If you call yourself a gamer, odds are fairly good you've played through one or both of Valve's acclaimed Portal games. If so, perhaps — in between solving those mind-twisting puzzles — you've wondered what life would be like working inside Aperture Laboratories. A new Portal 2-inspired web series from Wayside Creations aims to satiate your curiosity.

Aperture R&D goes inside the cold, unwelcoming halls of the research facility, following a pair of scientists as they strive to earn the distinction of Lab Team of the Month. Even losing an esteemed colleague to a turret laser doesn't dissuade our protagonists from pursuing the prize. Episode one contains some nice references and callbacks to Valve's inventive series, and the acting (along with effects by 11:11 MediaWorks) are if nothing else adequate for a web series of this type. Fans will need to wait and see how the rest of the series plays out before making a final judgement call, but the first episode awaits you below.