Portal 2

     In this weeks edition of my game journal, I chose Portal 2 for my post. I specifically chose this game because of it’s split-screen co-op mode that I had played in the past with my brother and what I would play with my current roommate presently. After settling in and playing for what seemed like the fastest hour ever, I had to tear myself away from the screen to write about the rules and resources of the game. The rules of Portal 2 are quite simple. Solve each level’s puzzle and move to the next course. Of course it is not as simple as that. According to Fullerton, “rules define game objects and define allowable actions by the players” (Fullerton, pg. 76). By this definition, Portal 2 utilizes it’s in-game environment and it’s controls as resources that define what the game world is, and what the player character can do inside of it. Fullerton describes a resource as something that has to have “utility and scarcity in the game system” (Fullerton, pg. 80). In Portal 2 the things that are most applicable to this definition are ammo for the portal gun, and the tiles that allow portal to be projected onto them. The portal gun, the item in which the entirety of the game revolves around, only has two shots – each for a single similarly colored portal. There is infinite use of these two shots; but if one were to try to create a third portal, one of the two that you created will disappear. This mechanic is what drives the game. In the co-op version, this create an essential use of teamwork. If you and your teammate ran out of portals and you aren’t where you need to be in the level… odds are you are not solving the level correctly. In this way the game creates a set of rules by using portals as resources (two or four if you’re playing co-op). The environment of the game also creates a unique resource. It is not possible to shoot your portals about willy nilly. There are specified tiles that are placed uniquely around each level. There are also only so many of these tiles in each level. This makes the player have to strategize how to best use them in order to fulfill the challenge. This type of “special terrain”, as Fullerton describes, is often used in map-based strategy games- such as Portal 2. 

     I would also describe patience as an essential resource while playing the game. It is key to not lose your cool when your partner simply will NOT place his portal in the right position. If you lose your cool, you lose the teamwork component of the co-op version of the game. However, if your patience resource is that low normally, it might be a good idea to stick to single person.

Works Cited 

Fullerton, Tracy, et al. “Game Design Workshop: a Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games.” Amazon, Morgan Kaufmann/Elsevier, 2008, http://www.amazon.com/Game-Design-Workshop-Playcentric-Innovative/dp/1138098779.