User Summary
The Portal series is a series of first person puzzle games in which the protagonist tries to find her way through the Enrichment Center for Aperture Laboratories, in short: Aperture Science. Apperture Science is fictional research corporation which has developed the portal gun, or Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (ASHPD) amongst a number of other inventions, ranging from guarding robots to Propulsion Gel.
The Portal Gun is what drives the story; the only way of making it through all the halls, chambers and corridors is by clever placement of portals to circumvent otherwise impassible obstacles.
Aperture Science, the setting for the games, is part of the Half-Life Universe and it is mentioned in Half-Life 2: Episode Two.