head to head

Braid cover artvsThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom cover art

BraidvsThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Braid leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).

EXECUTION4 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE0 /10OPTIMIZATION9 /10
BraidThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Axis by axis

Execution4 vs 4

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance0 vs 1

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom leans harder on variance: Weapon durability adds light variance

Optimization9 vs 8

Braid leans harder on optimization: Understanding each world's time-manipulation rule and its exact solution is the game

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

Braid

full breakdown

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom