Building comparison
head to head
Lara Croft GovsPokémon Gold
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.
Lara Croft Go
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Turn-based board-puzzle distillation of Tomb Raider's traps and tombs.
Pokémon Gold
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Second-generation Pokémon spanning two regions with a day-night cycle.
Lara Croft Go leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Pokémon Gold leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Lara Croft GoPokémon Gold
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 0
Lara Croft Go leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Lara Croft Go
Turn-based taps, zero dexterity
Pokémon Gold
Menu-driven battles
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Lara Croft Go
Hazards move on fixed rules
Pokémon Gold
Scripted trainers throughout
Variance1 vs 2
Pokémon Gold leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Lara Croft Go
Everything visible on the board
Pokémon Gold
Encounter and shiny RNG, time-of-day spawns
Optimization8 vs 8
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Lara Croft Go
Each level is a solvable movement puzzle
Pokémon Gold
Team composition and type coverage carry the game
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.