head to head
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is variance, and it is a single point.

Optimization · Light / Casual
A branching visual novel that tests little beyond exploring choice routes.

Optimization · Pure Optimization
A time-travel mystery where finding the correct sequence of phone interventions is the puzzle.
Everlasting Summer leans Optimization (Light / Casual); Steins;Gate leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Everlasting Summer
Reading and clicking choices, nothing physical
Steins;Gate
Pure reading; phone choices are the only input
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Everlasting Summer
No opponent - characters follow fixed branching scripts
Steins;Gate
No opponent; timeline branches are fixed
Everlasting Summer leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Everlasting Summer
Route outcomes are hidden only until first playthroughs
Steins;Gate
Phone trigger timing hides branch conditions until discovered
Steins;Gate leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Everlasting Summer
Mapping choice branches to endings is trivially solvable
Steins;Gate
Mapping exact phone responses to unlock the True End is solvable
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.