Bellevue-based developer Valve Software is renowned for its track record of innovation and good design sense, as detailed on its company site. More importantly, Valve games exemplify Gee’s principles of good learning, especially the prized “probe and hypothesize” pattern. This was the dominant operator behind the seminal Half-Life 2, which introduced players to a realistic in-game physics engine. It is also the guiding principle behind what many critics have called the best game of 2007, Portal.
Portal drops players into the role of Chell, a woman trapped within the Aperture Science testing facility. As the unwilling test subject of a maniacal AI named GlaDOS, the player is granted a powerful tool—the Aperture portal gun—and must use it to traverse a series of puzzle-based test chambers. The portal gun is used to manufacture two linked portals, an entrance and an exit, on almost any flat surface. This seems simple in theory, but it presents countless implications for navigating and manipulating a virtual environment. This complexity is perhaps best illustrated in the game’s trailer.
Portal must teach the player to be fully proficient with this elaborate game mechanic. To accomplish this, Valve employs an organic learning process of experimentation and self-discovery with little to no overt instruction. In this way, Portal perhaps exemplifies Gee’s theories better than any other game on the market.
