head to head

Have a Nice Death cover artvsSpelunky cover art

Have a Nice DeathvsSpelunky

Have a Nice Death leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Spelunky leans Execution (Twitch Chaos).

EXECUTION8 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE5 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10
Have a Nice DeathSpelunky

Axis by axis

Execution8 vs 8

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads0 vs 1

Spelunky leans harder on reads: Enemy AI is scripted; no adaptive opponents.

Variance5 vs 7

Spelunky leans harder on variance: Procedural caves and item rolls shape every run.

Optimization6 vs 6

Even - both lean on optimization about the same.

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Have a Nice Death

full breakdown

Spelunky