Building comparison
head to head
EvolandvsPortal
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. Evoland demands more variance; Portal demands more optimization.
Evoland
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A genre-hopping adventure that evolves through gaming history as you play.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
Evoland leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
EvolandPortal
Axis by axis
Execution3 vs 4
Portal leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Evoland
Light Zelda-style action sections
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.
Evoland
No adaptive opponent
Portal
No adversary modeling player.
Variance2 vs 0
Evoland leans clearly harder on variance.
Evoland
Some random encounters in RPG segments
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Optimization6 vs 8
Portal leans clearly harder on optimization.
Evoland
Short, fully mappable progression gimmick
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.