Building comparison
head to head
Bad NorthvsDREDGE
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is variance, and it is a single point.
Bad North
Optimization · Systems & Chaos
A minimalist real-time tactics roguelite about defending tiny procedural islands.
DREDGE
Optimization · Systems & Chaos
A cosy-eldritch fishing game about hauling secrets from dark water.
Bad North leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos); DREDGE leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos).
Bad NorthDREDGE
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 2
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Bad North
Real-time orders need only light micro.
DREDGE
Fishing minigames and night dodging, light demands
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Bad North
Viking waves random, not adaptive.
DREDGE
Horrors follow fixed rules
Variance5 vs 4
Bad North leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Bad North
Procedural islands and enemy compositions.
DREDGE
Fish spawns and fog-of-dread unknowns until mapped
Optimization7 vs 6
Bad North leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Bad North
Unit positioning and upgrade choices solvable.
DREDGE
Cargo tetris, routes, and upgrades reward planning
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.