Building comparison
head to head
Bad RatsvsThe Cave
Bad Rats asks more than The Cave, and the gap is variance.
Bad Rats
Optimization · Systems & Chaos
Solving Rube Goldberg puzzles fighting physics that barely cooperates.
The Cave
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Coordinating three characters through fixed object-logic puzzles.
Bad Rats leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos); The Cave leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Bad RatsThe Cave
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 2
The Cave leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Bad Rats
Placing pieces takes no dexterity
The Cave
Undemanding platforming with no timing pressure
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 Rats
No opponent - just rats and physics
The Cave
No adversary - a narrating cave is not a mind
Variance4 vs 2
Bad Rats leans clearly harder on variance.
Bad Rats
Notoriously janky physics makes identical setups behave differently
The Cave
Each character's section is unknown on first descent
Optimization6 vs 6
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Bad Rats
Each contraption puzzle has intended solvable solutions
The Cave
Three-character object-shuffling puzzles are the whole game
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.