head to head
vs
Animal WellvsTomb Raider
Animal Well leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Tomb Raider leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
Animal WellTomb Raider
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 5
Tomb Raider leans harder on execution: Grid-based jumps need deliberate, precise positioning
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance2 vs 2
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization8 vs 7
Animal Well leans harder on optimization: Metroidvania puzzles reward deep optimization.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.