Looking for a new way to drown out the drone of your uber-boring math instructor and happen to have a TI graphing calculator handy? Well, you may want to check this out.
True, Portal isn’t the first video game hacked to run on a graphing calculator, as we’ve also seen Wolfenstein and even Doom modded so they could be loaded on such devices.
In any case, a gamer by the name of “Builderboy” at Omnimaga recently managed to successfully port the popular Portal to a TI-83 Plus and TI-84 Plus graphing calculators. The game port is based on the Flash clone of Portal, a 1997 single-player video game.
The game involves players solving a puzzle by moving their character around via a handheld portal device capable of generating portals between two flat planes. The game makes use of physics by allowing players to maintain momentum as they move through the portals.
The monochrome graphics on this calculator version don’t exactly do Portal justice, but let’s be honest, if your options are actually doing math problems or playing Portal, this hack wins easily. The game is available as a free download if you have a compatible calculator.
The game actually looks like it would be very fun to play and should certainly be a welcome distraction in classrooms around the world. Check out the video above to see the game in action on a TI calculator for yourself.
