Should You Play Portal or Portal 2 First? A Clear Answer
Portal or Portal 2 first? Portal runs 3–5 hours, so it adds two or three evenings before the sequel. Here’s what skipping it really costs.
Table of Contents
Portal or Portal 2 first? Start with Portal
⚖️ The Verdict: Play Portal first. It runs three to five hours on HowLongToBeat’s community data, Portal 2 continues Chell’s story long after the first game, and the detour costs you two or three evenings. Only have time for one? Go straight to Portal 2: it’s the bigger, higher-scored game, and you’ll mostly miss some setup.
Both are first-person puzzle games from Valve built around the portal gun, so this is a question of order, not taste. The rest of this page shows what each choice costs in hours, evenings and dollars.
Can you play Portal 2 without playing Portal?
Yes. Nothing stops you starting with the sequel, but Portal first is the better order.
What Portal 2 assumes you know
It’s a direct sequel, so it builds on Portal’s characters and events rather than starting fresh.
What you lose by skipping Portal
Players say Portal 2 refers back to the first game’s jokes and story. Critics say newcomers get up to speed quickly, and players are split on whether it matters. We haven’t tested Portal 2 cold, so that’s their view, not ours.
If you start with Portal 2 anyway
Nothing breaks, and Portal is short enough to play afterward. Some players say it lands softer once you know the sequel.
How long are Portal and Portal 2?
Community-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, as listed on Deku Deals:
| Main story | Main + extra | Completionist | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portal | 3 hours | 5 hours | 10½ hours |
| Portal 2 | 8½ hours | 13½ hours | About 22 hours |
What the numbers include
These are players’ own logged times, and people who finish skew the average. At five hours a week, treat main-story figures as a floor; how accurate HowLongToBeat is at 5 hours a week explains why.
Why Portal 2 shows two lengths
Valve’s lead writer Erik Wolpaw estimated about six hours per campaign (reported on Wikipedia), while community main-story times run to about 8½. Both are estimates, not our hours.
Co-op
Portal 2’s co-op is a separate two-player campaign. Length estimates vary widely between sources, so we haven’t put a number on it.
How many evenings do Portal and Portal 2 take?
We count an evening as about two hours and round up, the same way our list of short games sorted by evenings does.
At 2, 5 and 10 hours a week
| Weekly play time | Both games, main stories (11½ hours) |
|---|---|
| 2 hours | About 5.8 weeks |
| 5 hours | About 2.3 weeks |
| 10 hours | About 1.2 weeks |
Counted in evenings
Portal’s main story is two evenings, or three on the five-hour main-plus-extra figure. Portal 2 is five, so together it’s six to seven evenings. Portal first adds two or three.
Our arithmetic on HowLongToBeat main-story times, not our own play.
How much do Portal and Portal 2 cost?
🔄 Last Verified: 8 October 2026. Prices change often, so check the store before buying.
Steam price and sales
Each game lists at $9.99 on Portal 2’s Steam page. On 8 October 2026 Steam showed an 80% cut to $1.99 each, or about $3 for the Portal Bundle, in a promotion listed as ending that day. Giga reported the same cut in January 2026. If you can wait, don’t pay $9.99.
Cost per hour
💰 Value Math: price paid ÷ hours played, as in how we judge cost per hour.
| Option | Main-story hours | Cost per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Portal 2 at $9.99 | 8½ | $1.18 |
| Portal 2 at $1.99 | 8½ | $0.23 |
| Portal at $1.99 | 3 | $0.66 |
| Portal Bundle at about $3 | 11½ | $0.26 |
Our calculation from the HowLongToBeat times above. Your hours will differ.
The Switch route
Switch players get both games only in Portal: Companion Collection, which launched at $19.99 (Gematsu’s launch report). That’s $1.74 an hour on 11½ hours.
Portal and Portal 2 platforms and age rating
PC and Steam Deck
Both run on Windows through Steam. Portal 2 also appeared on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, per the ESRB listing. January 2022 coverage said Valve verified it for Steam Deck; check its Steam page for current status.
Nintendo Switch
Portal: Companion Collection bundles both games and was released on June 28, 2022. Nintendo’s eShop listing says online play needs a Nintendo Switch Online membership.
Age rating for parents
The ESRB rates them separately: Portal is T for Teen (Blood, Mild Violence), while Portal 2 is E10+ (Fantasy Violence, Mild Language). For a younger child, Portal first means starting with the Teen game, so check both pages yourself. This is general information, not parenting advice.
Where Portal fits in a short-game backlog
Who should play only Portal 2
Anyone who can’t spare about 12 hours for both. Critics scored Portal 90 and Portal 2 95 on Metacritic, so the sequel is the stronger single pick.
Who should play both
Everyone else. Portal is a two-to-three-evening warm-up. Skip both if physics puzzles aren’t your thing.
What comes after
Portal 2’s co-op is a separate two-player campaign; our short co-op games for two list covers how it compares.
Portal or Portal 2 first: quick answers
1. Do I need to play Portal before Portal 2?
No, but Portal 2 continues Chell’s story, so playing Portal first is the better order, and it costs only two or three evenings.
2. Is Portal 2 a direct sequel to Portal?
Yes. It continues the same story long after the first game, which is why Portal or Portal 2 first matters at all.
3. How long is Portal compared with Portal 2?
HowLongToBeat’s community times put Portal’s main story at about 3 hours and Portal 2’s at about 8½ hours.
4. How many evenings do both take?
At two hours an evening, the two main stories take about six to seven evenings together.
5. Is Portal 2 on Nintendo Switch?
Yes, but only in Portal: Companion Collection, which includes both games. Online play needs a Nintendo Switch Online membership.
6. Is Portal 2 worth it at full price?
At $9.99 it’s about $1.18 per main-story hour, but Steam has cut it 80% to $1.99, so waiting is cheaper. Check the price first.
7. Is Portal 2 worth playing if I only have time for one?
Yes. Portal 2 is the longer, higher-scored game, though you’ll miss some of the first game’s setup.
8. Does Portal 2 co-op need the first game?
Co-op is a separate two-player campaign. We haven’t tested whether skipping Portal matters there, so see our co-op list.
9. What age rating do Portal and Portal 2 have?
The ESRB rates Portal T for Teen and Portal 2 E10+. Check both rating pages yourself before buying for a child.
10. Is Portal 2 Steam Deck Verified?
January 2022 coverage said Valve verified it for Steam Deck. Check its Steam page for the current status.
Portal first, or straight to Portal 2?
Play Portal first: three to five hours, two or three evenings, and the sequel lands better. If time is tight, go straight to Portal 2. To see how we count evenings across other short games, head back to the full list.
