Portals: The Game

Portals: The Game game board

Portals: The Game is a board game designed by American singer-songwriter Melanie Martinez, included in The Limited Edition Portals Deluxe Vinyl Box Set & Board Game. The game is inspired by the themes of her 2023 album PORTALS, focusing on the afterlife, reincarnation, and spiritual transformation.

Portals: The Game was released exclusively as part of The Limited Edition Portals Deluxe Vinyl Box Set. It marks the first board game designed by Melanie Martinez and is thematically tied to her album’s visual and lyrical storytelling.

Gameplay

The objective of the game is to collect the most soul points by gaining knowledge and experiences in each stage of the afterlife.

Game pieces

• 1 six-sided custom die
• 1 game board
• 1 rulebook
• 2 sets of score sheets
• 4 game tokens for moving around the board
• 36 ‘Karma’, ‘Reincarnation’, ‘Regression’, and ‘Soulmate’ game cards

Rules

Get ready

Shuffle the karma cards carefully and place them in a pile face down, each player has a section on the score sheet for soul points gained and lost.

Every player starts with five soul points · fill in five "soul points gained" spaces on the score sheet for each player. players gain and lose soul points as they move around the board and follow card instructions. At the end of the game, soul points lost must be deducted from soul points gained to give each player their total. Soul points can go below zero.

Each player must select one of the four game tokens as their soul character to move around the board.

Once chosen, place the token into the "DEATH" circle on the game board. This is the starting point of the game.

Playing the game

Each player should roll a dice to determine who should start- the highest number wins, and that player should then roll the dice to start the game the total amount rolled is how many spaces the player should move around the board. It is possible for two or more players to land on the same space.

As you move around the board, you will land on spaces that will determine if you gain or lose soul points and how mant spaces you move. If during play you draw a card or land on a space that results in you moving backwards to one of these spaces, your turn ends and play resumes to the next player until it is your turn to roll the dice again.

If you land on a karma space, pick a karma card and follow the action on the card.

During the course of play, you may land on some other spaces named — these each have their own rule to follow:

VOID

Share with everyone your deepest fears and most anxious thoughts — then remind yourself that you are safe and do not need to fear anything. As a reward for facing this problem, the player may then move forward one space and gain one soul point.

TUNNEL VISION

Choose one person to have a staring competition with. The loser of the competition should move back two spaces and lose three soul points. The winner should move forward two spaces and gain three soul points.

FAERIE SOIRÉE

Challenge another player to a dance competition to the song "FAERIE SOIRÉE", and choose another player to judge the winner. The winner then gains three soul points and whoever loses, loses three soul points.

LIGHT SHOWER

Play the song "LIGHT SHOWER" and try to cry on command, if you successfully shed a tear during its duration, move forward three spaces and gain three soul points. If you are unsuccessful, you must move backwards three spaces, and lose three soul points.

SPIDER WEB

Each player should check their digital wellbeing setting on their phone and check their screen time. The player with the lowest daily average gains five soul points. This player is then excluded from any repeat plays of the SPIDER WEB rule throughout the rest of the game, and the player with the next lowest daily average wins five soul points instead.

LEECHES

Share a story with the other souls about someone who leeched off of you, and how you handled the situation. Upon hearing the story, one of the other players rolls the dice to decide if you handled it well. If the number rolled is even, move forward three spaces. If it is an odd number, move back three spaces.

BATTLE OF THE LARYNX

Pick another player to have a primal screaming competition with. Both players get only one scream each, another player who isn't screaming determines who wins, whoever wins gains three soul points, whoever loses loses three soul points.

THE CONTORTIONIST

Do a successful backbend and walk on all fours while in a backbend. If the other players say it was successful, gain five soul points. If backbend is unsuccessful, the player must move back three spaces.

MOON CYCLE

If a player lands on this space, they should look up which of the four lunar phases the moon is in at the time of play:

• First quarter - gain one soul point;
• Full moon - gain two soul points;
• Last quarter - gain three soul points;
• New moon - gain four soul points

NYMPHOLOGY

Share with the group a time where you gave your all to someone who didn't deserve it. As with "LEECHES", upon hearing the story, one of the other players rolls the dice to decide if you handled it well. If the number rolled is even, move forward three spaces. If it is an odd number, move back three spaces.

EVIL

Play truth or dare with one player of your choosing. The selected player should then ask you to choose "Truth" or "Dare".

If you choose "Truth", the selected player must ask you a question about yourself, which you must answer truthfully. If you choose "Dare", then the selected player may ask you to perform a random task.

Some examples of "Truth" questions are:

• What is a weird food that you love?
• What terrible movie or show is your guilty pleasure?
• What is the most embarrassing thing you've posted on social media?
• What is the first letter of your crush's name?
• What is the biggest lie you've ever told?

Some examples of "Dares" are:

• Do a cartwheel.
• Give a five minute makeover to the person on your right.
• Prank call a family member or friend.
• Hold your nose while you sing the chorus of your favorite song.

Remember these points when you play Truth or Dare anytime:

• Don't play truth or dare just to find out the personal things of others.
• Never hurt others with your questions or dares.
• Don't ask the participant to perform harmful or dangerous dares.
• Don't force someone to answer your truth.
• Sometimes truth questions may be too personal and a participant might feel uncomfortable answering them. Respect their boundaries and let it go.

If you successfully tell the truth or perform the dare, you gain four soul points, if you fail to tell the truth or perform a dare, you lose four soul points and miss a turn.

WOMB

Reincarnation!

Congratulations — landing here means you have completed the game.

As a reward for the first player to land here, they gain ten soul points, whilst all other players must lose three soul points. The remaining players then continue to play as normal, drawing karma cards and performing tasks when landing on spaces that need them.

As each subsequent player reaches the WOMB space, they gain soul points for finishing :

• Second place — gain five points
• Third place — gain four points
• Fourth place — gain three points

The player with the most soul points once all players have reached the WOMB space wins the game.

Each player should share with the group who (or what!) you are choosing to be reincarnated as in this new lifetime. Are they a real person? A fictional character? A woodland creature?

• What do they look like
• What is their purpose
• What will their challenges be in this lifetime
• each player can share a value/virtue/life-lesson based on their new persona with the other players

Winning the game

The game concludes when all players reach the WOMB space, the final stage of the board. The player with the highest number of soul points is declared the winner

Gallery

EXCLUSIVE PORTALS BOX SET

🧚PORTALS DELUXE BOXSET🧚 been working on this fun board game for a while!!

Trivia

• On March 3, 2025, an email from Melanie was sent to anyone who is subscribed to her mailing list that regarded an update for the board game and boxset that said that in honor of the two year anniversary of PORTALS, anyone who has or is planning on purchasing the board game will also receive a 12x12 PORTALS art card as well as extra original game scoring sheets for everyone ordering from the webstore and that redemption codes for those who pre-order will be sent upon release.
  • The email also said that all boxsets purchased on the webstore will be shipped a week earlier than listed, changing the release date of the boxsets to March 21 for webstore customers only.
• Back when the music video for "SPIDER WEB" was released, the caption "more to play with soon ♡" became an arising question to fans. Later on, it was revealed to be teasing about this board game.
• The 4 game tokens featured in the game could be possible references to some songs and music videos for the album.
  • The tall mushroom token could be a reference to Cry Baby's mushroom grave or the music video for "FAERIE SOIRÉE".
  • The butterfly token could be a reference to the lyrics of "SPIDER WEB" or its music video.
  • The snail token could be referencing the "LIGHT SHOWER" music video in which The Creature is portrayed as a snail.
  • The ribboned-leech token is similar to the leech in the music video for "LEECHES".
• The illustration of Cry Baby's heart that has 3 swords stabbed onto it next to the space for "VOID" is a reference to the "3 of Swords" tarot card which symbolizes heartbreak, sorrow, grief, and hurt.

References

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