head to head
vs
Milon's Secret CastlevsStarbound
Milon's Secret Castle leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Starbound leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Milon's Secret CastleStarbound
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 3
Milon's Secret Castle leans harder on execution: Stiff jumping and bubble combat demand period-typical precision
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance5 vs 4
Milon's Secret Castle leans harder on variance: Progression hides behind unmarked secret blocks you must discover
Optimization6 vs 7
Starbound leans harder on optimization: Gear tiers, farming, and progression routes dominate
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.