Building comparison
head to head
Portal 2vsRiven: The Sequel to Myst
Portal 2 asks more than Riven: The Sequel to Myst, and the gap is execution.
Portal 2
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A first-person puzzle game where seeing the solution is the whole skill.
Riven: The Sequel to Myst
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A cerebral puzzle-adventure that is essentially a logic puzzle to be fully solved.
Portal 2 leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Riven: The Sequel to Myst leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Portal 2Riven: The Sequel to Myst
Axis by axis
Execution3 vs 0
Portal 2 leans clearly harder on execution.
Portal 2
Portal placement requires some precision but timing is lenient.
Riven: The Sequel to Myst
no reflex or physical skill required
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Portal 2
No opponent; puzzles are static.
Riven: The Sequel to Myst
no opponent present in the game
Variance0 vs 0
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Portal 2
Puzzles are deterministic with no randomness.
Riven: The Sequel to Myst
fully deterministic puzzle world
Optimization9 vs 9
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Portal 2
Solving the puzzle's logic IS the entire game.
Riven: The Sequel to Myst
pure logic-puzzle solving, walkthrough-solvable
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.