GamingPickz
Game vs game · side by side

Descenders vs TrackMania Nations Forever

Descenders is an open-world racing game from RageSquid (2019) while TrackMania Nations Forever is a racing sandbox game from Nadeo (2008).

Descenders

2019 · RageSquid

7.9GamingPickz Score

$24.99

Steam: Very Positive

TrackMania Nations Forever

2008 · Nadeo

7.7GamingPickz Score

Free

Steam: Very Positive

What each one is

Steam files Descenders under Open-World and Racing. In contrast, it files TrackMania Nations Forever under Racing and Sandbox.

Descenders

Descenders is extreme downhill freeriding for the modern era, with procedurally generated worlds, and where mistakes have real consequences. Will you lead your team to glory and become the next legendary Descender?

Description from its Steam store page

TrackMania Nations Forever

A free game in the truest sense of the word, TrackMania Nations Forever lets you drive at mind-blowing speeds on fun and spectacular tracks in solo and multiplayer modes.TrackMania Nations Forever offers a new "Forever" version of the Stadium environment, a solid solo mode and 65 brand new, progressively challenging tracks.

Description from its Steam store page

At a glance

DescendersTrackMania Nations Forever
GamingPickz Score7.9/107.7/10
Steam ratingVery Positive (94%, 23,916)Very Positive (90%, 24,368)
Critic aggregate78/100No aggregate
Price$24.99Free
Install size17 GB
Steam Deckplayableplayable
Released20192008
DeveloperRageSquidNadeo

Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.

Descenders vs TrackMania Nations Forever, point by point

Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.

  1. Genre and premise

    DescendersOpen-world racing game
    TrackMania Nations ForeverRacing sandbox game

    What each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.

  2. How it plays

    DescendersSports, Racing, Cycling
    TrackMania Nations ForeverRacing, Free to Play, Automobile Sim

    The tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.

  3. Reception

    DescendersScore 7.9 · 94% on Steam · 78 critic
    TrackMania Nations ForeverScore 7.7 · 90% on Steam

    The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.

  4. Content and scale

    Descenders23,916 reviews · 1 add-on · 17 GB
    TrackMania Nations Forever24,368 reviews

    Reach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.

  5. Price

    Descenders$24.99
    TrackMania Nations ForeverFree

    Read live from Steam and subject to change.

  6. On a Steam Deck

    DescendersPlayable
    TrackMania Nations ForeverPlayable

    Valve's own Deck compatibility rating.

Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 1 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.

The two on the grid

Compare the whole catalogue

Descenders and TrackMania Nations Forever on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.

2 games have both

01000100PlayersPopularity

Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.

Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.

  • PC

Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.

See the whole grid

How positions are decided

No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
  • Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
  • Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
  • No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
  • A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
  • Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.

Which to pick, by what you want

  • The higher-rated of the two: Descenders (GamingPickz Score 7.9)
  • The cheaper right now: TrackMania Nations Forever (Free)

What they have in common

Both are tagged by Steam players with:

SportsRacingActionMultiplayerSimulationDifficultCompetitive

Where they differ

Descenders is also

CyclingBikesGreat SoundtrackProcedural GenerationOpen WorldRogue-lite

TrackMania Nations Forever is also

Free to PlayAutomobile SimSingleplayerLevel EditorArcadeController

Tags players apply to one game and not the other.

Difficulty and who each is for

By the tags players apply, Descenders is demanding, for players who want a challenge. TrackMania Nations Forever is demanding, for players who want a challenge.

Accessibility features

Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for Descenders and 0 for TrackMania Nations Forever. A declaration is a floor, not a review.

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Common questions

How different are Descenders and TrackMania Nations Forever in scope?

Descenders has drawn 23,916 Steam reviews, ships 1 add-on and installs in 17 GB. TrackMania Nations Forever has drawn 24,368 Steam reviews.

Is Descenders or TrackMania Nations Forever better?

By the GamingPickz Score, Descenders rates higher (7.9 to 7.7). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.

Which is cheaper, Descenders or TrackMania Nations Forever?

TrackMania Nations Forever is cheaper right now at Free, against $24.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.

Do you rank one above the other for a fee?

No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.

How we compare, and what we will not do

The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.

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