Okay Geek Farm
Quick Thoughts on Proun
Alex Tretrop
This week, I’ve found something special for a nice gaming experience. Let’s talk Proun, an indie game from the awesomely named Joost Van Dongen, who developed it in his spare time over the course of six years. It’s a stylistic, abstract 3D racer that features a fantastic artistic style and great music.
So what is Proun?
Dongen makes it very clear that he believes “Games are art” and he wants our industry to have room for those titles that evoke emotions or educate others, furthering the belief of games as a way of artistic expression. His game is very good at doing exactly that, making you happy about videogames.
It’s a very short and simple title, you take a ball and race against other balls on what more or less amounts to a straight 3D line. You roll around this cylinder like track to avoid all the crazy geometric shapes trying to slow you down, all the while listening to an appropriate jazzy soundtrack and eyeing up the fantastic artistic design.
How much is it?
Another interesting thing to watch is the news that he will be releasing the number of people who actually paid for the game. Yes, that’s right; he’s selling it as a “Pay What You Want” title, meaning that you can give him nothing and still get the full experience. If you do (and you should!) support him however, you’ll net yourself an added level as a nice treat.
Go and grab it right now!
It’s sense of speed is great, it’s levels are excellently designed and it just feels fun to jump in and play. He’s even opened the game up to the modding community as well, so we could be seeing some creative new ideas in the future as well!
The games as art debate will probably rage until the end of time, but its clear right from the outset that Dongen’s artistic vision is one of the clear reasons you should throw a few dollars in his direction and shows our medium at it’s best!
You can pick up Proun right here for whatever price you want and take a look at the trailer above if your interested!
