head to head
vs
Earth Defense ForcevsRuiner
Earth Defense Force leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Ruiner leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Earth Defense ForceRuiner
Axis by axis
Execution7 vs 7
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads1 vs 1
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance3 vs 2
Earth Defense Force leans harder on variance: Enemy spawn patterns add some unpredictability
Optimization4 vs 5
Ruiner leans harder on optimization: Respeccable skill builds per arena are a solvable puzzle.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.