Building comparison
head to head
A Castle Full of CatsvsThe Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.
A Castle Full of Cats
Optimization · Light / Casual
A hidden-object hunt rewarding patient visual scanning of dense scenes.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Optimization · Light / Casual
A gorgeous first-person mystery about piecing together a boy's disappearance.
A Castle Full of Cats leans Optimization (Light / Casual); The Vanishing of Ethan Carter leans Optimization (Light / Casual).
A Castle Full of CatsThe Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 1
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
A Castle Full of Cats
Pointing and clicking at cats, nothing more
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Walking and looking, nothing more
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
A Castle Full of Cats
No opponent anywhere in the castle
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
No opponent
Variance2 vs 2
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
A Castle Full of Cats
Hidden cats are unknown positions until spotted
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
The mystery is hidden only until discovered
Optimization3 vs 3
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
A Castle Full of Cats
Methodical scene-sweeping solves it completely
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Reconstructing event sequences is light deduction
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.