The Companion Cube has been cited as an example of
experimental science's "sacrificial logic".
Respawn: Gamers, Hackers, and Technogenic Life compares the fact that it must be "euthanized" for the sake of progress to real-world
animal testing, especially because GLaDOS implies that it may or may not be sentient. GLaDOS claims that "an independent panel of ethicists" have absolved Aperture Science or its test subjects from "moral responsibility" for the death of the Companion Cube, but continues to obscure whether or not it can feel any pain, suggesting that only "eight out of ten" engineers agree that it "cannot feel much", much like the debate over
pain in animals when used in scientific and medical research. Writing for
Game Studies, Michael Burden and Sean Gouglas stated that Chell's obedience to GLaDOS resembled the
Milgram experiment, with the Companion Cube test chamber most emphasizing blind obedience to authority under the mantle of science. They further noted that Doug Rattmann's scrawls warned Chell that she was the Companion Cube herself, a form of disposable tool utilized by the player to progress through the game. The Companion Cube has also been shown to demonstrate how fans are willing to go outside the bounds of the game's logic in order to "rescue" the Cube, a form of resistance that is similar to
hacktivism and
culture jamming.
Kim Swift, head designer of
Portal, noted that many players were willing to do almost anything to save the Companion Cube, including jumping into the incinerator themselves. Others attempted to
exploit or glitch the game in order to escape the test chamber with the Cube, such as jamming the doors with security cameras so that the player could leave the room despite not having incinerated it. This places players entirely into the role of Chell, with both player and Chell trying to escape a situation that is "algorithmically controlled" by GLaDOS. The desire to save the Cube also manifested in the many fan created works based on it, which "liberate" it from the game itself. Matt Margini of
Kill Screen compared the Companion Cube to other video game
sidekicks that must be escorted through levels, calling it both an object of "annoyance" as well as "disproportionate emotional investment". Johnathan Neuls of
Ars Technica praised the Companion Cube as "probably the strongest inside joke to come out of a game since '
All your base. Fan Magnus Persson created a fully functioning Companion Cube PC, which
Wired called "a triumph" in reference to "
Still Alive". Another fan, Stephen Granade, turned a
Rubik's Cube into a Companion Cube, albeit noting that it was "always solved". == References ==