head to head
vs
Cities: SkylinesvsTropico 6
Cities: Skylines leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Tropico 6 leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Cities: SkylinesTropico 6
Axis by axis
Execution0 vs 1
Tropico 6 leans harder on execution: pausable management
Reads0 vs 1
Tropico 6 leans harder on reads: factions scripted not adaptive
Variance1 vs 3
Tropico 6 leans harder on variance: election events, disasters
Optimization10 vs 8
Cities: Skylines leans harder on optimization: Traffic flow, zoning, and budgets are fully 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.