head to head
vs
Hot LavavsThe Messenger
Hot Lava leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); The Messenger leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Hot LavaThe Messenger
Axis by axis
Execution8 vs 7
Hot Lava leans harder on execution: First-person parkour momentum and precise jumps are everything
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance0 vs 1
The Messenger leans harder on variance: deterministic level design
Optimization5 vs 5
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.