Building comparison
head to head
DeponiavsScratches
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is variance, and it is a single point.
Deponia
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A chaotic comedy adventure whose elaborate multi-step puzzles test patience with absurd causal chains.
Scratches
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A slow-burn first-person adventure investigating strange scratching sounds in an isolated Victorian mansion.
Deponia leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Scratches leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
DeponiaScratches
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 1
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Deponia
Point-and-click with no timing elements
Scratches
First-person point-and-click input is physically trivial
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Deponia
Comedy adventure with scripted characters throughout
Scratches
No opponents at all, only an empty haunted estate
Variance1 vs 2
Scratches leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Deponia
Deterministic puzzle world with fixed solutions
Scratches
The mystery's hidden answers drive a blind first run
Optimization8 vs 7
Deponia leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Deponia
Convoluted Rube Goldberg puzzle chains demand careful causal mapping
Scratches
Investigation puzzles resolve to one fixed solution path
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.