GLaDOS' testing track (Portal)

GLaDOS' testing track is the testing course featured in Portal, and partially revisited during the course of Portal 2 ' s intro in the single-player campaign. Consisting of 19 test chambers, it was first used by Chell as part of her mandatory testing.

The first chamber of this course is located nearby the Extended Relaxation Center from which Test Subjects are deployed from and put into temporary stasis in the Relaxation Vault. The last chamber of this course however, is connected to the Incinerator Room.

Test Chamber 00


Being the first test chamber of this Testing Track, Test Chamber 00 contains both the actual test and the Relaxation Vault. Once the test subject exits the relaxation chamber, they will enter the test room, which contains an Aperture Science Heavy Duty Super-Colliding Super Button and Storage Cube dispenser. This test is meant to teach the test subjects the relationship between Super Buttons and Weighted Storage cubes. It is also the only test chamber to not involve portals.

In Portal 2, the same chamber is revisited when Wheatley gets Chell back to the testing area. Chell returns to her relaxation vault, and the announcer says very similar things to what GLaDOS said in Portal.

Test Chamber 01


The next test chamber is another test meant to teach test subjects how Super Buttons and Storage Cubes work, but this time the test is much more advanced. Instead of the Storage cube and Button being right next to each other like in Test Chamber 00, the two are separated by glass walls. This time, the test subject has to wait for automated portals to shoot into the 3 walled off areas, eventually getting the Storage Cube onto the button and moving on to the next Test Chamber.

When Chell returns to this testing track in a ruined state in Portal 2, there seems to have been some changes made while she was in stasis. Instead of the portals being made automatically, the test subject now decides when and where the portals are created through use of buttons. This was to prevent the sudden slowdown in gameplay while also creating a more instructive environment, avoiding a "Portal Carousel" effect, as stated by Alex Vlachos.

Test Chamber 02


Test Chamber 02 is the first "real" test, in that it is the first test in this testing track that the test subject solves by using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. However, the ASHPD the test subject receives is incomplete, as it is only able to shoot blue portals. The test involves the test subject first navigating through automated portals to obtain the ASHPD. Once it is obtained, the test subject must use it to get out of the pit that contained it.

In Portal 2, Chell encounters Wheatley here. One of the walls within the chamber has collapsed, allowing her to walk to the pedestal that formerly held the portal device, which Wheatley claimed had fallen off. Upon approaching the pedestal, the floor collapses and drops Chell into a heavily decayed and partially flooded test chamber, where the portal device can be found, surrounded by murals drawn by Doug Rattmann.

Test Chamber 03


This Test Chamber involves the Test Subject creating portals to get across two large gaps. This was meant to assure the player does not become adverted to using either color portal freely simply due to an early preference. It is also meant to introduce test subjects to the concept of hopping through portals, and how they connect.

In Portal 2, this chamber is accessed from an observation room near the entrance instead of the elevator. The room itself has also changed somewhat, being smaller and having fewer turns to pass.

Test Chamber 04


Test Chamber 04 is another Cube and Button test. Curiously, this test chamber is almost exactly the same as Test Chamber 00, the only difference between the two being the fact that this test chamber involves the use of portals to get the Weighted Storage Cube onto the button.

In Portal 2 this test chamber was merged with Test Chamber 5, with the exit of one connecting to the entrance of the other.

Test Chamber 05


Yet another Cube and Button test, this time the test subject must retrieve two Weighted Storage Cubes, one on a high platform and one in a pit, and put them on two separate buttons.

In Portal 2, the original Test Chamber 05 has been merged with Test Chamber 04. The chamber itself is mostly unchanged, however the glass panel Chell lands before exiting the elevator collapses under her weight, and the ceiling of the hall to the elevator has collapsed, forcing Chell to pass through a maintenance area, where a new Ratman den can be accessed.

As the original chamber was merged with chamber 04, a new test chamber has taken it's place in Portal 2. This chamber is also a Cube and Button test, and also introduces the player to hazardous goo. The player must first use a portal to get a Cube, which is put on a button to create stairs to an elevated platform. From here, the player must use a switch to get another cube, while also using a separate switch to deploy a panel, which prevents to second cube from being flung into the goo. This cube must then be put on a second button to open the door to the exit.

Test Chamber 06


This test is the first in this Testing Track to involve Aperture Science High Energy Pellets. The test subject must get the High Energy Pellet into a receptacle in order to solve this test. When Chell re-visits this testing track in Portal 2, the Aperture Science High Energy Pellet has been replaced by a more efficient Thermal Discouragement Beam.

In Portal 2, another Test Chamber 06 is found between 05 and 07. The original Test Chamber 06 is found later in the game, as Test Chamber 01 of the new Testing Track. The new Test Chamber is comparable to Portal's Test Chamber 10, consisting of two separate rooms, both requiring cubes and flinging to complete.

Test Chamber 07


Like Test Chamber 06, this test chamber also involves the Aperture Science High Energy Pellet. It is solved exactly like the previous test, but this time the test subject has to find a way to get onto a lift which will take them to the chamberlock.

In Portal 2, Chell is again reunited with Wheatley here. All the testing elements in the chamber itself are damaged and a wall has collapsed, creating an opening into another room. Wheatley instructs Chell to place a portal in the room behind him so that there is room for her to catch him when he disengages from his management rail.

Test Chamber 08


Test Chamber 08 is another High Energy Pellet test. This test is solved the same as the previous two, with an added twist of bouncing the High Energy Pellet off of the wall. This test chamber is the first to have the consequence of death upon failure, as the floor is filled with acid. However, it is later stated by GlaDOS that "any appearance of danger is merely a device to enhance your experience."

In Portal 2, a different chamber labeled as Test Chamber 08 is briefly visited by Chell, after Wheatley instructs her to portal into the room from Chamber 07. it is from this chamber that Wheatley opens a "secret panel" into the maintenance areas, which eventually leads to GLaDOS' ruined chamber.

Test Chamber 09


Test Chamber 09 is a Cube and Button test, but is also used to observe a test subject's performance in an environment of "extreme pessimism." Upon entering the chamber, the test subject will be falsely informed that the test is impossible. Other pessimistic comments are also given to the test subject throughout the test. To solve it, the subject must first get the Storage Cube onto the high platform, pass through the Material Emancipation Grill, and fire a portal on the wall to get the cube from the other side onto the button.

This Test Chamber is revisited later in Portal during The Escape. This time, the chamber lacks the Storage Cube, but because the player now has the Dual Portal device, the chamber is easily solved.

This Test Chamber, along with all the chambers appearing after it, does not appear in Portal 2.

Test Chamber 10


This test is meant to introduce the test subject the concept of using portals to manipulate forward momentum. This test is separated into multiple sections. The first section is a small room in which the test subject must use momentum to get onto the staircase. The second part is solved exactly the same way. The third, and final, section has the subject creating portals on a high surface and jumping into a pit with another portal to get onto a platform. this is done multiple times, with the wall getting closer each time, allowing the test subject to fly father.

Test Chamber 11


Test Chamber 11 is the final test to use automatically created portals, as this is the test where the test subject receives the fully-operational ASHPD. Upon entering, the subject will be in a small room which they have to portal out of, allowing them to complete the test. After this, the test subject will be able to access the fully operational ASHPD and exit the test chamber.

Test Chamber 12


Like Test Chamber 10, this chamber's puzzles revolve around the theme of forward momentum. Unlike Test Chamber 10, there are no preset portals at the beginning. However, with the new ASHPD, the subject can apply a pair of portals to locations similar to the locations they applied them to in Test Chamber 10. Also, this test chamber has a Storage Cube on a high platform that must be placed on a button on a lower platform.

Test Chamber 13


The first real challenge. Combines buttons, boxes, energy balls and moving platforms.

This chamber was where, as noted in the Dev. commentary, was the first chamber Valve tried to integrate the Challenge Mode.

Test Chamber 14


Another challenge. Combines buttons, boxes, energy balls, moving platforms (moving vertically in this case) and acid pits.

Test Chamber 15


A quick but also very difficult test. It involves the use of the Emancipation Grids that are used outside of just leaving test chambers and being used in tests. Often frustrates players because they are unaware of the grid's ability to close portals.

Test Chamber 16
This test chamber is the first to introduce Aperture Science Sentry Turrets, said by GLaDOS to be a replacement for a normal Test Chamber.

The player finds the first Ratman den, hinting at the reality of the tests, as well as the fact there there are other people still trapped in the building.

Test Chamber 17
Notable because of the appearance of another character: the companion cube. At the end of the chamber, Chell is forced to "euthanize," or more bluntly, incinerate the Companion Cube.

Test Chamber 18


This is often considered the hardest chamber. Turrets reappear here. At the end, GLaDOS says that "the next test requires exposure to uninsulated electrical parts, that may be dangerous under certain conditions," which comes into importance later.

Test Chamber 19
This is the final test in the testing track. The test is made of an Aperture Science High Energy Pellet puzzle, and then an Unstationary Scaffold ride over a large pit of goo. This ride is full of fast paced puzzles such as button pressing, energy pellet dodging, and portals to bypass walls. The end is then met with the Incinerator Room which was meant to be where they were supposed to receive their promised cake.

In Portal 2, Chell revisits this chamber after GLaDOS drops her into the incinerator room. The dual Portal Device is found in what was formally the chamber's fire pit, which connects directly to the incinerator room. Chell uses the Portal Device to get out of the pit and into the, now empty, river of goo. She eventaully makes it back to the chamber's entrance and takes the elevator to Test Chamber 01 of GLaDOS' new testing track.

List of appearances

 * Portal
 * Portal 2
 * The Final Hours of Portal 2