head to head
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.

Optimization · Pure Optimization
Engineer a pandemic; evolution order is the puzzle.

Optimization · Pure Optimization
The 2001 Civilization entry that introduced culture, strategic resources and refined empire micromanagement.
Plague Inc: Evolved leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Sid Meier's Civilization III leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Plague Inc: Evolved leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Plague Inc: Evolved
no reflex
Sid Meier's Civilization III
No dexterity in a turn-based interface
Plague Inc: Evolved leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Plague Inc: Evolved
world response scripted
Sid Meier's Civilization III
AI personalities are fixed and mappable
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Plague Inc: Evolved
country event timing
Sid Meier's Civilization III
Random maps, resources and combat rolls matter early
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Plague Inc: Evolved
evolution order heavily solved
Sid Meier's Civilization III
Corruption math, worker turns and culture borders reward deep optimization
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.