Building comparison
head to head
Plants vs. ZombiesvsSimCity
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is reads, and it is a single point.
Plants vs. Zombies
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Lane defense classic about managing a sun economy against shambling waves.
SimCity
Optimization · Pure Optimization
An economy and layout optimization puzzle about keeping a small simulated city solvent.
Plants vs. Zombies leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); SimCity leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Plants vs. ZombiesSimCity
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 1
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Plants vs. Zombies
Clicking to plant, minimal pressure
SimCity
Pause-friendly building removes any physical test
Reads0 vs 1
SimCity leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Plants vs. Zombies
Zombie waves follow set compositions
SimCity
Region multiplayer is cooperative, not adversarial prediction
Variance3 vs 2
Plants vs. Zombies leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Plants vs. Zombies
Wave timing and lane pressure vary mildly
SimCity
Disasters and agent simulation quirks add mild randomness
Optimization8 vs 8
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Plants vs. Zombies
Sun economy and lane setups are near-solvable
SimCity
Zoning, traffic flow and specialisation economies are the whole game
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.