Portal

With Team Fortress 2 (TF2) and Half-Life 2: Episode 2 (HL2:EP2) packed into the Orange Box, most people who bought the pack won’t even bother with Portal until they’ve had their share of the other two first. If you’re one of these, I suggest you don’t let Portal slip into your list of "games you should have played but never did".

Portal isn’t just a ‘bonus’ you get for buying the two heavy weights HL2:EP2 and TF2; it’s a full fledged game that deserves recognition purely on the basis of its ingenuity and uniqueness. After all, which other game allows you to chase yourself, create and fall into a bottomless pit, defy physics, and actually use the gray matter stashed in that head of yours?!

What makes all of this possible in the game is the Portal gun. The weapon (tool, rather) works in a very simple way – it allows you to place two linked portals on almost any surface; if you step through one of them, you come out from the other. While the concept is quite simple, the results are truly mind-boggling.

For instance, if you create a portal on the ceiling above you and one directly below your feet, you keep entering the first and exiting the second, creating the illusion that you’re falling endlessly. On the other hand, if you place two portals facing one another you can actually chase yourself endlessly!