Buy Proteus

Nothing conceptually interesting or outstanding about this game aside from the sound design which is quite nice. The visuals are too simplistic and get old quickly. If you want a purgatory simulator this might be your best bet. The game only lasts 30 minutes so if you payed full price you are paying about $0.33 a minute to play a game that fails to render anything stimulating. Don't bother.

Found it pretty dull honestly..

As I stood among the totems of the dead gods on the mount, the world went silent save the blowing of the wind. Further up I walked and came across a lone tuning stone, an instrument for a ritual of the dead civilization. I sat there next to it and watched the sun set and the moon rise.

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I walked among the trees of the summer, following the lines of the land. Bees appeared around me and gave me great swiftness to my destination. It brought me to the graveyard. Among the gravestones stood one that was blessed. Red flowers grew there, the last true grave of the people. The grave of my wife. None live that will bury me in the earth, my body shall rest upon the mount.

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I recommend this piece of art strongly.

Proteus is a procedurally generated walking simulator. There is only one aim to this game and that is to explore the pixelated environments. The soundtrack is also procedurally generated, meaning it changes as you move through your surroundings. Each playthrough is distinct as the terrain and topography is different. This is a very minimalistic game.

There is no story or any achievements. I played the game for about 1.5 hours and the following are the positives and negatives of what I experienced.


- The game has a very relaxing melodic soundtrack which is also procedurally generated. Basically whatever you look at produces a distinct sound and together a tune is made.
- The graphics are pixelated and colorful. I personally thought they were pretty but they might not be for everyone.
- The weather and seasons change and have smooth transitions. The environment looks really good in the spring season.
- There are many small creatures in the game which appear depending on your location or time of day such as owls at night and frogs near water. You can also chase them :D
- I did not experience crashes or any bugs.
- The game is relaxing and very causal and something someone would like after a stressful day at work.
- There is no saving system which adds to it's casual "in and out" experience.


- The game is the most minimalistic game (genere defining almost) I have ever played and tbh there is not much to do. I was immersed in the game for the first 30 minutes, wandering here and there but it got repititive soon.
- Having some lore or interactions would make this game so much more interesting but unfortunately there is none.
- The pricetag is too high for what it offers.


This game is unique and pretty for it's art style but it provides almost no entertainment. Lack of content does not satisfy it`s pricetag and I feel like it should be at half it's current price, if not less. Watch the game's trailer first as it covers most of what you will experience playing this game. I did enjoy my short realxing period it promised. I am sure some people will find it even more interesting and suited to their taste. Therefore I would recommend buying this game when it's on sale or when the price is reduced.




I received this game for review purposes from Steamified. All these reviews are unsponsored, unsolicited meaning that I am not entitled to favor all reviews with either a positive or negative score for any games I am sent for review.
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40 minutes of gameplay. For all the talk about a visual experience and a "journey" it really boils down to 40 minutes of wandering in a colorful pixel world with no real substance. Do not recommend, not worth money. Watch a playthrough instead.

Incredible, transcendental experience. To call it a game would be an insult. Not another binding of isaac ripoff.

After playing for a half an hour you stop seeing anything new. Horrible.

I lost someone recently. In those first days full of grief and exhaustion from taking care of family matters, before I slept, I'd sit and try to play something to clear my mind. I didn't feel like playing my usual games. Not shooters, not puzzles, something where I could simply be transported somewhere nice.

First I thought of Bernband and Euro Truck Sim 2, but I didn't have them installed. I played Secret Habitat, I played Minecraft, and I played this game, Proteus (and a bit of its mod Purgateus).

It provides the simple pleasure of walking around in a cheerful, surprisingly interactive, rather mysterious place, rendered in fidelity low enough to let your imagination amplify it.

I've heard about and seen screenshots of many mechanics to discover, and even an end game of sorts. I haven't experienced most of them, though many patterns are now clear and I even found how to control the time of day. This is to say that there is just enough substance here to keep you interested, if you ever get bored of simply walking around.

It's a place to unwind, basically. I love walking around woods, but I don't have easy access to them.

Also, my two young nieces love watching me play it, and chasing frogs or owls or pointing at far away landmarks and getting there, talking about the cycle of night and day, about seasons, forests and animals and wandering.

I played this 4 days straight help me

To some, Proteus is a very tranquil and peaceful first person experience, to others it might be dull and pointless. There is nothing really here other than exploring randomly generated islands all in a lo-fi pixelated setting. The game seems to have a base soundtrack of lo-fi synth beats that gets added to based on what you're currently looking at. Trees, bushes, insects, animals and tombstones will all form a melody as you walk by them.

There is no death in Proteus, just walking around. The islands seem small enough to be fully explored. If there are any caves, or underground areas, I haven't found them. Since this is an exploration game, there is only walking. There is a sit button, but there is no running, no jumping, and no zoom. No crafting, building or creativity, just walking.

You'll see day turn to night, the sun will set, and the moon will rise over the ocean. Summer will turn to fall, fall into winter. You can stand on mountains above rain clouds, or go down to be in the rain. You can see the stars begin to trip out and pulsate. Comets will fall from the sky and other seemingly random things. Plus portals that will suck energy orbs into them and warp you away to the next season.

While you won't die, there is an end to each game. Winter will lead to the end, a closing, a goodbye, but again there is always a new island to explore. Since the game generates different islands each time you play, one island can have an uncreepy graveyard, a circle of statues, a cabin, a bay full of crabs, a flock of chickens and another island can be seemingly barren. It is always a new trip to a different island.

When you evaluate whether or not to play Proteus, you need to evaluate what you're looking for. Are you looking for something to relax and zone out? Are you looking for a clear cut objective? No matter how hard you explore in Proteus, you won't find any objectives other than ones you set for yourself. Do I go over that mountain or do I follow that snow owl in the trees? The choice is yours. While someone might be able to get hours of exploring Proteus through dozens of different play throughs, but others might get bored after 5 minutes. You can complete the game in an hour, with fifteen minutes in each of the four seasons.

---- someone wanted me to return to Proteus again ----

This island isn't some haven or vacation. It is a gaming prison. No doors, no keys, no jumping, no running and no way off the island. Forced to spend a year in solitary confinement. Alone on an island, but yet not alone. There is the wildlife. Crabs on the ground, bees chasing me through the forest, a flock of chickens and an ominous snow owl that watches me from afar. These are my roommates. My only playthings on a bright and vibrant island.

This time on the island, I managed to find the circle of totems pretty quickly. Then I found a cabin on a peninsula. After that, I discovered the fat world tree and the squirrels that frolicked beside it. Its a beautiful place to be alone. In a way there were still others here, because tombstones littered the ground. Everything makes a sound. My walk, the crinkle of pixelated leaves, toads hopping away and even the stars themselves made a harmony.

Spring turned to summer. The bees were swarmed around various trees. Some may say that bees belong to the spring to pollinate flowers, but for anyone that's ever been to a theme park or opened a can of soda, they know that bees love the summer. I had completely explored the island thoroughly. At some point I just wandered along the sandy beach outline of the safe haven from hardcore games.

Fall rose before I knew it. Everything was orange and flaming red. The wildlife was on its back. This land was slowly dying and so was everything on it. There was a glimpse of what was to come. I saw trees with no leaves, brief glimpses of a red sky with swirling stars as if Armageddon was there. It was only a daydream it would seem. Everything returned back to normal with leaves on the trees and the clouds coming closer to the ground.

Winter came one night. The island was bleak and everything was dead with white snow. The leafless trees looked like giant thorn bushes. There were no animals. Nothing but me. I scoured the island, but found nothing but frost that covered the ground. An overcast sky shadowed the trees with a purple hue.

Then as I went to the cabin on the beach, I began to slowly drift away. No not into the water, but the sky. I was being pulled off the ground like I had the year prior in Proteus. Soon I was at the clouds themselves when I had just had my feet in the snow. Through the clouds I went, higher and higher, realizing that I had succumb to everyone's fate on Proteus. Up I went, looking at the stars ahead of me. Their light guiding me off the island. I was free again. My sentence was over. I had left Proteus behind. The time spent on Proteus had made me a calmer and better person. Goodbye my prison. I will never forget you!