Building comparison
head to head
City of BrassvsPokémon Pinball
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is variance, and it is a single point.
City of Brass
Execution · Twitch Chaos
An Arabian Nights first-person roguelite about whipping enemies into the city's own traps.
Pokémon Pinball
Execution · Twitch Chaos
Flipper execution and table knowledge with Pokémon-catching RNG on top.
City of Brass leans Execution (Twitch Chaos); Pokémon Pinball leans Execution (Twitch Chaos).
City of BrassPokémon Pinball
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 6
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
City of Brass
Whip-and-sword timing against traps demands reflexes
Pokémon Pinball
Flipper timing and nudge control are the whole input
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
City of Brass
Enemies and traps are scripted
Pokémon Pinball
A pinball table has no mind
Variance5 vs 4
City of Brass leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
City of Brass
Procedural streets, relics, and genie wares vary runs
Pokémon Pinball
Ball physics and catch-mode rolls add real randomness
Optimization5 vs 4
City of Brass leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
City of Brass
Trap manipulation and treasure routing reward learned play
Pokémon Pinball
Mode routing and table knowledge raise scores predictably
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.