Portal

As an avid gamer, I pride myself on the diversity of games that I play. Though I'm not a big fan of puzzle games, (I usually tend to prefer the more violent games) I decided to buy the Portal bundle from the Steam Store. I had heard of it over the years and always blew it off because it looked like a really poor idea for a game. I started playing Portal as soon as it finished downloading and the mystery and obfuscation right from the start hooked me and pulled me right into it. As I said before, I'm not really a big fan of puzzle games, but Portal just seemed to grab a hold of me and didn't let go until it was over. The levels started of simple and easy, but as you progress through the game they seem to get exponentially more difficult. Valve took a minimalist approach to the gameplay and managed to weave an extremely intricate story to back it up and leave you guessing about everything outside of the Enrichment Center.

When I say minimalist, I mean they used very few characters, very few environments, and a very limited number of use-able tools. The characters and story, despite this minimal use of characters, both showed a lot of depth and made you actually like all the characters. As for the environments and tools, they rearranged them for each level to make each situation more and more difficult to solve. I was amazed by the depth of the story and characters, and also of how well they put the puzzles together. I played through the game in one sitting but it took me a whole night to do so. Even though it was pretty short lived, it was a memorable and enjoyable experience that I would recommend for anyone that calls themselves a gamer. Just remember that the cake is a lie!