head to head

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!: For the Awesome cover artvsHollow Knight cover art

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!: For the AwesomevsHollow Knight

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!: For the Awesome leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Hollow Knight leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).

EXECUTION8 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE2 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10
AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!: For the AwesomeHollow Knight

Axis by axis

Execution8 vs 8

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads0 vs 1

Hollow Knight leans harder on reads: Bosses run scripted attack pools; not adaptive.

Variance2 vs 1

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!: For the Awesome leans harder on variance: Level layouts are fixed once learned

Optimization6 vs 6

Even - both lean on optimization about the same.

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!: For the Awesome

full breakdown

Hollow Knight