Building comparison
head to head
Defense Grid 2vsFactorio
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is optimization, and it is a single point.
Defense Grid 2
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A classic maze-building tower defense won almost entirely through optimal layouts.
Factorio
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A factory-engineering sandbox about scaling throughput against your own bottlenecks.
Defense Grid 2 leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Factorio leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Defense Grid 2Factorio
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 2
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Defense Grid 2
Occasional orbital-ability timing, otherwise hands-off
Factorio
Some APM in early hand-crafting; otherwise irrelevant.
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Defense Grid 2
Fixed alien wave scripts, nothing adapts
Factorio
Biters follow fixed pollution rules; no adaptive opponent.
Variance1 vs 1
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Defense Grid 2
Spawn schedules are deterministic and previewable
Factorio
Resource patch placement adds minor map randomness.
Optimization9 vs 10
Factorio leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Defense Grid 2
Maze routing and tower economy are a solvable puzzle
Factorio
Throughput, ratios, and logistics are the entire game.
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.