head to head

Hearts of Iron III cover artvsHeroes of Might and Magic II cover art

Hearts of Iron IIIvsHeroes of Might and Magic II

Hearts of Iron III leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Heroes of Might and Magic II leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).

EXECUTION1 /10READS2 /10VARIANCE3 /10OPTIMIZATION9 /10
Hearts of Iron IIIHeroes of Might and Magic II

Axis by axis

Execution1 vs 0

Hearts of Iron III leans harder on execution: Pausable; only interface management

Reads2 vs 2

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance3 vs 4

Heroes of Might and Magic II leans harder on variance: Map exploration, morale, luck, and combat rolls

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.

full breakdown

Hearts of Iron III

full breakdown

Heroes of Might and Magic II