MFT: Portal challenge chamber 14 speedruns

Oversights are tricky beasts. Usually, they lead to cumbersome bane and sullen exasperations. But sometimes oversights bring an unexpectedly inspiring element to the experience. Case in point - Challenge Chamber 14 in Portal.

Today, it is needless to say that "Portal" is one of the greatest video games ever made. Not a big revelation. It is one of a kind experience - mind-bending riff on the puzzle game combined with tenacious intensity of First Person Shooter of Doom's kin. But instead of massacring hordes of bastard demons - you are slaughtering the very fabric of reality by opening numerous portals and making the most nonsensical routing operation ever.

It is fun and engaging game that simply offers something completely different and absolutely else. I still remember how much of a surprise it was to play for the first time. Imagine Portal mechanics applied to Doom Wad The Sky May Be or just plain whitespace. That's going to a psych-out.

Among other things, "Portal" offers a reasonable variety of ways of completing the levels. Some are more elaborate while others are blunt and straightforward. But there is one level that has absolutely out of the box speedrun solution - "Challenge Chamber 14".

Here's how it goes. You need to get a cube and then put a pellet into the receiver in a minimal amount of portals. There are several combinations to pull this off neatly. But there is also one trick that allows you to skip the entire level. It wasn't a result of some ominous insight not it was a part of design, but rather an oversight that was left in the release and subsequently embraced.

And rightfully so - it impressively adds to the overall experience and offers a sleek opportunity to escalate things to utter Kafka-Escher abstract absurdity for a moment. You can watch endlessly the speedruns of this level. It is magnificent.