Building comparison
head to head
BeholdervsPortal
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. Beholder demands more variance; Portal demands more execution.
Beholder
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Dystopian management adventure about a landlord spying on tenants for a totalitarian state.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
Beholder leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
BeholderPortal
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 4
Portal leans clearly harder on execution.
Beholder
Simple point-and-click landlord actions
Portal
Portal placement timing modest.
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Beholder
Tenants follow scripted schedules, not adaptive
Portal
No adversary modeling player.
Variance4 vs 0
Beholder leans clearly harder on variance.
Beholder
Tenant events and directives surprise first runs
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Optimization7 vs 8
Portal leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Beholder
Money, time, and blackmail decision routing
Portal
Pure puzzle-solving optimization.
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.