BangClickReload Header featuring pixelated 8-bit videogame characters BangClickReload mobile header featuring pixelated 8-bit videogame characters

Learn with Portals

BcR logo with white and red pixelated text on a black background.
By Matt Clarke
September 16, 2011

Oh Valve, what crazy awesome things will you do next? Some lucky school kids got to visit Valve HQ to learn about “spatial awareness” and “physics”, when really all they were doing is building cool Portal maps. It’s part of Valve’s new plan of helping educate children in a more engaging way or something. I’ve always thought one of the best ways to get kids to focus on boring and complicated subjects like science and maths is if somehow they were presented in game form, but its not something we see taken remotely seriously very often. Click below to see a video of some of the luckiest little sods…

Also, Portal is free again for a limited time. If you still don’t have this, or have somehow never played it, I advise you to stop reading immediately and sort your life out. Go. Now.

Latest Articles

Hades promotional art featuring main protagonist Zagreus.

Coffee Break – Hades

Matt Clarke

March 16, 2026

Hades is a great example of a coffee break game. You can play through a single run within 30 minutes, but if something comes up and you have to stop mid-run you can save and quit in whatever room you’re in and continue later. As the father of a toddler, I find this particularly appealing these days. I like to squeeze in a quick game during my baby girl’s nap time, and since I never know exactly how long she’s going to sleep for, I need games that can be played in short bursts. I’m starting this new mini-feature series with Hades, because you’re almost always guaranteed to have a good time, no matter how long you play for. 

Half Life 2 promo art featuring Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance

A Look Back at Half Life 2 and its Legacy

Matt Clarke

March 14, 2026

It’s difficult to describe the levels of hype that I felt leading up to the release of Half Life 2, and I know I wasn’t alone. This was a generation-defining moment in gaming, the likes of which has never really been replicated, and likely never will, for multiple reasons. Not only was HL2 a huge […]

Reaction Distraction logo with white pixellated text and red, green and grey lights.

I made a game: Reaction Distraction

Matt Clarke

March 14, 2026

Last summer, I collaborated with my mate Mark Vale to create our very first mobile game app. It’s all about pushing buttons as fast as you can. So, a great little time-waster when you’re on the loo, or waiting for your bread to toast. Mark came up with the concept, did all the programming in Unity, and I provided the art and music. There’s only one rule – hit the green light as fast and as many times as you can.

Want more?

Here's 3 random other things to check out:

ARC Raiders promo image featuring 3 raider characters

The Pacifist’s Guide to Raiding in the Rustbelt

Matt Clarke

March 13, 2026

Don’t kill people. That’s the ARC’s job. Make no mistake, I ain’t no softie. Just coz I won’t attack you first, don’t mean I won’t defend meself from a rat bastard who likes the look of my backpack! The rustbelt is a volatile place. I’ve seen what it’s done to us. What it does to the mind. But we gotta stick together, fight for humanity, and focus our efforts where it truly matters – FOR SPERANZA!

Reaction Distraction logo with white pixellated text and red, green and grey lights.

I made a game: Reaction Distraction

Matt Clarke

March 14, 2026

Last summer, I collaborated with my mate Mark Vale to create our very first mobile game app. It’s all about pushing buttons as fast as you can. So, a great little time-waster when you’re on the loo, or waiting for your bread to toast. Mark came up with the concept, did all the programming in Unity, and I provided the art and music. There’s only one rule – hit the green light as fast and as many times as you can.

Gaming Memories – Battlefield Series

Matt Clarke

April 23, 2017

Format: PC
Year: 2001 – present day

If Return to Castle Wolfenstein was my first date with PC gaming, Battlefield 1942 was when she invited me to meet her parents, and the relationship went to the next level. My god, did I really just write that analogy?

Copyright © 2010 - 2026

Site designed and hosted by Tekamutt Media