Building comparison
head to head
Bad NorthvsPenumbra: Black Plague
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.
Bad North
Optimization · Systems & Chaos
A minimalist real-time tactics roguelite about defending tiny procedural islands.
Penumbra: Black Plague
Optimization · Systems & Chaos
Frictional's defenseless first-person horror where you solve physics puzzles while hiding from the infected.
Bad North leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos); Penumbra: Black Plague leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos).
Bad NorthPenumbra: Black Plague
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.
Penumbra: Black Plague
Physics-grab interactions need only basic mouse control
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.
Penumbra: Black Plague
Infected patrol on scripts; hiding beats them every time
Variance5 vs 5
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Bad North
Procedural islands and enemy compositions.
Penumbra: Black Plague
Unknown layouts, scares, and patrols on a blind run
Optimization7 vs 7
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Bad North
Unit positioning and upgrade choices solvable.
Penumbra: Black Plague
Physics puzzles and evasion routes are fully 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.