Building comparison
head to head
FactoriovsOuter Wilds
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is optimization, and it is a single point.
Factorio
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A factory-engineering sandbox about scaling throughput against your own bottlenecks.
Outer Wilds
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A knowledge-based mystery solved by mapping a deterministic solar system.
Factorio leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Outer Wilds leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
FactorioOuter 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.
Factorio
Some APM in early hand-crafting; otherwise irrelevant.
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.
Factorio
Biters follow fixed pollution rules; no adaptive opponent.
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.
Factorio
Resource patch placement adds minor map randomness.
Outer Wilds
Loop is deterministic once understood
Optimization10 vs 9
Factorio leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Factorio
Throughput, ratios, and logistics are the entire game.
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.