College requires freshmen play 'Portal'

Undergrads at this Indiana all-boys college are now required to play the critically acclaimed video-game Portal, which follows a list of other weird classes and requirements by colleges.

Throughout all sorts of colleges, quirky classes such as 'Star Wars 101' or learning the Vulcan language is nothing new. However, the Indiana Wabash College is now requiring that all incoming freshmen to play and complete the video-game 'Portal'. This interesting requirement is part of a mandatary freshman seminar being dubbed as Enduring Questions, says Mashable, and it will have the attendees peer into the basic questions that comprise humanity with, quoted, "classical contemporary works." Where exactly did this idea come from? Professors simply collecting comparisons from Portal to the 1959 piece The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life by author Erving Goffman through an article on game theory. Because of the several different theories and comparisons, Portal was chosen for Enduring Questions. Other games were considered, however, Portal's short game time was the most desirable. Select classes will be gifted the video-game as well. Also, Portal will only be used in certain sections of Enduring Questions, as the subsequent simultaneous play of every student could pose to be difficult for the school's computers. The video-game's plotline consists of the character solving puzzles by creating "portals" to go through that have both an entrance and exit and must be on a flat surface. The incentive for the character to complete these challenging but fun puzzles is a cake, interestingly enough. Portal was developed by Valve and received positive feedback and even generated a few Internet memes.