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
An alchemy sim where mapping the potion-crafting system is the entire game.

Optimization · Pure Optimization
Gentleman puzzler solves a village full of standalone brainteasers.
Potion Craft leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Professor Layton and the Curious Village 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.
Potion Craft
no reflex skill, mostly menu-based crafting
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Stylus taps only; no dexterity pressure at all
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Potion Craft
customers aren't adaptive opponents
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
No opponent, adaptive or otherwise
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Potion Craft
ingredient rolls add some unpredictability
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Puzzle answers are hidden until reasoned out, then fixed
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Potion Craft
potion-map navigation is a solvable system
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Every brainteaser has one clean solvable answer
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.