100% Achievement Guide
Portal has 15 Steam achievements. Four come from story progression, five from gameplay challenges and exploration, and six from the post-game bonus maps (Advanced Maps and Challenge Maps). A complete 100% run takes between five and 15 hours depending on how quickly you clear the Challenge Map Gold medals.
None of the achievements are missable. You can replay the campaign and access all bonus maps from the main menu after completing the story once.
The Nvidia Shield Android port does not include Advanced Chambers and cannot track the "Camera Shy" achievement. If you are on Shield hardware, several achievements on this list are impossible. All achievements listed below are verified against the Steam PC version.
Story Achievements
These unlock automatically as you play through the campaign. You cannot miss them.
| Achievement | How to Unlock |
|---|---|
| Lab Rat | Pick up the fully powered Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (both portals). Triggers in Chamber 11. |
| Fratricide | Do whatever it takes to survive. Incinerate the Weighted Companion Cube at the end of Chamber 17. |
| Partygoer | Make the correct party escort submission position decision at the end of Chamber 19. (Escape the incinerator instead of riding the platform into the fire.) |
| Heartbreaker | Complete Portal. Triggers after the GLaDOS boss fight and the ending cutscene. |
"Partygoer" sounds like it has multiple outcomes, but there is only one correct decision. If you ride the platform into the fire, you die and respawn. You have to escape to progress, which triggers the achievement automatically.
Gameplay Achievements
These require specific actions during the campaign. All can be completed on any playthrough.
| Achievement | How to Unlock | Global Unlock | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal Velocity | Fall 30,000 feet. | ~2.4% | Set up an infinite fall loop: place one portal on the floor and one directly above it on the ceiling. Jump in and let it run for about five minutes. The game tracks cumulative fall distance across the loop. |
| Long Jump | Jump 300 feet in a single leap. | N/A | Find or create a deep pit with a floor portal and a wall portal aimed across a large open room. The deeper the fall, the farther the launch. Chamber 15 or the escape sequence have good spots. You need roughly a three-story drop for enough speed. |
| Camera Shy | Detach all 33 security cameras from the walls. | ~1.7% | See the detailed section below. This achievement has a critical tracking bug that causes most failed attempts. |
| Friendly Fire | Knock down a turret with another turret. | N/A | Pick up a disabled turret and throw it at an active turret. Or use portals to drop one turret on top of another. Chamber 16 or 17 gives you access to multiple turrets. |
| Transmission Received | Find all 26 hidden radios and carry them to their signal coordinates. | ~1.6% | See the detailed section below. This is NOT a simple collectible hunt. Each radio must be moved to a specific location. |
Camera Shy Details
You must detach exactly 33 security cameras. The per-chamber distribution is:
| Test Chamber | Camera Count | Cumulative Total |
|---|---|---|
| Chamber 02 | 3 | 3 |
| Chamber 03 | 3 | 6 |
| Chamber 04 | 2 | 8 |
| Chamber 05 | 3 | 11 |
| Chamber 10 | 1 | 12 |
| Chamber 11 | 1 | 13 |
| Chamber 13 | 3 | 16 |
| Chamber 15 | 5 | 21 |
| Chamber 16 | 5 | 26 |
| Chamber 17 | 2 | 28 |
| Chamber 18 | 2 | 30 |
| Chamber 19 | 3 | 33 |
Critical tracking bug. When you detach a camera, the game runs three internal steps: it increments your camera counter, checks if GLaDOS is currently speaking, and (if she is silent) triggers a reaction voice line. If you pull a camera off the wall while GLaDOS is actively talking, the internal counter can fail to sync with the Steam API. You will see the camera fall, but the achievement tracker silently misses it.
How to avoid this: Wait for all GLaDOS dialogue to finish completely before touching any camera. Many cameras are near chamber entrances where her introductory lines trigger automatically. Let her finish talking, then detach the camera. Do the entire run in a single sitting to avoid cross-save desynchronization, which can reset the internal counter.
Cameras make a faint mechanical whirring sound. If you hear it, look up and around corners. Some cameras are mounted high on walls and easy to miss.
Transmission Received Details
The 26 hidden radios were added on March 1, 2010, as part of the Portal 2 ARG (alternate reality game). This is NOT a simple "find and forget" collectible.
How it actually works:
- Pick up a radio. It plays static.
- Carry it through the chamber. The static gets louder and more distinct as you approach the correct coordinates.
- When you reach the exact target location, the radio's indicator light turns from red to green, and the audio resolves into a clear Morse code or SSTV (Slow Scan Television) signal.
- The achievement tracks how many radios you have successfully delivered to their coordinates (green light confirmed).
Some radios require creative movement to deliver. A few target coordinates are mid-air, meaning you need to fall through a portal while holding the radio. Others are hidden behind walls or on high ledges.
The 26 radios are spread across:
- Test Chambers 1 through 19 (one per chamber, 19 radios)
- Escape sequence and maintenance areas (7 radios)
The most common failure point is finding all 26 radios but never moving them to their signal coordinates. If the indicator light stays red, the radio does not count. You must carry each radio until the light turns green. A community guide with exact coordinate locations is strongly recommended.
The Morse code and SSTV signals were part of a cryptographic puzzle that the community solved in March 2010. The decoded transmissions contained images of the Borealis (a ship from the Half-Life universe) and classified Aperture Science documents. The mystery is fully solved. If you decode the signals yourself, you are retracing a solved puzzle, not discovering a new one. See the Lore and ARG History guide for the full story.
Advanced Map Achievements
Complete modified versions of Test Chambers 13 through 18. These unlock from the Bonus Maps menu after finishing the campaign.
| Achievement | Requirement | Global Unlock |
|---|---|---|
| Cupcake | Complete any two advanced maps. | N/A |
| Fruitcake | Complete any four advanced maps. | ~2.7% |
| Vanilla Crazy Cake | Complete all six advanced maps. | ~2.4% |
Advanced maps use the same puzzle concepts as their base versions but with fewer portalable surfaces, more hazards, and tighter geometry. See the Advanced Maps and Challenges guide for detailed strategies.
Start with Chambers 13 and 14 Advanced. They are the most approachable. Chamber 14 Advanced has a known shortcut: a well-placed drop and crouch-jump from the highest piston directly onto the exit elevator platform skips about 80% of the puzzle. Chambers 17 and 18 Advanced are the hardest and should be saved for last.
Challenge Map Achievements
Earn medals across all six challenge chambers (13 through 18) in three categories: Least Portals, Least Steps, and Least Time.
| Achievement | Requirement | Global Unlock |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Science | Earn Bronze medals on all challenge maps (18 total: 6 chambers x 3 categories). | ~1.4% |
| Rocket Science | Earn Silver medals on all challenge maps (18 total). | ~1.4% |
| Aperture Science | Earn Gold medals on all challenge maps (18 total). | ~1.4% |
Higher medal tiers automatically count toward lower tiers. Earning a Gold medal on a challenge also grants the Silver and Bronze for that slot. One perfect run can clear all three tiers at once.
Recommended Medal Order
- Least Portals first. The most cerebral category. Think through each chamber, plan your portal count, and execute carefully. Quick-save after every successful portal placement.
- Least Time second. Faster execution of solutions you already know. This category is forgiving since small mistakes only cost seconds.
- Least Steps last. The most mechanically demanding category. Bunny hopping, crouch-jumping, and save-glitching are required for Gold medals. Save this for when you have mastered the chambers.
For full medal thresholds and chamber-specific strategies, see Advanced Maps and Challenges.
Recommended Achievement Order
First Playthrough
- Lab Rat triggers automatically in Chamber 11.
- Camera Shy: pull cameras off walls as you encounter them. Wait for GLaDOS to stop talking before each camera. Do this in a single sitting.
- Friendly Fire: knock a turret down with another turret in Chamber 16 or 17.
- Fratricide triggers automatically at the end of Chamber 17.
- Partygoer triggers automatically when you escape Chamber 19.
- Terminal Velocity: set up an infinite fall loop in any chamber with a portalable floor and ceiling. Let it run for about five minutes.
- Long Jump: attempt after Chamber 15 or during the escape. Find a deep pit and fling across a large room.
- Heartbreaker triggers when you beat the game.
Second Playthrough
- Transmission Received: replay the campaign and carry all 26 hidden radios to their signal coordinates. Use a community guide for exact locations. Watch for the red-to-green light change on each radio.
Post-Game
- Cupcake: beat two advanced maps (start with 13 and 14).
- Fruitcake: beat two more advanced maps.
- Vanilla Crazy Cake: beat the remaining two advanced maps.
- Basic Science: earn all Bronze challenge medals.
- Rocket Science: earn all Silver challenge medals.
- Aperture Science: earn all Gold challenge medals.
Difficulty Ratings
| Difficulty | Achievements | Approx. Global Unlock |
|---|---|---|
| Easy (comes naturally) | Lab Rat, Fratricide, Partygoer, Heartbreaker | 30%+ |
| Moderate (some effort) | Terminal Velocity, Long Jump, Friendly Fire, Cupcake | 2-5% |
| Hard (dedicated work) | Camera Shy, Fruitcake, Vanilla Crazy Cake, Basic Science | 1.5-3% |
| Very Hard (endgame) | Transmission Received, Rocket Science, Aperture Science | ~1.4% |