head to head

Bad North cover artvsSunless Skies cover art

Bad NorthvsSunless Skies

Bad North leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos); Sunless Skies leans Variance (Systems & Chaos).

EXECUTION2 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE5 /10OPTIMIZATION7 /10
Bad NorthSunless Skies

Axis by axis

Execution2 vs 2

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance5 vs 6

Sunless Skies leans harder on variance: Hidden ports, story branches and terror events

Optimization7 vs 6

Bad North leans harder on optimization: Unit positioning and upgrade choices solvable.

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Bad North

full breakdown

Sunless Skies