head to head
vs
Animal WellvsWaking Mars
Animal Well leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Waking Mars leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Animal WellWaking Mars
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 3
Animal Well leans harder on execution: Platforming precision moderate.
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.