Building comparison
head to head
Chaos;ChildvsThe Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.
Chaos;Child
Variance · Light / Casual
A psychological thriller visual novel investigating ritual murders in post-earthquake Shibuya.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Optimization · Light / Casual
A gorgeous first-person mystery about piecing together a boy's disappearance.
Chaos;Child leans Variance (Light / Casual); The Vanishing of Ethan Carter leans Optimization (Light / Casual).
Chaos;ChildThe Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Axis by axis
Execution0 vs 1
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Chaos;Child
No dexterity component
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Walking and looking, nothing more
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Chaos;Child
No opponent
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
No opponent
Variance3 vs 2
Chaos;Child leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Chaos;Child
Murder-mystery hidden information and unseen delusion outcomes
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
The mystery is hidden only until discovered
Optimization3 vs 3
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Chaos;Child
Delusion-trigger combinations gate routes and true ending
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Reconstructing event sequences is light deduction
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.