Building comparison
head to head
Cities: SkylinesvsThe Incredible Machine 3
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.
Cities: Skylines
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A sandbox city builder that is pure traffic and zoning optimization.
The Incredible Machine 3
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A physics puzzle of engineering Rube Goldberg contraptions to solve fixed goals.
Cities: Skylines leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); The Incredible Machine 3 leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Cities: SkylinesThe Incredible Machine 3
Axis by axis
Execution0 vs 1
The Incredible Machine 3 leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Cities: Skylines
No reflex demands at all.
The Incredible Machine 3
Placing parts is untimed, no dexterity needed
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Cities: Skylines
No adaptive opponent exists in the sandbox.
The Incredible Machine 3
Solo puzzle, nothing to predict
Variance1 vs 1
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Cities: Skylines
Minor disaster events if enabled.
The Incredible Machine 3
Physics is deterministic, no randomness
Optimization10 vs 9
Cities: Skylines leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Cities: Skylines
Traffic flow, zoning, and budgets are fully solvable.
The Incredible Machine 3
Engineering a working contraption from parts IS the game
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.