Ginger Games of the Decade - Part 1 - Portal

Hello! As an introduction, I'll post up something I started writing at the turn of the year. I put together a list of my favorite games that were released from 2000 through the end of 2009, mailed it to a couple friends of mine, and asked for their lists back. I'll put my list up over a few posts to get things rolling. The platforms I list are the ones that I played the game on.

I present to you, the Ginger Games of the Decade (GGOTD)!

Portal - 2007 - PS3 and PC

I fell in love with this game in a matter of seconds; once I heard GLadDOS's glitched out voice I was in. The first time I played it was on a PC. I spent about 4 hours getting to the beginning of level 19, then went to bed. That night, I dreamt about the game, and in the morning I woke up and finished it. I could not stop thinking about how great this game was. In the next few weeks, I casually played through it again. The emotional connection was the same, the visceral hooked-in feeling was just as great as the first time through, and it's been that way each time after that.

A first-person shooter and puzzle game. Peanut butter and ham jelly. It's a simple combination but it is packaged and executed so well, that you can't help but to fall for it.

I love this game so much that I play through it at least once a year. I'm that annoying guy that tells anyone with thumbs that they NEED to play it. It's that good. I still have a hard time when people tell me that they haven't played this game; it doesn't compute in my little ginger mind. I guess it's kind of like the gaming equivelent of Guided By Voices; if you like it, you fucking love it, and if not, then it's just not on your radar.

If you haven't played it, give it a try. Anything that spawns this kind of rabid fan following and general craftiness can't be bad.

Oh, almost forgot, the cake is a lie.