head to head
vs
Hollow KnightvsPokémon Puzzle Challenge
Hollow Knight leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Pokémon Puzzle Challenge leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Hollow KnightPokémon Puzzle Challenge
Axis by axis
Execution8 vs 8
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads1 vs 1
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 2
Pokémon Puzzle Challenge leans harder on variance: Block colors arrive randomly but are visible and quickly managed
Optimization6 vs 5
Hollow Knight leans harder on optimization: Charm builds and boss routes are fully learnable.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.