Proteus

 PC
User Score
5.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 192 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 75 out of 192
  2. Mixed: 44 out of 192
  3. Negative: 73 out of 192

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  1. Kuzkula
    Feb 4, 2013
    1
    I've got to go low on this one. This is not a game. This is an interactive screensaver. Let me repeat: This is not a game. Worst $10 spent. I'd rather get mugged. At least then it's an actual experience.
  2. Magnard
    Aug 13, 2014
    0
    Unlike Dear Esther it doesn't look good, unlike Ether One or Gone Home it doesn't play good. What's to like? It's a badly drawn crock of **** with nothing to recommend it.
  3. DopamineCowboy
    Sep 14, 2013
    4
    I love casual, immersive games, and I love minimal design. The game looks great and is a joy to interact with... for about 30 minutes.

    I spent about 2 hours playing this because I had read there was "more than meets the eye," and there certainly is. There are interesting elements that are not immediately obvious. But even then, there is VERY little content and almost no replayability. I    I love casual, immersive games, and I love minimal design. The game looks great and is a joy to interact with... for about 30 minutes.

    I spent about 2 hours playing this because I had read there was "more than meets the eye," and there certainly is. There are interesting elements that are not immediately obvious. But even then, there is VERY little content and almost no replayability. I don't mind that there is no real objective or conflict, but the overall experience was underwhelming.

    I would maybe have given this a higher score if it went for $5, but even at that price I couldn't recommend it. I'd love to see what the developers do next, but in my mind this is no more than a tech demo.    … Expand
  4. CyCl0pSgr
    May 30, 2013
    4
    Well I was prepared about what I was going to see in Proteus, though I didn't expect that. This game has no purpose, you only wander in the woods and you can't really interact with the environment. If that was a pre-release or Alpha that would be acceptable.

    The graphic were nice though, old school but not messy. They were well made and that is the only thing I liked. Music wasn't that    Well I was prepared about what I was going to see in Proteus, though I didn't expect that. This game has no purpose, you only wander in the woods and you can't really interact with the environment. If that was a pre-release or Alpha that would be acceptable.

    The graphic were nice though, old school but not messy. They were well made and that is the only thing I liked. Music wasn't that interesting and at some point it was boring. I only liked music during night.    … Expand
  5. masc
    May 22, 2013
    2
    There is not much you can do in the game besides walking around. You need to follow some visual clues to advance. However after just one hour I had played it through and to be honest I do not really feel the urge to do so again. This game has therefore just not enough content to rectify even the low price of 5$. To be honest I even feel ripped off by that low price because it is not lowThere is not much you can do in the game besides walking around. You need to follow some visual clues to advance. However after just one hour I had played it through and to be honest I do not really feel the urge to do so again. This game has therefore just not enough content to rectify even the low price of 5$. To be honest I even feel ripped off by that low price because it is not low enough for what you get. 1$ may would have been fine.… Expand
  6. demondred79
    Aug 18, 2013
    0
    Another ridiculous and utterly unwarranted game critic love affair! Avoid this hype-bomb at all costs. Speaking of costs, I wouldn't even play this for free. I was excited about this "game" based on critic reviews, and jumped at the humble bundle chance to grab it. What a miserable disappointment. You will be absolutely done and bored mindless within 30 minutes flat, and all I couldAnother ridiculous and utterly unwarranted game critic love affair! Avoid this hype-bomb at all costs. Speaking of costs, I wouldn't even play this for free. I was excited about this "game" based on critic reviews, and jumped at the humble bundle chance to grab it. What a miserable disappointment. You will be absolutely done and bored mindless within 30 minutes flat, and all I could think of is "but why? this had such a cool concept." And that ladies and gents is exactly what this is....it's basically a proof of concept, or rough sketch of what this title should have been. So I assumed I was overly harsh, despite having a leveled expectation of what i was to experience, and turned my 7 yr old girl onto it, thinking that her patience and creative mind would find redeeming value in it. Nope! About 20 min into it and I got a "daddy, this is really boring." Yes....yes it is.
    What a waste. If games like this are making money then I think i'll fire up visual studio and slam my ass cheeks into the keyboard a couple hundred times, compile it, and then release it to the public. With the money I earn I'll use that to buy an expensive apology for wasting my daughter's life for 30 minutes.
    So in review.....this is not a game....it's is not an "experience" and it's not even visual narcolepsy to knock you out late at night (I tried that too, seriously!)....it's a joke and we're the punchline. You've been warned.    … Expand
  7. obake21
    Aug 18, 2013
    0
    Pretentious hipster trash, whoever thought that this game was beautiful has never seen the raw beauty of nature, it has no story-line, no conflict, and was an utter waste of money.
  8. kippy32
    May 29, 2013
    4
    If you're thinking about buying this at full retail, I really wouldn't. I knew it would be an open ended title where you would just wonder around the place, but it became really boring really quickly because there was nothing to interact with, even something small would have been nice.
    Saying that, the music was soothing, and the landscapes were nice to look at.
    I certainly wouldn't have    If you're thinking about buying this at full retail, I really wouldn't. I knew it would be an open ended title where you would just wonder around the place, but it became really boring really quickly because there was nothing to interact with, even something small would have been nice.
    Saying that, the music was soothing, and the landscapes were nice to look at.
    I certainly wouldn't have paid full price for this, and I'm glad I got it in the humble bundle, to me, it's just another pretentious indie art game, or maybe I'm just missing something.    … Expand
  9. Qazzquimby
    Feb 11, 2013
    3
    I have nothing against art games, I've loved art games before. Proteus is like taking one pretty picture and looking at it from different angles for about two hours. Then the game stops. If it were 1$ it would be appropriately priced.
  10. Agarwel
    Feb 3, 2013
    4
    Hmm. I dont know if I did not understand this game. Or if it is just not my style. But I consider it waste of my time. After one hour inside I did not find single way how to interact with the world (I dont count chasing the "frogs"). THe graphics has nice style, but there is a little variety to enjoy it for more than few minutes. And music well it somehow reacts to the enviromnent. ButHmm. I dont know if I did not understand this game. Or if it is just not my style. But I consider it waste of my time. After one hour inside I did not find single way how to interact with the world (I dont count chasing the "frogs"). THe graphics has nice style, but there is a little variety to enjoy it for more than few minutes. And music well it somehow reacts to the enviromnent. But not much. It is just an ambient noise. Not some interesting piece. So all put together, it was not worth the money or the time it took to realise I was ripped off by simple tech demo.… Expand
  11. Kluge
    Apr 26, 2013
    2
    I was meaning to do a more pithy review, but lost my edge when I saw someone else already called Proteus an "interactive screensaver." I agree, and I do like a lot of "art games." Proteus, though, is extraordinarily slow-paced. It generally left me confused, which would be fine if it were going somewhere, but there didn't appear to be any ultimate "point" or there was, but well beyond theI was meaning to do a more pithy review, but lost my edge when I saw someone else already called Proteus an "interactive screensaver." I agree, and I do like a lot of "art games." Proteus, though, is extraordinarily slow-paced. It generally left me confused, which would be fine if it were going somewhere, but there didn't appear to be any ultimate "point" or there was, but well beyond the very short 20m I gave it. For example, a ring of fireflies formed at one point and made a large pillar appear, which must have released some type of invisible sleeping gas. It was probably the coolest moment of my experience, leaving me thinking "Mm. Okay."

    I did try to like the game, but I guess I'm not nearly patient enough, nor interested in a game which doesn't adequately present itself as more than a distraction. Ultimately, I found myself wishing there was no interactivity at all, and that the character would progress by himself while I ate a bowl of ramen noodles. And then I wondered why I don't just eat outside before realizing I had frustration to unload here (and it's 2am!).

    It did have soothing graphics (I think "beautiful" is an exaggeration it took me a while to figure out when I arrived at the side of a graveyard [and now I'm doubting my perception], partially because some of the tombstones were swaying). The music was soothing, too kind of reminded me of some of the early music in Rotohex. Proteus is very different, and bold in that originality, but I can't say it was refreshing. (But it is definitely thought-provoking reviews here are particularly polarized)    … Expand
  12. steelasp
    Feb 25, 2013
    3
    Proteus is very beautiful, and very original. That being said, I don't recommend spending money on it. I found that it had no replay value. The first time you play, it's quite magical, and relaxing, and I can understand the appeal, and I can see why this game has received good reviews. But the second play through was so much like the first, that I lost interest rather quickly. Yes, you getProteus is very beautiful, and very original. That being said, I don't recommend spending money on it. I found that it had no replay value. The first time you play, it's quite magical, and relaxing, and I can understand the appeal, and I can see why this game has received good reviews. But the second play through was so much like the first, that I lost interest rather quickly. Yes, you get a different island to explore each time you start, but each island has the same things on it, just laid out differently. There are some cool things that happen, but it's the same cool things every time. If you're really keen to check it out, play your friend's copy. I can't recommend spending even the low price of 10 dollars on a game that only offers an hour or two of original gameplay. The "Interactive sound track" doesn't resemble music. It's more like noise, albeit noise that you have some control over. I could see Proteus being really enthralling for someone on psychedelics, but if that's not your cup of tea, you probably won't play it more than twice.… Expand
  13. iseeall
    Apr 26, 2013
    1
    I'm giving it a 1-star review because Proteus is not a game. It's a somewhat interactive piece of art, yes, but it's not a game and no gamer should ever buy it. This piece of software could be displayed somewhere at an exhibition of modern art, but putting it up for sale, and to gamers, is nonsense. Maybe the devs should have tried selling it to some museum or TV channel to display it as aI'm giving it a 1-star review because Proteus is not a game. It's a somewhat interactive piece of art, yes, but it's not a game and no gamer should ever buy it. This piece of software could be displayed somewhere at an exhibition of modern art, but putting it up for sale, and to gamers, is nonsense. Maybe the devs should have tried selling it to some museum or TV channel to display it as a movie or whatever?
    Music is great btw, and the visuals are well, acceptable, i mean the colors are fine but e.g. the Sun is too crude and all this super-pixelation doesn't look nice or even cool. Yes, I got a short-lasted joy when running after a few critters and enjoyed the music, but as a gamer I don't see any entertainment here. For $10 one can get a used Diablo 1 CD and play for days and days.    … Expand
  14. phdr_vrba
    Apr 1, 2013
    1
    There are those fancy "art" games, like Journey, or Knytt Stories. Then there are games that pretend to be "art," like The Path, or Proteus. These two games are somewhat similar in concept but no matter how much I despise The Path for pretending to be fancy art with deep meaning, it is still ways better than Proteus. At first sight Proteus seems to sport a nice retro pixelized look, butThere are those fancy "art" games, like Journey, or Knytt Stories. Then there are games that pretend to be "art," like The Path, or Proteus. These two games are somewhat similar in concept but no matter how much I despise The Path for pretending to be fancy art with deep meaning, it is still ways better than Proteus. At first sight Proteus seems to sport a nice retro pixelized look, but that is soon disrupted by all the low-polygonal stuff that just does not work with all the big pixelized sprites, most notably the terrain itself. Then there are the points of interest on the island only thing one can do is to check them out. There aren't many of those and (unlike those in The Path) none are really interesting in the first place. So you check the places out, then the night comes, circle of light appears, game shifts into next season. Things change color, and that's about it. You can go check out the places again, but there is no point really. Then again you won't have anything better to do in this "game" so you might as well do so. Then the night comes, next season, and yeah, why even bother. Go get some food from the fridge, take a piss, while games shifts to the next season again. Proteus is ugly, not interesting at all. At a few rare occasions the music is kinda nice, but most of the time its headache-inducing cacophony of bleeps. Mostly it does not feel like a game at all, even next to Dear Esther it does not feel like a game. Damn there is a game called 4 minutes and 33 seconds of Uniqueness (made by the Crayon Physics guy I think) and all you have to do there is to run the game for said time as the only person on Earth and it still felt more like a game than this one does.… Expand
  15. ultraviper
    Jul 16, 2014
    0
    You can have more fun navigating around in google street view. Go check out the steam reviews for this. 90% of the positive reviews have less than an hour played. If you can't even stand to play the game for more than an hour, why would you give it a good review? I sure wouldn't.
  16. JimCorbett
    May 29, 2013
    1
    Not a game. Proteus is simply a world in which you walk around in, and it does a bad job at that. 30 seconds after starting the game my eyes began hurting due to the horrid graphics and colors attributed to them. The controls are slow and cumbersome, and the sounds (music) is simply the repetition of random chimes over and over again. Unless you like the idea of walking around in a "world"Not a game. Proteus is simply a world in which you walk around in, and it does a bad job at that. 30 seconds after starting the game my eyes began hurting due to the horrid graphics and colors attributed to them. The controls are slow and cumbersome, and the sounds (music) is simply the repetition of random chimes over and over again. Unless you like the idea of walking around in a "world" that makes no sense and hear random beeps every other second, you'd best forget you ever heard about this disaster.… Expand
  17. Mysteryman64
    Jun 8, 2013
    0
    Proteus is a pretentious attempt to be an "art" game. It tries and label itself as an soothing exploration game, but fails in almost every regard. The exploration itself is fairly dull and pointless since there are so few actual sprites. Within about 5 minutes, you've seen just about everything there is to be seen. The "music" is extremely lackluster and it feels as though almost no timeProteus is a pretentious attempt to be an "art" game. It tries and label itself as an soothing exploration game, but fails in almost every regard. The exploration itself is fairly dull and pointless since there are so few actual sprites. Within about 5 minutes, you've seen just about everything there is to be seen. The "music" is extremely lackluster and it feels as though almost no time was spent on working on the sounds to create something that would actually sound good when strung together.

    And while it has the barest pretenses of a goal and a plot, there really isn't much desire to continue on, because, as said above, the music generation is awful and the things to see aren't really worth seeing. It was potentially a very, very interesting concept, but it falls completely flat due to a complete lack of effort by its designer. I can appreciate wanting a minimalist style game, or having a game that's different from the standard fare, but this entire game was so poorly executed that its cringe worthy. Don't waste your money, time, or computer resources on this.

    If you're looking for a decent take on an artsy game, go with the much, much better Dear Esther.    … Expand
  18. ShanksMasterGen
    Feb 10, 2013
    1
    This game is tripe.
    The music is garbage.
    The colour palette is tripe.
    There is zero engagement.
    Shaq Fu was better.

    This 'program' is merely a cash grab. It worked. You have my money, but you have a sorely angered gamer as well.
  19. gsanez
    Feb 21, 2013
    2
    Its a walk game, you do nothing... you CANT do notthing only push WASD, if the game were free it will be "ok" but also 7€? are you crazy saying that this game is 80 metascore?
  20. PattonMcCrotch
    May 31, 2013
    2
    I didn't expect a lot from this game, but I did expect that such a simple looking program would run. It doesn't run. I know how to verify files/ drivers .net and all the rest. I had looked forward to this for a while, and it's a big disappointment to crash a moment after game launches. So I have to give this about the lowest score possible.
  21. Technomancy
    Oct 26, 2014
    0
    The reason I gave this a 0 is because it's not really even a game. You just walk around and look at pretty colors in a world that you can change the colors and some pixels around in. I mean, if you enjoy walking simulators you might enjoy this..... toy? Instrument? I hesitate to call this a game, I truly do. Take some acid if you want to play this because it's the only way anyone couldThe reason I gave this a 0 is because it's not really even a game. You just walk around and look at pretty colors in a world that you can change the colors and some pixels around in. I mean, if you enjoy walking simulators you might enjoy this..... toy? Instrument? I hesitate to call this a game, I truly do. Take some acid if you want to play this because it's the only way anyone could ever have fun with it. Cheers.… Expand
  22. kotay
    May 28, 2013
    0
    This is not even a game, it is not even anything, unless you are mentally challenged you will not find anything entertaining here. Getting pretty tired of buying humble bundles to just receive somebody's school project.
  23. purifico
    Jan 13, 2015
    0
    This is not a game. No gameplay, "beep-boop" level music, patheticly bad graphics, pretending to be "minimalist". Pretencious crap. Wouldn't pay 1 cent for it, let alone 12$. Avoid like a plague. If you want an exploration game with actual gameplay and story buy "flower" or "journey" instead.
  24. mckw
    Feb 5, 2014
    1
    The fact that it is sold as a game, the least you could expect is some gameplay. Games being an artform has always been a contested debate, but this is the most pointless game I have ever witness, failing to being an artform whatsoever. Bad, just bad. Don't bother 'playing' this 'game' let alone buying it.
  25. NicolasThe17th
    Mar 17, 2016
    2
    -No Enemies
    -No Objetive
    -No Interaction
    -No strory
    -Poor Playability
    -Same place everytime
    -The worst Walking Simulator

    -Metacritic 8/10

    Really? The graphics are nice but the game is useless. A waste of money and time. This is not art, this is crap.
  26. davideAwesome
    Aug 11, 2015
    2
    I played games like Journey and Unfinished Swan. I liked them a lot.
    But this is an entirely other beast. It is too slow for its own good, it's just boring and aimless. You're just there. wandering around. I appreciate that developers want to try something different, but this time spend your money and your time on something else.
  27. CristianSala
    Oct 21, 2015
    1
    Gioco veramente orribile lo si capisce a 80 km che è un gioco scemo.
    Tra l'altro sto cesso costa ben 7 euro quando non vale neanche 1 centesimo.
    In pratica questo gioco è creato soltanto per rubare i soldi alla gente
  28. Cristian2606
    Nov 1, 2016
    1
    Gioco veramente insensato, solo a vederlo fa venire da vomitare.
    La grafica fa schifo, peggio dei cartoni animati e non è chiaro che cacchio bisogna fare.
  29. hoanns
    Jun 6, 2020
    1
    boring in my opinion. to discover computer generated terrain is just lame .

Awards & Rankings

61
#61 Best PC Game of 2013
99
#99 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. Gamer.nl
    Nov 22, 2013
    80
    Proteus is without a doubt not for everyone, because playing in the traditional sense of the word doesn't really happen. It does, however, deliver an enchanting experience through the harmony of images and sounds, which leaves enough room for your own imagination.
    Read full review
  2. Games Master UK
    Apr 13, 2013
    87
    Proteus's ever-changing island is a joy to walk through, listen to and explore. [May 2013, p.84]
  3. Games.cz
    Apr 9, 2013
    80
    An independent experiment that has managed to free from the established genres, and out of its graphical and sound simplicity it has formed the experiences you cannot escape from.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »