Building comparison
head to head
From DustvsPortal
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. From Dust demands more variance; Portal demands more execution.
From Dust
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A god game about sculpting terrain to shepherd a tribe past simulated floods and lava.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
From Dust leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
From DustPortal
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 4
Portal leans clearly harder on execution.
From Dust
Cursor-based terrain scooping, no dexterity ceiling
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.
From Dust
Nature isn't an adaptive opponent
Portal
No adversary modeling player.
Variance2 vs 0
From Dust leans clearly harder on variance.
From Dust
Fluid simulation produces mild unpredictability
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Optimization7 vs 8
Portal leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
From Dust
Terraforming puzzles with discoverable optimal solutions
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.