BLATANT LIE

Aperture Desk Job bit.ly/gabenfibs

So it turns out that when Gabe Newell informed us in E369 that Valve had better uses for its time than “building a sort of gamelet” for Steam Deck, he was telling porkies. But on the strength of this return to Portal’s setting, we’re ready to forgive him. While Aperture Desk Job can be played on any PC, it’s clearly meant as an introduction to Valve’s new hardware, dropping you in front of an instrument panel that bears a suspicious resemblance to the Deck layout, then introducing you to its assorted buttons and features one by one. Don’t expect another Astro’s Playroom: this is essentially a half-hour interactive comedy sketch. But it’s enough to remind you just how good Valve is at making singleplayer games – and how long the wait is likely to be for the next one. That, alas, is considerably harder to forgive.