Building comparison
head to head
PortalvsTunic
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
Tunic
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A Zelda-like puzzle-action game solved by decoding its hidden manual.
Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Tunic leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
PortalTunic
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 5
Tunic leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Portal
Portal placement timing modest.
Tunic
Dodge-roll combat demands timing
Reads0 vs 1
Tunic leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Portal
No adversary modeling player.
Tunic
Bosses are scripted, not adaptive
Variance0 vs 1
Tunic leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Tunic
Minimal RNG in core loop
Optimization8 vs 8
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Portal
Pure puzzle-solving optimization.
Tunic
Manual decoding and build choices solve everything
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.