Building comparison
head to head
Hidden Through TimevsThe Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is variance, and it is a single point.
Hidden Through Time
Variance · Light / Casual
A relaxed seek-and-find testing patience and visual scanning, not skill.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Optimization · Light / Casual
A gorgeous first-person mystery about piecing together a boy's disappearance.
Hidden Through Time leans Variance (Light / Casual); The Vanishing of Ethan Carter leans Optimization (Light / Casual).
Hidden Through TimeThe Vanishing of Ethan Carter
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.
Hidden Through Time
Clicking found objects takes nothing
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Walking and looking, nothing more
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Hidden Through Time
No opponent in a seek-and-find
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
No opponent
Variance3 vs 2
Hidden Through Time leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Hidden Through Time
Object locations are hidden exactly once per map
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
The mystery is hidden only until discovered
Optimization3 vs 3
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Hidden Through Time
Systematic scanning beats wandering, but barely a system
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Reconstructing event sequences is light deduction
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.