friends of Ringo Ishikawa supports multiplayer on Steam (Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op), while Fading Afternoon is listed as single-player only.
The friends of Ringo Ishikawa vs Fading Afternoon · imho.run