Proteus

[Bob the Hamster]

While there are still a few days left on the current <a href="https://www.humblebundle.com/">Humble Bundle</a> go pick it up, even if just for <a href="http://www.visitproteus.com/">Proteus</a>.

At first glance, I didn’t expect much of it. It is described as a musical exploration game, and it just seems to be a pretty island with pretty trees made out of solid colors with pixelated edges.

As you move around, there is ambient whispy music and occasionally things make noise. If that was all there was to it, it would just be a novelty.

However, every time I thought I had seen everything, when i chose to keep wandering just a moment longer, Proteus would surprise me with something new. Even when I had walked all the way around the whole island, and climbed the highest peak, it kept showing me new things, and sometimes they were wonderful.

I was almost moved to tears twice, and I kept opening my mouth and saying "...... wow...."

I am not going to attempt to post screenshots, and I won't explain any of the experiences that the game has for you to explore, because I don't think I would do them justice. The game did a great job of building up a calming immersive state, and I think the timing, and the accumulation of small unexpected beauty is what gave the game the emotional impact that it had.

Maybe if you play it, you won't get the same emotion out of it that I did, but if you do play it, really give it the chance it deserves. Set aside one or two hours, and play without other distractions. As far as I could tell, the game doesn't even have the concept of saving your progress, so you will need to devote a small block of time to completing it.

And yes, there is a completion to it, it is not just wandering until you think you probably saw it all. When you reach the end, you will be in no doubt that it is the end.

[Pepsi Ranger]

It caught my attention when I first heard about it, so your post got me curious. I picked up the Bundle; I'm glad it has several of those games that had also caught my eye in the past but I never got.

I played through a little bit of it last night. It's definitely the perfect unwind game if you're having trouble sleeping. I admit that I'm not entirely sure what the point is though. I guess I haven't explored enough of the island, or seen enough differences in the landscape to keep me questing. I did encounter a Stonehenge type of shrine and a log cabin down by one of the beaches, which was great considering the variety I was hoping for. But I suppose I need to keep exploring because as of now it doesn't look like there is much else to do or see.