Building comparison
head to head
ThiefvsUndertale
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is reads, and it is a single point.
Thief
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Planning stealth routes around fully mappable guard patterns.
Undertale
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A scripted RPG where pattern-learning and pacifist routing carry you.
Thief leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Undertale leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
ThiefUndertale
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 4
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Thief
Movement timing matters but shadows forgive imprecision
Undertale
Bullet-hell dodging in scripted patterns
Reads0 vs 1
Undertale leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Thief
Guards patrol fixed routes with mappable vision cones
Undertale
NPCs follow fixed dialogue trees, not adaptive
Variance2 vs 1
Thief leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Thief
Patrol layouts are scripted-but-unknown on first entry
Undertale
Minimal randomness in encounters
Optimization7 vs 7
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Thief
Route planning around guard patterns is the whole game
Undertale
Learning fixed boss patterns and mercy routes wins
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.