Building comparison
head to head
Pool of RadiancevsPortal
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. Pool of Radiance demands more variance; Portal demands more execution.
Pool of Radiance
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The original Gold Box tactical RPG, won through D&D system mastery against the dice.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
Pool of Radiance leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Pool of RadiancePortal
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 4
Portal leans clearly harder on execution.
Pool of Radiance
Turn-based tactical grid; no twitch.
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.
Pool of Radiance
Monster AI is simple fixed logic.
Portal
No adversary modeling player.
Variance4 vs 0
Pool of Radiance leans clearly harder on variance.
Pool of Radiance
D&D dice on every attack, save, and encounter.
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Optimization8 vs 8
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Pool of Radiance
Positioning, spell memorization, and party builds win battles.
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.