Building comparison
head to head
PortalvsStill Life
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. Portal demands more execution; Still Life demands more variance.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
Still Life
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Uncovering a fixed murder mystery through inventory puzzles and deduction.
Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Still Life leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
PortalStill Life
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 1
Portal leans clearly harder on execution.
Portal
Portal placement timing modest.
Still Life
Pointing and clicking carries no physical demand
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
No adversary modeling player.
Still Life
The killer is a fixed narrative, not an adapting opponent
Variance0 vs 3
Still Life leans clearly harder on variance.
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Still Life
The mystery's facts are hidden until uncovered
Optimization8 vs 6
Portal leans clearly harder on optimization.
Portal
Pure puzzle-solving optimization.
Still Life
Inventory puzzles and deduction steps have fixed solutions
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.