head to head
vs
Black MesavsKnightmare Tower
Black Mesa leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Knightmare Tower leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Black MesaKnightmare Tower
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 6
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance2 vs 3
Knightmare Tower leans harder on variance: Monster spawn patterns shuffle each ascent
Optimization6 vs 5
Black Mesa leans harder on optimization: Route, resource, and encounter knowledge
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.