Should you play Pax Dei or Aska? Differences, explained

Pax Dei and Aska look the same at a distance, but if you examine a little more closely, you’ll find some distinct differences. This guide will explain those differences if you’re trying to figure out if you should play Pax Dei or Aska. 

Which game should you play, Pax Dei or Aska?

Picking between the two survival games can be a tough choice because it comes down to personal preference. Each game shares the survival aspect where you’ll be almost doing the same thing. In Aska, you’d get Firewood to make fire, for Pax Dei, it seems to be finding Flint. On the ground level of both games, things won’t be that different.

However, the focus of each game will make or break their case.

What do you want to do in the game?

Both games offer something different apart from surviving. For Pax Dei, you’ll be jumping into a Medevil MMO where you have all the freedom you want to create what you want. For Aska, it’s a little more intimate. Rather than being an MMO, the game is a Viking survival base-building manager where you recruit villagers and have them do the heavy lifting. 

Aska is a little more unique in it’s game loop, in that it requires more than one person to accomplish anything. This can either be from the four-player PVE or the villager you have. Pax Dei does not have this feature which makes it a little more formulaic than Aska. As I’m playing Aska, I’m starting to notice that the game takes a new shape once I get that loop going. Once you start assigning villagers jobs in Aska, the game becomes about managing your village and expanding it. For Pax Dei, you’re going to be doing the same up to a point. Between the two games, Pax Dei leans more into the survival aspect. 

You can only pick one

As stated, the choice is based on what you want to do in the game. If you want a strict survival game with the MMO mechanics, Pax Dei could be for you. On the other side, if you want to control and manage your very own village with NPCs running around, pick Aska.

I’d pick Aska. It’s far more unique, and the stress of maintaining your village or town goes down because of the production loop you’ve created. I don’t normally play these types of games, but Aska has been the most accessible survival-base management game I’ve ever played. This can help bring in new players like me into the fold and experience other titles in the genre. 

Like Aska, knowing where you build your base Pax Dei is important.