head to head
vs
Cities XL: PlatinumvsOuter Wilds
Cities XL: Platinum leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Outer Wilds leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Cities XL: PlatinumOuter Wilds
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 2
Outer Wilds leans harder on execution: Light piloting, mostly forgiving
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 1
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization8 vs 9
Outer Wilds leans harder on optimization: Pure knowledge puzzle - solve the system
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.