# The terrific game 'Portal' is now free, for both PC and MAC, until May 24th **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 13, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356 "2010-05-13T22:41:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/21 "2010-05-16T03:27:37Z")
So the copy is wishy-washy. Is it free straight away until 5/24 or will the free demo close and no longer be playable on 5/24? ETA: Ninja’d ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/22 "2010-05-16T05:02:26Z")
The wording on it is slightly ambiguous, but… probably. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/23 "2010-05-16T05:06:01Z")
The wording isn’t really ambiguous: it clearly says you get a free copy of Portal. Not a demo. However, I did have to read it a couple times myself just because I was surprised they were offering it for free. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/24 "2010-05-16T05:08:22Z")
It wouldn’t say a demo even if it were temporarily limited. A demo is a version of the game that has a limited feature set. Steam has periods in which you can play a game with a full feature set, but then it dissapears at a certain date. It’s a much more complete experience than a demo. Because the wording isn’t totally clear, and they’ve had lots of “play the full game until X date” offers and not much in the way of free game forever offers, the wording wasn’t convincing enough to me that I’m absolutely positive that it’s free forever if you get it now. But probably. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/25 "2010-05-16T06:15:39Z")
Portal 2 is imminent (I think), I’m pretty sure that giving away the original is advertising for the new one. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/26 "2010-05-16T11:29:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m downloading now, but it’s going really slowly… Only 100 KB/s. I might actually have to wait until \ tomorrow to play it! > > Oh, and it never made me type a capcha at all. I never get this problem with Steam. I got Portal yesterday (and its really cool, thanks!) in 30 minutes when it told me the estimated download time was 2 and a half hours. I was pretty impressed! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/27 "2010-05-16T15:41:20Z")
> [@Dioptre](#): > > It’s a bad capcha. I had to re-enter many times, but eventually it accepted one. The capcha algorithm is case sensitive keeps inserting straight lines that look like 1s or Is or transforms letters and numbers into other letters and numbers. I finally got it to accept one! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tom\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_P)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/28 "2010-05-17T13:33:26Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > I finally got it to accept one! That was a triumph.. 🙂 My brother has seen me play Portal on a couple of occasions and quite liked it; when I told him they were giving it away for free he was overjoyed. And after he installed Steam I finally got rid of my extra copies of HL2 and HL2: Ep1 (those came with the Orange Box aeons ago). ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/29 "2010-05-17T15:13:59Z")
Yes, it’s free to keep. [Quoth Burton Johnsey, Community Developer at Valve](http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14910927#post14910927): > [@BurtonJ](#): > > If you download the game between now and the 24th, you will own it for free even after the 24th. Further, if you download it for the PC, you will also later be able to download it for the Mac. “SteamPlay” means they let you have both versions - if you download one version, the other will also be in your account. Any game that has the “SteamPlay” icon means your license is cross-platform. From Valve’s [support area](https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9439-QHKN-1308): > [@SteamPowered](#): > > **What is SteamPlay?** > > SteamPlay allows you to purchase your games once and play anywhere. Whether you have puchased your SteamPlay enabled game on a Mac or PC, you will be able to play on the other platform free of charge. > > (Snip) > > **Which games support SteamPlay?** > > Look for the SteamPlay icon when shopping on Steam. > > **The following games offer cross-platform support, regardless of purchase date:** > > ``` > * And Yet It Moves > * Atlantis Sky Patrol > * Bejeweled 2 Deluxe > * Bob Came in Pieces > * Bookworm Deluxe > * Braid > * Brainpipe > * Chocolatier: Decadence by Design > * Chuzzle Deluxe > * City of Heroes: Architect Edition > * Civilization IV series > * Cooking Dash > * Diaper Dash > * The Dig > * Diner Dash: Hometown Hero > * DinerTown Detective Agency > * DinerTown Tycoon > * Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child > * Escape Rosecliff Island > * Fairway Solitaire > * Fitness Dash > * Football Manager 10 > * Galcon Fusion > * Gemini Lost > * Guns of Icarus > * Hotel Dash Suite Success > * Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis > * Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade > * KrissX > * Loom > * Luxor > * Luxor 3 > * Luxor: Mah jong > * Machinarium > * Mahjong Roadshow > * Max and the Magic Marker > * My Tribe > * Nightshift Legacy: The Jaguar's Eye > * The Nightshift Code > * Parking Dash > * Peggle Deluxe > * Peggle Nights > * Portal > * Professor Fizzwizzle and the Molten Mystery > * Quantz > * Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse > * Tales of Monkey Island Season 1 > * Toki Tori > * Torchlight > * Trijinx: A Kristine Kross Mystery > * Unwell Mel > * Valerie Porter and the Scarlett Scandal > * Wandering Willows > * Wedding Dash 2: Rings Around the World > * World of Goo > * Zenerchi > * Zuma Deluxe > > ``` This offer stands even if you’ve bought the games before the Mac version became available. > [@](#): > > If you previously owned any of the games listed above prior to May 12th, 2010, you will have access to them on both Mac and PC. Valve = love. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/30 "2010-05-17T16:31:57Z")
I gotta say, when I first heard about Steam back when Half Life 2 was imminent, like many people I thought it was gonna be an unforgivable pain in the nuts. I’m happy to be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![clarkstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@clarkstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clarkstar)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/31 "2010-05-19T06:56:48Z")
man i tried this game last year and hated it ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/32 "2010-05-19T07:29:04Z")
So is Half-Life and Half-Life 2 slated to come out in Mac versions? Can’t wait to see how Portal 2 turns out. The original was the best game I’ve played in the last few years. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/33 "2010-05-19T07:51:16Z")
Portal was LURVE. LURVE. I can’t wait for portal 2, although I’m finding it hard to see how it could possibly top Portal. ---
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/34 "2010-05-19T08:04:09Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#): > > I can’t wait for portal 2, although I’m finding it hard to see how it could possibly top Portal. People said that about Half Life, but they managed to top that with Half Life 2. I’ve heard good things about Team Fortress 2 compared to the original, though I haven’t played it myself. I also thought Episode Two was stronger aside from the short length than the original Half Life 2, so Valve has a good track record in topping great games 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/35 "2010-05-19T08:38:23Z")
Yes, but in Portal, you didn’t know what was going to happen next. And the reveal on room 18 was PHENOMINAL! I really really don’t see how they can top that with Portal 2. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/36 "2010-05-19T09:07:34Z")
> [@sohvan](#): > > People said that about Half Life, but they managed to top that with Half Life 2. I actually disagree with this, and am very skeptical Portal 2 will prove to be an exception. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/37 "2010-05-19T09:21:56Z")
I don’t think they will top Portal, because Portal is so awesome already. In particular, it will be very difficult (if they even try) to compete with the enjoyment the learning experience (both gameplay and story) provided in the original. In any case, it is better to keep expectations somewhat low so that you can be happily surprised. Also, I’ll second Half Life \> Half Life 2. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/38 "2010-05-19T11:32:37Z")
Thanks to this I have been introduced to Portal. It is a great concept. I’m in lab 15 or 16, how many are there? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tom\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_P)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/39 "2010-05-19T11:39:18Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Thanks to this I have been introduced to Portal. It is a great concept. > > I’m in lab 15 or 16, how many are there? 19 labs. But … the game does not end there.(mild spoiler) ---
**Author:** ![Postariti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Postariti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Postariti)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356/40 "2010-05-19T11:41:36Z")
Can someone tell me how big the download is? Is there any chance of being able to download this on dial-up? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrific-game-portal-is-now-free-for-both-pc-and-mac-until-may-24th/539356.md?page=3)