Building comparison
head to head
Darkest DungeonvsTharsis
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is variance, and it is a single point.
Darkest Dungeon
Optimization · Systems & Chaos
Gothic turn-based roguelike where managing stress and bad dice is the real fight.
Tharsis
Variance · Systems & Chaos
Tests probability management as dice rolls repeatedly threaten a doomed Mars mission.
Darkest Dungeon leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos); Tharsis leans Variance (Systems & Chaos).
Darkest DungeonTharsis
Axis by axis
Execution0 vs 0
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Darkest Dungeon
turn-based, no dexterity
Tharsis
Assigning dice needs no dexterity
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Darkest Dungeon
no adaptive opponent
Tharsis
Disasters are random events, not an adapting mind
Variance7 vs 8
Tharsis leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Darkest Dungeon
crits, stress events, and dungeon rolls punish plans
Tharsis
Dice rolls and event draws brutally dominate each turn
Optimization8 vs 7
Darkest Dungeon leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Darkest Dungeon
party comps and risk management are deeply solvable
Tharsis
Crew allocation and risk math are the counterplay
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.