Building comparison
head to head
From DustvsPortal 2
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. From Dust demands more variance; Portal 2 demands more optimization.
From Dust
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A god game about sculpting terrain to shepherd a tribe past simulated floods and lava.
Portal 2
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A first-person puzzle game where seeing the solution is the whole skill.
From Dust leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal 2 leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
From DustPortal 2
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 3
Portal 2 leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
From Dust
Cursor-based terrain scooping, no dexterity ceiling
Portal 2
Portal placement requires some precision but timing is lenient.
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 2
No opponent; puzzles are static.
Variance2 vs 0
From Dust leans clearly harder on variance.
From Dust
Fluid simulation produces mild unpredictability
Portal 2
Puzzles are deterministic with no randomness.
Optimization7 vs 9
Portal 2 leans clearly harder on optimization.
From Dust
Terraforming puzzles with discoverable optimal solutions
Portal 2
Solving the puzzle's logic IS the entire game.
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.