Semi-Review: Portal

Allow me to jump on the bandwagon of those who absolutely love Portal. Competition was fierce among my cohorts to see who would first learn the secrets of the cake!

Spoiler: It is moist and delicious.

The near universal adulation this game has gotten definitely has given me some food for thought. I made a quick list of those things that made the game so damn fun, and realized many were basic game design principles.

Understand: When you take the time to design a game right, your game is fun. I swear that needs to be painted on the wall of game development studios.

For instance, the learning curve on Portal was extremely forgiving. Every new concept is telegraphed earlier. I only identified one situation in which there wasn't a precedent to a puzzle (getting into the vent after the rocket room). Learning curve is an often forgotten aspect - teach your player to play, and he will play!

Another feature that should be held up as a great example of a well-designed game was the presentation of clear, unambiguous goals. Your motivation is clear, integrated into the gameplay, and entertaining.

Interaction with the environment was flashy and relevant. If you could see it, you could interact with it in some way. Hidden activities promoted exploration and experimentation.

The story was smart and ironic. The story was also the premiere aspect that has gotten players to love the game as much as they have - without the story, the game would have been a whimsical and forgotten physics mod. With the story of GLaDOS and Chell you are engaged and interested in the next room. As far as the "story versus gameplay" debate is concerned, I think Portal will be held up as an example of the importance of good storytelling for a long time.

In addition to the quality of the story was the ease of entry to and exit from the story. The new player as well as the experienced player of the world and genre were able to quickly find their feet in the game world. If you missed one of GLaDOS' monologues, you didn't miss out on the story, as the story was reinforced by gameplay and vice versa.

Finally, and in my opinion significantly, the recovery from failure and error was extremely fast. This is such a deadly (haha) topic in game design, and, to me, a no-brainer. Making people suffer for mistakes by locking them out in time or game space is pointless and discourages the player from enjoying the game.

Kill the player, show him his mistake, and then get him back in there as close to the mistake as you can, so the player can triumph on the next try. While jumping puzzles are one of the great evils of the universe, Portal mitigates this evil well by generous save points right before you are presented with a challenge.

All in all, Portal will likely be remembered with one of the best reviews you can give a game: "it's too short." Well done Valve.

I am still looking for someone who didn't like it to come forward and tell me why - I'm seriously interested what the game's flaws may be.

Until then, I'll listen to the clever end credits song again.