head to head
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.

Optimization · Pure Optimization
Optimizing game development decisions around hidden genre-topic match formulas to maximize review scores and revenue.

Optimization · Pure Optimization
A park management sim about engineering dinosaurs and containing the consequences.
Game Dev Tycoon leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Jurassic World Evolution leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Game Dev Tycoon
All choices are menu clicks with no physical ceiling
Jurassic World Evolution
Cursor-driven building and ranger driving
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Game Dev Tycoon
No adaptive human competitor to model
Jurassic World Evolution
No adaptive opponent
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Game Dev Tycoon
Review scores and trend timing have meaningful randomness
Jurassic World Evolution
Storms, sabotage, and genome luck intrude
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Game Dev Tycoon
Genre-topic-audience matching and R&D investment are learnable formulas
Jurassic World Evolution
Enclosure design, genetics, and economy are the core
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.