4 ms·

Not surprised by this as Portals puzzles combine so many different abilities like abstract reasoning, planning, dexterity and reflexes. Now, the question is of

Not surprised by this as Portals puzzles combine so many different abilities like abstract reasoning, planning, dexterity and reflexes. Now, the question is of course if other 3D video games (e.g. DOOM) have similar health benefits. I'd say Portal is a pretty "intellectual" game compared to most shooters, so I'd expect the overall effect to vary. Navigation in three-dimensional environments seems to be quite a complex task in itself though, so maybe that's already where most of the effect is coming from?

jplayer01 7y ago
Agreed. Wish there were more games out there like Portal, but it seems to be entirely unique in the industry.
- Qwertystop 7y ago
  There's others. Antichamber is probably the biggest I've heard of? Taking "like Portal" more broadly as "3D first-person environmental/traversal puzzle games", maybe Outer Wilds.
- MayeulC 7y ago
  Oh, there are more. Out of my mind, I can cite The Talos Principle, Qube and Antichamber. Maybe in slightly different categories: Fez (~2D), Mirror's edge (parkour), infinifactory. The Stanley Parable as well, perhaps? Then there are numerous 2D ones, and I'm pretty sure I am forgetting some that I have in my library. Portal isn't unique, but it has one of the most dynamic and entertaining narratives. It also spearheaded a whole lot of "portal clones", which was nice to see, as I quite like those puzzle games.
  - thomasfortes 7y ago
    About 2d ones, I would recommend mari0, a fan game that mix portal and mario. https://stabyourself.net/mari0/ https://stabyourself.net/mari0/ Also, the other stabyourself games are great too.
  - MauranKilom 7y ago
    From your first three I've only seen Antichamber. I agree that it's a cognitive challenge like portal, but I also think it doesn't involve the same kind of spatial reasoning portal does. Well, at least not in the (otherwise ubiquitous) 3D space.
    - MayeulC 7y ago
      Well, the most difficult part of Antichamber is that the 3D space is a non-euclidian one, so you have to adjust the way you think space. But I still think that the main game element is how to find your way from point A to point B in that space. And pathfinding isn't a trivial exercise in euclidian space, already, which is the point of the article. I recommend the Talos Principle, even though I haven't finished it yet. Some challenges are quite hard, and it has even more spatial reasoning than portal. Here also, enigmas revolve around getting you from point A to point B, but you usually have to carry along some tools to help you. This often ends up being a variant of the Hanoi tower, or the wolf, goat and cabbage, but in a space with more than one dimension, unlike those classic riddles. And there is some lore hidden in the game world that can be quite interesting to puzzle together. Now, if you want more portal, the game modding community is quite profusive around Valve's IP. You have Portal stories: Mel, Aperture tag, Portal: prelude. The quality is often worse than complete games, but the puzzles can be quite challenging.
- projproj 7y ago
  I haven't played Portal, but, based on what I've seen of Portal, Human Fall Flat may be similar. You solve puzzles in a 3d world to get through stages of the game. It's pretty fun.
- dejawu 7y ago
  Try out The Witness in addition to the other games suggested here.
- umvi 7y ago
  You could play the predecessor, Narbacular Drop
NoodleIncident 7y ago
The main advantage I'd expect Portal to have over other games is the spatial memory required to remember where you've already put your portals, while they're not currently on the screen. I expect that a linear game would score the lowest, since there's no incentive to build a mental model of the map inside your head. Games with sprawling levels that encourage backtracking would be somewhere in between, but those are kind of frustrating and outdated these days, and you can still complete them by randomly walking around until you reach your next goal. Portal games have backtracking, but you need to intentionally place a portal in both locations, which you can't do accidentally.
deleted 7y ago
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jplayer01 7y ago

Agreed. Wish there were more games out there like Portal, but it seems to be entirely unique in the industry.

Qwertystop 7y ago
There's others. Antichamber is probably the biggest I've heard of? Taking "like Portal" more broadly as "3D first-person environmental/traversal puzzle games", maybe Outer Wilds.
MayeulC 7y ago
Oh, there are more. Out of my mind, I can cite The Talos Principle, Qube and Antichamber. Maybe in slightly different categories: Fez (~2D), Mirror's edge (parkour), infinifactory. The Stanley Parable as well, perhaps? Then there are numerous 2D ones, and I'm pretty sure I am forgetting some that I have in my library. Portal isn't unique, but it has one of the most dynamic and entertaining narratives. It also spearheaded a whole lot of "portal clones", which was nice to see, as I quite like those puzzle games.
- thomasfortes 7y ago
  About 2d ones, I would recommend mari0, a fan game that mix portal and mario. https://stabyourself.net/mari0/ https://stabyourself.net/mari0/ Also, the other stabyourself games are great too.
- MauranKilom 7y ago
  From your first three I've only seen Antichamber. I agree that it's a cognitive challenge like portal, but I also think it doesn't involve the same kind of spatial reasoning portal does. Well, at least not in the (otherwise ubiquitous) 3D space.
  - MayeulC 7y ago
    Well, the most difficult part of Antichamber is that the 3D space is a non-euclidian one, so you have to adjust the way you think space. But I still think that the main game element is how to find your way from point A to point B in that space. And pathfinding isn't a trivial exercise in euclidian space, already, which is the point of the article. I recommend the Talos Principle, even though I haven't finished it yet. Some challenges are quite hard, and it has even more spatial reasoning than portal. Here also, enigmas revolve around getting you from point A to point B, but you usually have to carry along some tools to help you. This often ends up being a variant of the Hanoi tower, or the wolf, goat and cabbage, but in a space with more than one dimension, unlike those classic riddles. And there is some lore hidden in the game world that can be quite interesting to puzzle together. Now, if you want more portal, the game modding community is quite profusive around Valve's IP. You have Portal stories: Mel, Aperture tag, Portal: prelude. The quality is often worse than complete games, but the puzzles can be quite challenging.
projproj 7y ago
I haven't played Portal, but, based on what I've seen of Portal, Human Fall Flat may be similar. You solve puzzles in a 3d world to get through stages of the game. It's pretty fun.
dejawu 7y ago
Try out The Witness in addition to the other games suggested here.
umvi 7y ago
You could play the predecessor, Narbacular Drop

NoodleIncident 7y ago

The main advantage I'd expect Portal to have over other games is the spatial memory required to remember where you've already put your portals, while they're not currently on the screen. I expect that a linear game would score the lowest, since there's no incentive to build a mental model of the map inside your head. Games with sprawling levels that encourage backtracking would be somewhere in between, but those are kind of frustrating and outdated these days, and you can still complete them by randomly walking around until you reach your next goal. Portal games have backtracking, but you need to intentionally place a portal in both locations, which you can't do accidentally.

deleted 7y ago

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