Potato Sack ARG: Remember When GLaDOS Took Over All Those Indie Games?

Jamie looks back at one of gamings most ambitious promotional campaigns

- Jamie Davies

Valve’s darkly humorous puzzler Portal 2released 10 years ago. Can you believe it?That’s 10 years since we first made friends (and enemies) with moronic machine Wheatley; 10 years since we plummeted Long Fall Boots-first into the sleazy history of Aperture Science with Cave Johnson; and 10 years since we formed the most unlikely of bonds and made amends with murderous AI GLaDOS. There’s no doubt about it, Portal 2 was a masterpiece, a gel-sliding ride through history, a tongue-in-cheek look at the absurdity of bureaucracy and a deeply emotional story all rolled into one incredible package. Even now, a decade on, it holds a permanent place in that warm, cosy corner of our memories alongside our favourite films and the last day of school before summer. Are you remembering Portal 2 now? Are you smiling? Yeah, me too.

Not so easily remembered, at least for most of us, is the potato-fever that swept the indie gaming scene in the run-up to Portal 2’s release. If you’ve played Portal 2—and you really should have done by now—you’ll know why Aperture Science and potatoes go hand-in-hand. Before the game’s release, though, an eclectic Steam bundle titled “The Potato Sack Bundle” didn’t immediately ring any Portal ‘bells’ in players’ minds. It certainly didn't spell the start of a Portal 2 ARG, but that, my friends, is exactly what it was.