Portal has proven to be a MEGA hit for Half Life creators Valve. The puzzle game, released as part of the Orange Box last month, has been the subject of much analysis, from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Rock, Paper Shotgun (via /.) tracked down the developers for a chat. Top quotes include:

At strip clubs, there's a guy whose job is to talk between the strippers. He tries to do a good job and be entertaining and enthusiastic, but everybody's just there for the nakedness. That's a professional writer trick we call called an "analogy". What I really mean is that game writers are the game equivalent of the guy who talks between the nude girls at strip clubs. Nobody cares about what that guy does, and anybody who does care is probably a little maladjusted. So I'd have to say the hardest part of being a game writer is learning all the writing tricks like "analogy".

from writer Erik Wolpaw

Try to imagine a bunch of engineers inside your brain trying to hook up the pipes, where do they hook up? And eventually you'll see something, like you'll see yourself in a portal, or you'll see some momentum, and all of a sudden, we hooked it up. I think in Portal we're much more deliberate about setting up those set pieces that let people understand what's happening.

co-lead Jeep Barrett

Thank goodness for simple puzzle games, reminding us exactly what fun can be.