Sunday, June 26, 2011

Proun

Recently, I've been having an almost shameful amount of fun with a game called Proun: a gorgeously designed, minimalist indie racing game. How it works is this: you play a little ball traveling at high speeds along a wire, and you have to rotate around the wire to avoid obstacles and beat everyone else. It's racing a game stripped down to the very core, with everything present because it needs to be there. Thankfully, power-ups aren't that Mario Kart nonsense where they're more imbalanced than a game of Jenga; in keeping with the minimalism theme, the only one is a 'boost' function that recharges based on how well you're doing, not collecting it along the track; it's like the game is telling you 'Oh, you want some bonuses, do you? Well don't expect a handout, you're gonna have to work for it', which I respect. The sense of speed is palpable, the high-scores table is appreciated, and the racing itself is really, really, fun. My one very minor complaint is that the soundtrack gets a bit repetitive, but you can always just put on iTunes in the background. Also, while there are only 4 tracks (5 if you actually spend money for the game; you can also get it for free), there's no shortage of user-made ones on the website.

My verdict is this: Go and play it right now.

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