Building comparison
head to head
Baldur's GatevsKenshi
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.
Baldur's Gate
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The classic AD&D CRPG where party planning beats dice luck over time.
Kenshi
Optimization · Systems & Chaos
Building a faction and base from nothing in a brutal open world through layered squad and economy systems.
Baldur's Gate leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Kenshi leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos).
Baldur's GateKenshi
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 3
Kenshi leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Baldur's Gate
Pause-and-play needs minimal dexterity.
Kenshi
Real-time squad combat has marginal positioning skill ceiling
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Baldur's Gate
Scripted encounters, no adaptation.
Kenshi
Faction and bandit AI follows scripted patrol and raid logic
Variance5 vs 6
Kenshi leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Baldur's Gate
AD&D dice rolls throughout.
Kenshi
Bandit encounters, world states, and loot are substantially randomised
Optimization8 vs 8
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Baldur's Gate
Party builds and encounter prep solvable.
Kenshi
Squad composition, base design, and skill levelling routes are deeply 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.