yardaper

You're part of the amazing scene in The Office where Michael Scott does improv. Have you done improv comedy before? If so, did you find it helped with your roles?

That was a great video, thanks. It made me think a lot about the nature of the game Portal (and why it’s better than the other games in this video).

In Portal, the inherent rules and game logic are part of the game. “Why can’t I bring the cube over there?” Because the level says so to make the puzzle interesting, and they make that clear. But in lots of other games, when asked “why can’t I bring X over there?”, the answer is “because they want you to do this other thing”. And there’s no rhyme or reason to it, as his video mentions. You can’t use that strip of sidewalk to escape because they want you to turn right.

Games try to mimic the real world, but what you can do is so limited comparatively that it’s frustrating. But Portal is a “game” within the “real world”, so the rules you have to follow are explicit. It’s the only game that feels… honest? It says “you’re playing a game,” and that acknowledgment let’s me enjoy it so much more, because now all those limitations make sense.