Portal: A Computer Novel

About

Portal: A Computer Novel casts you as Peter Devore returning to a deserted Earth after a century-long voyage. The planet is abandoned save for a decaying global network called Worldnet, and you spend the game sifting through 11 databases, military logs, social records, historical archives, to figure out a sci-fi mystery. The story is told by an AI named Homer, who reconstructs Peter’s discovery of a mysterious portal using fragments stored in the network. As you toggle between files, the narrative shifts, revealing new clues and context in a game that plays like an interactive novel. Released in 1986, this text-heavy adventure predates modern narrative-driven games by decades. It skips combat and action mechanics in favor of deep, fragmented storytelling, letting players piece together a dystopian tale through careful reading. The game shipped on Mac, DOS, and systems like the Commodore 64, and retro communities still highlight its clever use of database navigation as a core mechanic. Though its audience is small, it remains a cult curiosity for its early experimentations in blending literature with interactive design.

Storyline

Where are all the humans? Upon returning from your 100 year voyage in the milky way, you find earth empty and abandoned. Between the decaying remnants of civilization, you discover a terminal for Worldnet, the global network that recorded all human activities. The answer must lie deep in its database. Anxious, you log on. Portal is a computer novel - an attempt of creating and adapting a novel specifically for the computer. The story of the boy Peter Devore, his incredible discovery and the mysterious portal are told by an AI named Homer, who reconstructs it piece by piece out of database fragments. As the plot develops, you acquire accompanying information by accessing eleven additional databases - for example a historical archive, military files or social backgrounds. As you switch between the databases to uncover new details, an extensive sci-fi story unfolds.