Building comparison
head to head
The Inner WorldvsThe Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is variance, and it is a single point.
The Inner World
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Classic item-combination puzzle solving in a hand-drawn world.
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Lateral-thinking puzzle solving that converges to a walkthrough once solutions are known.
The Inner World leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
The Inner WorldThe Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
Axis by axis
Execution0 vs 0
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
The Inner World
Pointing and clicking, no dexterity
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
Pointing and clicking has no physical 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.
The Inner World
Asposia's characters are scripted
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
Insult swordfighting is scripted dialogue lookup, not prediction
Variance2 vs 3
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
The Inner World
Puzzle states hidden until explored, then fixed
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
Puzzle solutions are hidden information until discovered
Optimization6 vs 6
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
The Inner World
Combining items through fixed puzzle logic is the game
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
Once solutions are known the game is fully solved
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.