head to head

Poppy Playtime cover artvsThe Last of Us Part I cover art

Poppy PlaytimevsThe Last of Us Part I

Poppy Playtime leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); The Last of Us Part I leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).

EXECUTION3 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE3 /10OPTIMIZATION4 /10
Poppy PlaytimeThe Last of Us Part I

Axis by axis

Execution3 vs 4

The Last of Us Part I leans harder on execution: stealth-combat needs aim and timing

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance3 vs 2

Poppy Playtime leans harder on variance: First-time scares rely on unknown scripted events

Optimization4 vs 4

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.

full breakdown

Poppy Playtime

full breakdown

The Last of Us Part I