head to head
vs
Dark Arcana: The CarnivalvsThe Cat Lady
Dark Arcana: The Carnival leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos); The Cat Lady leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Dark Arcana: The CarnivalThe Cat Lady
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 1
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance3 vs 2
Dark Arcana: The Carnival leans harder on variance: Object locations are unknown until spotted
Optimization5 vs 6
The Cat Lady leans harder on optimization: Adventure-game puzzles have fixed discoverable solutions
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.