head to head

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars cover artvsThe Swapper cover art

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping StarsvsThe Swapper

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); The Swapper leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).

EXECUTION3 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE0 /10OPTIMIZATION7 /10
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping StarsThe Swapper

Axis by axis

Execution3 vs 2

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars leans harder on execution: Stylus rib-placement under mild time pressure

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance0 vs 0

Even - both lean on variance about the same.

Optimization7 vs 8

The Swapper leans harder on optimization: Clone-placement puzzles have fixed solvable solutions

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

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars

full breakdown

The Swapper