head to head
vs
18 Wheels of Steel: Pedal to the MetalvsNieR
18 Wheels of Steel: Pedal to the Metal leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); NieR leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
18 Wheels of Steel: Pedal to the MetalNieR
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 5
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance2 vs 2
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization6 vs 5
18 Wheels of Steel: Pedal to the Metal leans harder on optimization: Route planning and business management are deeply solvable.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.