Building comparison
head to head
BanishedvsMedieval II: Total War
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.
Banished
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Harsh village-builder; balance population, food, and winter.
Medieval II: Total War
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Grand strategy wargame mixing turn-based empire play with real-time battles.
Banished leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Medieval II: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
BanishedMedieval II: Total War
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 2
Medieval II: Total War leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Banished
no mechanical layer
Medieval II: Total War
real-time battle micro is modest
Reads0 vs 1
Medieval II: Total War leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Banished
no opponent
Medieval II: Total War
campaign AI is exploitable and mappable
Variance3 vs 3
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Banished
weather, disease events
Medieval II: Total War
fog of war and event triggers hide some state
Optimization9 vs 9
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Banished
population ratios and food planning
Medieval II: Total War
economy, unit counters, and campaign map strategy dominate
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.