14 DAY TRIAL // Portal remains mainly a video game series that Valve has long-term plans for, but the development team at the studio believes that the fan base will be happy to experience it in board game form with the coming Portal: Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game.
The concept is currently being created at Cryptozoic Entertainment, but one of the main architects of the idea is Jeep Barnett from Valve, who was part of the original Narbacular Drop team and was then involved with the two Portal titles.
Portal: Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game allows up to four players to move test subjects around a tiled board in order to get to the most interesting test chambers and activate them.
A player who is in the lead also has the ability to eliminate test subjects in order to win and the development team hopes that the experience will mix cooperation and competition in equal measure.
Barnett is quoted by Polygon as saying that, “From the very first prototype, the core mechanic struck us as unique and compelling. As it evolved, it survived our rigorous process of external playtesting and iteration.”
Valve explored the Portal board game idea internally for more than one year and then approached Cryptozoic in early 2013 in order to get access to its unique expertise in the genre.
Cory Jones, president and chief creative officer at the company, says that Portal could have been created entirely inside Valve and his team added some polish, sharpened up the design and added some flourishes.
It’s unclear whether Portal: Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game will find an audience, considering that no Portal title is currently in development and that it has been a few years since the second entry was first launched.
Barnett says, “This was designed to stand on its own, not as a promotional tool. While it may appeal more immediately to Portal fans, we tried to create something that was entertaining for everyone who tries it.”
The Valve developer says that a successful launch might be a sign for his company to explore the possibility of creating other board games based on its franchises.
Portal: Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game will be launched late in the fourth quarter of this year, as long as the manufacturing process proceeds with no problems.
At the moment, Valve is focused on the launch of its SteamOS, haptic controller and on working with partners to create special Steam machines.