Building comparison
head to head
Defense Grid 2vsOuter Wilds
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.
Defense Grid 2
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A classic maze-building tower defense won almost entirely through optimal layouts.
Outer Wilds
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A knowledge-based mystery solved by mapping a deterministic solar system.
Defense Grid 2 leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Outer Wilds leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Defense Grid 2Outer Wilds
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
Outer Wilds
Light piloting, mostly forgiving
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
Outer Wilds
World is fixed; nothing adapts to you
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
Outer Wilds
Loop is deterministic once understood
Optimization9 vs 9
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Defense Grid 2
Maze routing and tower economy are a solvable puzzle
Outer Wilds
Pure knowledge puzzle - solve the system
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.