Building comparison
head to head
The Curse of Monkey IslandvsThe Excavation of Hob's Barrow
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.
The Curse of Monkey Island
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Comedic point-and-click adventure of Guybrush Threepwood, hand-drawn at its peak.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A folk horror adventure about an antiquarian unearthing something best left buried on the moors.
The Curse of Monkey Island leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); The Excavation of Hob's Barrow leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
The Curse of Monkey IslandThe Excavation of Hob's Barrow
Axis by axis
Execution0 vs 1
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
The Curse of Monkey Island
pointing and clicking only
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow
Pure point-and-click pacing
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
The Curse of Monkey Island
no adaptive opponent
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow
No adaptive opponent
Variance3 vs 3
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
The Curse of Monkey Island
puzzle solutions unknown on first play, then fixed
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow
Dread comes from unknowns that vanish on replay
Optimization7 vs 7
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
The Curse of Monkey Island
inventory logic puzzles are fully solvable
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow
Linear puzzles with fixed solutions throughout
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.