Building comparison
head to head
Age of EmpiresvsAge of Empires III
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.
Age of Empires
Optimization · Mind & Math
The original historical RTS of advancing ages, booming economies, and rushing armies.
Age of Empires III
Optimization · Mind & Math
A colonial-era RTS adding home-city card shipments to classic Age economy play.
Age of Empires leans Optimization (Mind & Math); Age of Empires III leans Optimization (Mind & Math).
Age of EmpiresAge of Empires III
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 5
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Age of Empires
APM and micro under pressure
Age of Empires III
Unit micro and raid defense
Reads6 vs 6
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Age of Empires
Scouting and countering human strategies
Age of Empires III
Human deck and timing reads in ranked
Variance4 vs 4
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Age of Empires
Fog of war and map resources
Age of Empires III
Map spawns and shipment ordering unknowns
Optimization8 vs 8
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Age of Empires
Build orders and eco timing dominate
Age of Empires III
Home-city decks are a build-crafting layer
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.