head to head
vs
Aliens: Dark DescentvsSid Meier's Pirates!
Aliens: Dark Descent leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Sid Meier's Pirates! leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Aliens: Dark DescentSid Meier's Pirates!
Axis by axis
Execution3 vs 4
Sid Meier's Pirates! leans harder on execution: Sword duel timing and ship-handling minigames
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance4 vs 4
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
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.