head to head

Animal Crossing: New Horizons cover artvsUnder a Killing Moon cover art

Animal Crossing: New HorizonsvsUnder a Killing Moon

Animal Crossing: New Horizons leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Under a Killing Moon leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos).

EXECUTION1 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE3 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10
Animal Crossing: New HorizonsUnder a Killing Moon

Axis by axis

Execution1 vs 0

Animal Crossing: New Horizons leans harder on execution: Trivial inputs.

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance3 vs 4

Under a Killing Moon leans harder on variance: Pixel-hunty clues and cult secrets hide from first-timers.

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

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

full breakdown

Under a Killing Moon