head to head
Europa Universalis IVvsPatrician IV
Europa Universalis IV leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Patrician IV leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Europa Universalis IVPatrician IV
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 1
Europa Universalis IV leans harder on execution: pausable, no twitch
Reads3 vs 2
Europa Universalis IV leans harder on reads: AI mostly scripted, some MP
Variance3 vs 3
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization9 vs 9
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.

