Portals is an abstract game with a solo mode. In Portals players collect magic keys and use them to open portals to other worlds to follow the path of the famous wizard.
During the game, players draft Elemental stones to complete various shapes on Key cards. By activating completed Key cards, players fill Elemental boards with stones and gain Victory Points for matching colors and adjacency.
EASY TO LEARN, HARD TO MASTER
The game is quick to learn and teach, yet still challenging and crunchy.
CLOSE INTERACTION
All boards and tokens are shared with other players, so no one is detached from the game.
MARVELOUS COMPONENTS
Vibrant colors, a player-friendly design and gorgeous stones make the game a pleasure to play.
★ Open Drafting
★ Pattern Building
★ Set Collection
★ Hidden Victory Points
Portals - Board Game Overview
Images
- inventive puzzle design
- co-op mode adds a lot of value
- rich connections to the Half-Life universe
- board game adaptation could be challenging
- clever puzzle design and narrative
- Puzzle-based sci-fi world with portal mechanics
- strong storytelling within puzzle progression
- Half-Life
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative campaign — two-player co-op campaign alongside single-player
- two-portal puzzle solving — creative use of portals, gels, and physics-based puzzles
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is one of those ones that I think of fondly and nostalgia has a big impact
- it's hard for me not to separate nostalgia from video games
- I think this is a phenomenal game and I would recommend it to anyone
References (from this video)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This abstract strategy game one to four players compete to collect magic keys and to use elements in order to open up portals to score victory points.
- The game comes with two optional modules as well as a solo mode.
- You score points for transferring your stones and for color matching and adjacency.
- The magic spells module adds an extra layer of strategy because now you'll be able to move Stones around from the various Elemental boards as well as your key cards.