head to head

Outer Wilds cover artvsWorld of Goo cover art

Outer WildsvsWorld of Goo

Outer Wilds leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); World of Goo leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).

EXECUTION2 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE1 /10OPTIMIZATION9 /10
Outer WildsWorld of Goo

Axis by axis

Execution2 vs 3

World of Goo leans harder on execution: Placing goo balls needs only mild precision

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance1 vs 1

Even - both lean on variance about the same.

Optimization9 vs 8

Outer Wilds leans harder on optimization: Pure knowledge puzzle - solve the system

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

Outer Wilds

full breakdown

World of Goo