Building comparison
head to head
Black & White 2vsPortal
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. Black & White 2 demands more variance; Portal demands more execution.
Black & White 2
Optimization · Pure Optimization
God game blending city building, creature training and conquering by awe or force.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
Black & White 2 leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Black & White 2Portal
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 4
Portal leans clearly harder on execution.
Black & White 2
Gesture casting and creature handling need mild dexterity.
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.
Black & White 2
Creature learning is trainable, not adversarially adaptive.
Portal
No adversary modeling player.
Variance2 vs 0
Black & White 2 leans clearly harder on variance.
Black & White 2
Creature behaviour quirks add some unpredictability.
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Optimization7 vs 8
Portal leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Black & White 2
City impressiveness versus army economy is the solvable choice.
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.