Building comparison
head to head
GnogvsPortal
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. Gnog demands more variance; Portal demands more execution.
Gnog
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A tactile toy-box puzzler testing playful experimentation with hidden mechanisms.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
Gnog leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
GnogPortal
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 4
Portal leans clearly harder on execution.
Gnog
Poking and spinning toy heads requires no 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.
Gnog
The toys are charming clockwork, not minds
Portal
No adversary modeling player.
Variance2 vs 0
Gnog leans clearly harder on variance.
Gnog
Each head's mechanisms are unknown until fiddled with
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Optimization5 vs 8
Portal leans clearly harder on optimization.
Gnog
Discovering each contraption's interaction sequence is the puzzle
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.