https://github.com/zack-bitcoin/basiccoin
What do you think of the project? Is there anything useful we can take away?
It's not that similar. Basic Coin's source code is much smaller than Bitcoin's, and it's function-centric so as to make adding new features more straightforward. It's deliberately trying to make things "simple" for developers. Simcoin, on the other hand, aims at making things simple for end users.
The two goals are more different than you may think. Back in tha day when GUIs were first being developed, programmers took this fatalistic rule of thumb to heart: "The easier to use, the harder to program."