head to head
vs
Defend Your CastlevsDungeon Keeper 2
Defend Your Castle leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Dungeon Keeper 2 leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Defend Your CastleDungeon Keeper 2
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 3
Defend Your Castle leans harder on execution: Flicking enemies fast matters as waves intensify
Reads1 vs 1
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance2 vs 2
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization6 vs 7
Dungeon Keeper 2 leans harder on optimization: Dungeon layout, creature economy and research are 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.