head to head

Plants vs. Zombies cover artvsTropico cover art

Plants vs. ZombiesvsTropico

Plants vs. Zombies leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Tropico leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).

EXECUTION1 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE3 /10OPTIMIZATION8 /10
Plants vs. ZombiesTropico

Axis by axis

Execution1 vs 0

Plants vs. Zombies leans harder on execution: Clicking to plant, minimal pressure

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance3 vs 3

Even - both lean on variance about the same.

Optimization8 vs 9

Tropico leans harder on optimization: Economy chains and faction appeasement are fully solvable

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

Plants vs. Zombies

full breakdown

Tropico