head to head
vs
Age of Empires: OnlinevsNorthgard
Age of Empires: Online leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Northgard leans Optimization (Mind & Math).
Age of Empires: OnlineNorthgard
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 4
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads4 vs 5
Northgard leans harder on reads: MP vs adaptive humans
Variance2 vs 3
Northgard leans harder on variance: winters, wandering events
Optimization7 vs 7
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.