Building comparison
head to head
Donut CountyvsFirewatch
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.
Donut County
Optimization · Light / Casual
A relaxed puzzle toy about swallowing a town with a growing hole.
Firewatch
Optimization · Light / Casual
A first-person mystery about a fire lookout in a Wyoming forest.
Donut County leans Optimization (Light / Casual); Firewatch leans Optimization (Light / Casual).
Donut CountyFirewatch
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.
Donut County
Moving a hole; near-zero dexterity
Firewatch
Walking and radio dialogue only.
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Donut County
No opponent at all
Firewatch
No adaptive opposition.
Variance1 vs 1
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Donut County
Puzzle solutions hidden only briefly
Firewatch
Minor environmental discoveries.
Optimization2 vs 2
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Donut County
Light swallow-order puzzles, easily solved
Firewatch
Few systems to optimize.
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.