Building comparison
head to head
PortalvsThe Room 4: Old Sins
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. Portal demands more execution; The Room 4: Old Sins demands more variance.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
The Room 4: Old Sins
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Methodically decoding intricate fixed mechanisms hidden in a puzzle dollhouse.
Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); The Room 4: Old Sins leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
PortalThe Room 4: Old Sins
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 1
Portal leans clearly harder on execution.
Portal
Portal placement timing modest.
The Room 4: Old Sins
Twisting mechanisms onscreen takes no dexterity
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.
The Room 4: Old Sins
A fixed dollhouse of secrets; nothing adapts
Variance0 vs 2
The Room 4: Old Sins leans clearly harder on variance.
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
The Room 4: Old Sins
Mechanisms are hidden information until discovered
Optimization8 vs 7
Portal leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Portal
Pure puzzle-solving optimization.
The Room 4: Old Sins
Each puzzle box is a deterministic mechanism to decode
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.