head to head
Police Quest III: The KindredvsSam & Max: Hit the Road
Police Quest III: The Kindred leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Sam & Max: Hit the Road leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Police Quest III: The KindredSam & Max: Hit the Road
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 1
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance3 vs 2
Police Quest III: The Kindred leans harder on variance: Case clues are hidden until you investigate
Optimization8 vs 8
Even - both lean on optimization about the same.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

