head to head
vs
Dwarfs!?vsSid Meier's Pirates!
Dwarfs!? leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos); Sid Meier's Pirates! leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Dwarfs!?Sid Meier's Pirates!
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 4
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance5 vs 4
Dwarfs!? leans harder on variance: Unknown cave contents drive risky exploration
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.