Renowned as one of the most innovative, witty, and charming first-person puzzle platformer series of all time, Portal and its sequel, Portal 2, follow test subjects at Aperture Science and their experience solving physics-based puzzles using a portal gun. With its sarcastic AI cast and compelling plot twists, Portal’s simple yet effective gameplay can leave players wanting more after completing the series.

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6 Games That Use The Portal Formula

These games pattern their gameplay mechanics after the iconic portal style before adding their exclusive finishing touches.

Although few games can match Portal’s success precisely, several embody the series’ best features through their mechanics, themes, and aesthetics, making them perfect for fans of Portal and Portal 2 in many unique and exciting ways.

Updated on January 17, 2024, by Ritwik Mitra: Portal is one of the most popular video games ever made, with the first title appearing as a surprise addition to the Orange Box collection that has since gone down in history. The popularity of this game prompted Valve to develop Portal 2, a game many people consider to be a massive improvement in every way. Fans of these two games who have lost hope in the possibility of a Portal 3 can still check out several great games that are pretty engaging in their own right.

16 Splitgate

Combines Portals And FPS Gameplay To Make For A Great Multiplayer Shooter

Splitgate is one of the most innovative uses of portals in a shooting game, incorporating the same in frenetic multiplayer action that made the game such a blast to play through in its heyday. With the game's developers choosing to focus on other projects, most people may feel like getting into Splitgate isn't worth it right now.

However, fans of unique multiplayer shooters will love what Splitgate brings to the table. Portals add a lot of depth to the gameplay, and it's important to be wary of one's surroundings while also becoming deft with the portal mechanic to make traversal easier and get the drop on enemies.

15 The Entropy Centre

Manipulate And Reverse The Flow Of Time For Objects To Solve Puzzles

• Released: November 3, 2022
• Developer: Stubby Games
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch

Most first-person puzzle games need to do something unique to stand out from the rest of the pack. The Entropy Centre certainly achieves this, with its core mechanic involving reversing the flow of time for objects to solve puzzles.

This makes for a compelling mechanic that needs to be used in creative games for some of the game's harder puzzles. While the narrative may not be as strong as Portal, the innovative puzzle mechanics more than makeup for it.

14 Cocoon

Messes Around With A Player's Perspective, Making Them Jump Into Worlds Within Worlds

After Playdead split apart, most people were saddened at the loss of such a great studio. However, one of the founders wasn't giving up any time soon, putting all their heart and soul into the development of a nifty little puzzle game called Cocoon.

The way this game messes with players and makes them jump into and out of worlds is quite innovative and makes the game's presentation stand out. The fact that players wanted this game's puzzles to be drawn out a bit longer is a testament to the impact this title had.

13 The Beginner's Guide

A Witty Meta-commentary On The Video Game Development Process

• Released: October 1, 2015
• Developer: Everything Unlimited Ltd.
• Platforms: PC

Made by the developer behind The Stanley Parable, The Beginner's Guide is not a game for everyone. Some of the ideas and viewpoints thrown out in this title can feel forced and opinionated at times, which can be rather hard to digest.

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While there are dozens of puzzle games for fans to choose from, some of these titles are nearly impossible to complete.

However, players who decide to give The Beginner's Guide a chance without being too judgmental will love what this title has to offer. It's far from a perfect game, but works more as a nice experience that gives players a glimpse into the mind of a video game developer.

12 Fez

A Unique 2D Puzzle-Platformer That Uses Shifting Perspectives To Great Effect

An excellent puzzle game that fans will love, Fez's innovative take on 2D platforming and puzzling is interesting. Players can rotate their viewpoint to align platforms and solve certain brain-teasers, which makes for a fun time indeed.

The developer, Phil Fish, may have become somewhat of an infamous name in the industry, but that shouldn't take away from the brilliance that exudes in this game. The vibrant art style and great mechanics certainly make this title more likable and engaging than ever.

11 Mirror’s Edge

A Hyper-Stylized Look At The Future With Parkouring Goodness

First-person platforming can be tricky to execute, so it's great to see Mirror's Edge pull this off in incredible fashion. This short linear platformer is a blast to play through, nailing the feel that players can enjoy while parkouring across the map.

The sequel to this game was a colossal disappointment, but the first Mirror's Edge is still a must-play for fans who haven't experienced it yet. It's a wonderful game where players will feel amazing as they make the most of Faith's abilities to execute some amazing moves.

10 Half-Life

Valve's Incredible FPS Title That Arguably Helped The Studio Become A Gaming Behemoth

Although it has many differences from Portal, fans of the series may be interested in Valve’s well-known debut series, Half-Life. Following a theoretical physicist named Gordon Freeman, the Half-Life series chronicles the collapse of the space-time continuum, the ensuing alien invasion, and humanity’s fight for freedom.

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These first-person shooter franchises have delighted fans and critics over the years with their stellar world-building.

Half-Life may have a more complex storyline than Portal. However, it can be insightful to see how both series influenced each other, especially since they share the same world and use similar technological advances to arm players with some of the most unique weapons in first-person shooters.

9 Quantum Conundrum

Made By Portal's Lead Designer With Its Trademark Charm And Wit

• Released: June 21, 2012
• Developer: Airtight Games
• Platforms: Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3

Directed by the lead designer for Portal, Kim Swift, Quantum Conundrum is an underrated puzzle game where players can manipulate four alternate dimensions while trying to restore power to their eccentric uncle’s house after a failed experiment turned off the lights.

Quantum Conundrum has a more cartoonish and light-hearted tone than Portal. Still, using a special glove to explore the fluffy, heavy, slow motion, and reverse gravity dimensions makes it reminiscent of the iconic series while asking players to consider how its specific mechanics help it stand out.

8 Antichamber

A Seemingly Simple Puzzle Game With Immense Depth

• Released: January 31, 2013
• Developer: Demruth
• Platforms: PC

Guided by motivational quotes about how to solve various puzzles and the importance of perspective, Antichamber is a first-person exploration game without a clear plot. Once players clear a few areas, they unlock a portal gun-like tool that allows them to prop open doors or create platforms using blocks.

Despite its apparent simplicity, overcoming obstacles using the tool can be a disorienting experience that relies on confidence and focus, making it a perfect fit for Portal fans who enjoy the thrill of solving particularly complex tests at Aperture Science with ease.

7 The Witness

A Challenging And Beautiful Puzzle Game Focused On One Central Mechanic

In The Witness, players explore an open world while solving line-based puzzles, discovering new rules along the way. Each of the 18 areas adds its twist, allowing the mazes to pull in more environmental details as they increase in difficulty. While the open-world game has little plot, occasionally there are philosophical audio logs and videos about humanity hidden between puzzles.

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These sci-fi games let players take a journey to space and explore the unknown.

Although The Witness lacks the Portal series’ more guided story and clear objectives, its creativity and environment give players a more self-paced experience that encourages them to find their meaning in its solutions and rules.

6 The Turing Test

Another Puzzle Game Where Players Are Pitted Against A Rogue AI

Set in a research base on Jupiter’s moon, Europa,The Turing Test follows an engineer named Ava on a journey to recover her missing crewmates after they found a dangerous life form and barricaded their ship. Guided by the mission’s AI companion, T.O.M., Ava solves the puzzles the crew used to limit machine influence over the base to ensure their safety.

The atmosphere in The Turing Test is similar to the Portal series since Ava uses her surroundings and laser gun to open doors. As she becomes more skeptical of T.O.M.’s advice and her team’s complex yet human Turing tests, the game adds another layer of urgency that some players may have wanted from the Portal series at times.

5 Superliminal

Uses The Player's Perspective In A Unique Way

Trapped in an experimental form of dream therapy gone wrong, players can manipulate the world around them using optical illusions in Superliminal. Each room, and hidden area, in the dream takes logic to solve while preparing players for the next surreal dreamscape.

Much of Superliminal focuses on how players can shift their perspective to overcome difficulties and escape the experiment to return to everyday life with everyday problems. For fans of Portal’s scientific themes and innovative portal gun mechanics, Superliminal is a game they won’t want to miss.

4 Q.U.B.E. 2

The Simple Act Of Placing Blocks To Solve Puzzles Is Weaved Masterfully In This Title

After narrowly surviving a sandstorm on an alien planet, archeologist Amelia Cross awakens in an ancient ruin. Led by another survivor, Cross uses a glove to manipulate glowing cubes around her and make her escape.

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The unreliable narrator has become an increasingly popular device in gaming. These titles employ it effectively, creating engaging plot twists.

While Q.U.B.E. 2 is the second game in a series, and both installments make compelling plays, the sequel refines the first game's mechanics into a more similar experience for fans of Portal. Like deciding where to place portals, determining how to use each block while navigating the ruins takes as much planning as it does trial and error.

3 The Talos Principle

A Great Puzzle Game With Breathtaking Environments And A Fun Story Simmering In The Background

In The Talos Principle, players control an android called Child by a booming voice known as Elohim. Encouraged to collect sigils around the gardens and enjoy Elohim’s temple, the android can choose to explore the world as the voice explains or follow its own free will.

While The Talos Principle takes a serious look at the concepts of life and consciousness compared to Portal’s more comedic dialogue, using jammers to open doorways and stop enemies from attacking makes it feel like the tests at Aperture Science before things go off course.

2 The Stanley Parable

A Hilarious Walking Simulator With Relatively Simple Puzzles

The Stanley Parable is often considered one of the world’s most influential indie games. It asks players to determine whether an office worker named Stanley chooses to follow the path laid out for him by a narrator after his co-workers vanish.

Portal fans who appreciate GLaDOS’ sarcasm, narration, and energy will enjoy the narrator’s role in The Stanley Parable, especially in some of the game’s endings that require Stanley to disobey, question, or otherwise ignore orders to learn about his personality and methods.

1 Outer Wilds

One Of The Greatest Video Games Ever Made To Utilize The Concept Of A Time Loop

Beginning on a planet called Timber Hearth,Outer Wilds takes place in one of the most complex, immersive, and captivating solar systems in gaming. The story follows an unnamed astronaut as they try to solve the mysteries of the world around them, navigating time loops, dangerous planets, and relative isolation along the way.

As two of the most well-respected science fiction games available, it is hard to see how fans of the Portal series would not enjoy unlocking the secrets of the universe in Outer Wilds despite their differences.

Portal 2

Platform(s)

PS3 , Xbox 360 , Switch , PC

Released

April 18, 2011

Developer(s)

Valve

Genre(s)

Puzzle , Platformer