Building comparison
head to head
Oxygen Not IncludedvsShin Megami Tensei IV
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is optimization, and it is a single point.
Oxygen Not Included
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Engineering precise gas, liquid, and power circuits to keep a subterranean colony alive indefinitely.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Handheld SMT where smirk RNG stings but fusion planning and weakness knowledge carry you.
Oxygen Not Included leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Shin Megami Tensei IV leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Oxygen Not IncludedShin Megami Tensei IV
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 1
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Oxygen Not Included
All inputs are build-order clicks; no twitch required
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Menu combat with no execution ceiling.
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Oxygen Not Included
No adversary of any kind exists in the colony
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Demon negotiation is random personality scripts.
Variance5 vs 5
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Oxygen Not Included
Asteroid seed and geyser placement carry meaningful but bounded randomness
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Smirk procs and negotiation RNG swing fights hard.
Optimization10 vs 9
Oxygen Not Included leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Oxygen Not Included
Gas, liquid, and power engineering are essentially a solvable engineering puzzle
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Fusion apps, weakness charts, and builds solve 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.