Building comparison
head to head
The SimsvsThere Is No Game: Wrong Dimension
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.
The Sims
Optimization · Pure Optimization
An open-ended needs-and-money system that rewards efficient scheduling.
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A meta point-and-click comedy where you break the game's interface to play the game that isn't one.
The Sims leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
The SimsThere Is No Game: Wrong Dimension
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.
The Sims
Clicking menus has no physical ceiling
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension
Pointing and clicking only
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
The Sims
Sims run need-driven scripts, not minds
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension
The narrator is scripted, not adaptive
Variance2 vs 2
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
The Sims
Event rolls add flavour, all quickly mapped
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension
Surprises hidden only until discovered
Optimization6 vs 6
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
The Sims
Need scheduling, career grinding and money loops are solvable
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension
Fourth-wall puzzles have fixed solutions
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.