head to head
vs
Dragon's LairvsPortal
Dragon's Lair leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Dragon's LairPortal
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 4
Dragon's Lair leans harder on execution: Split-second inputs on strict timing windows
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 0
Dragon's Lair leans harder on variance: Unknown prompts only until memorised
Optimization8 vs 8
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.