Building comparison
head to head
Aven ColonyvsThis Is the Police
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is variance, and it is a single point.
Aven Colony
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Expanding a self-sufficient alien colony by solving atmosphere, power, and resource chains under scripted threats.
This Is the Police
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A noir management game where a corrupt retiring police chief juggles dispatches, mobsters, and money.
Aven Colony leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); This Is the Police leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Aven ColonyThis Is the Police
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.
Aven Colony
City management UI has no twitch dimension
This Is the Police
Menu-driven dispatching, no dexterity
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Aven Colony
Alien threats are scripted with no player-modelling behaviour
This Is the Police
Mob and city events are scripted
Variance5 vs 4
Aven Colony leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Aven Colony
Landing site resources and alien attack timing carry moderate RNG
This Is the Police
Call outcomes and officer rolls are uncertain
Optimization8 vs 7
Aven Colony leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Aven Colony
Colony expansion, air quality chains, and tech routing are the solvable core
This Is the Police
Staffing, dispatch triage, and cash management solvable
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.