Fran Bow vs The Past Within
Fran Bow is a horror puzzle game from Killmonday Games AB (2015) while The Past Within is a horror puzzle game from Rusty Lake (2022).
What each one is
Steam files Fran Bow under Horror and Puzzle. In contrast, it files The Past Within under Horror and Puzzle.
Fran Bow is a creepy adventure game that tells the story of Fran, a young girl struggling with a mental disorder and an unfair destiny.
The Past Within is the new co-op experience from Rusty Lake! Play together with someone you deem trustworthy: one in The Past, the other in The Future. Observe and communicate what you see around you. Solve the puzzles and uncover Albert Vanderboom’s plan.
At a glance
| Fran Bow | The Past Within | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.9/10 | 8.0/10 |
| Steam rating | Overwhelmingly Positive (97%, 22,936) | Overwhelmingly Positive (95%, 16,814) |
| Critic aggregate | 70/100 | No aggregate |
| Price | $14.99 | $5.99 |
| Install size | 5 GB | 1 GB |
| Steam Deck | verified | verified |
| Released | 2015 | 2022 |
| Developer | Killmonday Games AB | Rusty Lake |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Fran Bow vs The Past Within, 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.
Genre and premise
Fran BowHorror puzzle gameThe Past WithinHorror puzzle gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Fran BowPsychological Horror, Story Rich, Point & ClickThe Past WithinCo-op, Puzzle, Online Co-OpThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Fran BowScore 7.9 · 97% on Steam · 70 criticThe Past Within ✓Score 8.0 · 95% on SteamThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Fran Bow22,936 reviews · 2 add-ons · 5 GBThe Past Within16,814 reviews · 1 add-on · 1 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Fran Bow$14.99The Past Within ✓$5.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Fran BowVerifiedThe Past WithinVerifiedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
The Past Within takes 2 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueFran Bow and The Past Within 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
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.
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 cheaper right now: The Past Within ($5.99)
- Lighter on storage: The Past Within (1 GB)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
Psychological HorrorStory RichPoint & ClickPuzzleHorrorAdventureIndieAtmospheric
Where they differ
DarkSingleplayerFemale ProtagonistGorePsychologicalDark Fantasy
Co-opOnline Co-OpMultiplayerEscape RoomMysteryLocal Co-Op
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Fran Bow is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. The Past Within is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Fran Bow | The Past Within | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | NVIDIA GeForce 9800 / ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT |
| Minimum CPU | — | 2.4GHz Dual Core |
| Minimum RAM | — | 1 GB |
| Install size | 5 GB | 1 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Fran Bow · The Past Within.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Fran Bow and 0 for The Past Within. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Fran Bow and The Past Within in scope?
Fran Bow has drawn 22,936 Steam reviews, ships 2 add-ons and installs in 5 GB. The Past Within has drawn 16,814 Steam reviews, ships 1 add-on and installs in 1 GB.
Is Fran Bow or The Past Within better?
By the GamingPickz Score, The Past Within rates higher (8.0 to 7.9). 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, Fran Bow or The Past Within?
The Past Within is cheaper right now at $5.99, against $14.99. 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.
Related comparisons
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.