GamingPickz
Game vs game · side by side

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim vs Undertale

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an action-RPG open-world game from Bethesda Game Studios (2011) while Undertale is a horror puzzle game from 8-4 (2015).

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

2011 · Bethesda Game Studios

8.8GamingPickz Score

$19.99

Steam: Overwhelmingly Positive

Undertale

2015 · 8-4

8.8GamingPickz Score

$9.99

Steam: Overwhelmingly Positive

What each one is

Steam files The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim under Action-RPG and Open-World. In contrast, it files Undertale under Horror and Puzzle.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

EPIC FANTASY REBORN The next chapter in the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls saga arrives from the makers of the 2006 and 2008 Games of the Year, Bethesda Game Studios. Skyrim reimagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose.

Description from its Steam store page

Undertale

UNDERTALE! The RPG game where you don't have to destroy anyone.

Description from its Steam store page

At a glance

The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimUndertale
GamingPickz Score8.8/108.8/10
Steam ratingOverwhelmingly Positive (95%, 317,769)Overwhelmingly Positive (96%, 338,731)
Critic aggregate94/10092/100
Price$19.99$9.99
Install size0.2 GB
Steam Deckplayableplayable
Released20112015
DeveloperBethesda Game Studios8-4

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

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim vs Undertale, 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

    The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimAction-RPG open-world game
    UndertaleHorror puzzle game

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

  2. How it plays

    The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimOpen World, RPG, Fantasy
    UndertaleStory Rich, Choices Matter, Multiple Endings

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

  3. Reception

    The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimScore 8.8 · 95% on Steam · 94 critic
    UndertaleScore 8.8 · 96% on Steam · 92 critic

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

  4. Content and scale

    The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim317,769 reviews · 1 add-on
    Undertale338,731 reviews · 1 add-on · 0.2 GB

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

  5. Price

    The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim$19.99
    Undertale$9.99

    Read live from Steam and subject to change.

  6. On a Steam Deck

    The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimPlayable
    UndertalePlayable

    Valve's own Deck compatibility rating.

Undertale takes 1 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 catalogue

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Undertale 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.

  • Multi-platform
  • 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 cheaper right now: Undertale ($9.99)

What they have in common

Both are tagged by Steam players with:

RPGSingleplayerStory RichGreat Soundtrack

Where they differ

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is also

Open WorldFantasyAdventureDragonsModdableFirst-Person

Undertale is also

Choices MatterMultiple EndingsPixel GraphicsFunnyIndie2D

Tags players apply to one game and not the other.

Difficulty and who each is for

By the tags players apply, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Undertale is demanding, for players who want a challenge.

System requirements, side by side

The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimUndertale
Minimum GPU128MB
Minimum CPUDual Core 2.0GHz
Minimum RAM2 GB2 GB
Install size0.2 GB

Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim · Undertale.

Accessibility features

Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and 0 for Undertale. A declaration is a floor, not a review.

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Common questions

How different are The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Undertale in scope?

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has drawn 317,769 Steam reviews and ships 1 add-on. Undertale has drawn 338,731 Steam reviews, ships 1 add-on and installs in 0.2 GB.

Is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or Undertale better?

By the GamingPickz Score, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim rates higher (8.8 to 8.8). 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, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or Undertale?

Undertale is cheaper right now at $9.99, against $19.99. 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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