head to head
vs
Sid Meier's Pirates!vsSpintires
Sid Meier's Pirates! leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Spintires leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
Sid Meier's Pirates!Spintires
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 5
Spintires leans harder on execution: Throttle finesse and winching through mud need careful hands
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance4 vs 3
Sid Meier's Pirates! leans harder on variance: Treasure locations, wind, and town states roll randomly
Optimization7 vs 7
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.