Building comparison
head to head
NihilumbravsPortal
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is variance, and it is a single point.
Nihilumbra
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Colour-painting terrain puzzles that resolve to finding the intended solution.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
Nihilumbra leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
NihilumbraPortal
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 4
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Nihilumbra
Some platforming timing, but forgiving throughout
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.
Nihilumbra
Enemies cannot be fought or read, only avoided
Portal
No adversary modeling player.
Variance1 vs 0
Nihilumbra leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Nihilumbra
Hand-designed puzzles with nothing random
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Optimization7 vs 8
Portal leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Nihilumbra
Choosing which colour solves each terrain puzzle is the game
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.