Proto Raider

[table]
[tr]
[th]Goal[/th]
[td]Bearing the only ability to mainly jump while auto-moving, reach the exit while dealing with various enemies and obstacles[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]Experience[/th]
[td]Played a variety of 2D platformer video games, but it's more rare for me to play a game that requires one button throughout the game, being a sub-genre within the puzzle platformer area[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]Setup[/th]
[td]Played it in default windowed mode, playing the keyboard with the space bar, with the default medium speed[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]Content[/th]
[td]63 levels with 3 green treasure chests in each level to collect[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]Endgame[/th]
[td]Collecting all of the 3 green treasure chests in each level beyond reaching to the end, although it's necessary to collect enough of them because there are barriers that require a certain amount of treasure chests to pass through the level[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]Bought[/th]
[td]2017 Steam Summer Sale for 0.49$[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]Playtime[/th]
[td]3.875 hrs (232.5 mins) spent with the mindset on collecting 3 green treasure chests in each level before moving onto the next level[/td][/tr][/table]

My positives

• The chiptune soundtrack used during the game is pretty nice, a bit repetitive, but nice; looking at the local files of the game, these aren't original music that was made for the game, there are from a music composer named Vibe/CRC, who released the album "Essential Chiptunes" on 2008. The files have metadata that shows link pointing to https://silentowl.bandcamp.com/ - for which there is an album page being https://silentowl.bandcamp.com/album/essential-chiptunes - which even the page explicitly mentions the name of the game that uses said songs, most of them from the album.
  
• The amount of obstacles to face, equipment to use, and bosses to defeat keeps it feel from feeling too dull, as they feel novel without overstaying their welcome.
  

My negatives

• There are levels that are determined by luck more than skill when trying to finish them; starting on level 5, you are introduced with brown boulders that fall down onto the bridge at random that harm the player upon just touching them, including the fragments of the boulders. Due to not being able to turn around in that level and only jump while moving forward, the lack of control due to relying on luck makes it feel less satisfying when finishing them, these unsatisfactory feelings worsen when focusing on collecting 3 green treasure chests on such troublesome luck-based levels. The following levels are considered to be luck-based overall: level 5, 14, 16, 18, 21, 26, 29, 35, 44, and 49. Out of 63 levels, 10 them are luck-based levels and they stand out in comparison.
  
• Board signs that have a blinking exclamation mark during the levels cannot be reread again; I can understand not being able to have the text pop up to interrupt the gameplay again, since you already read the text when first encountering them, but there is no way to be able to re-read them besides having to create a new save file to get to that level to be able to re-read the text. This seems to be a minor thing, but I enjoy reading through the text and accidentally skipping it makes me feel bad when I missed out.
  
• The volume strength for music and sound effects when setting it to 33% is too loud especially when wearing a headset microphone; excluding muting, there are three being 33%, 66%, and 100%. There is no way to lower it down further while still being able to hear the audio without having to adjust the volume at a computer system level.
  
• There are no Steam achievements to keep track and validate how much I played through the game

My eehs/neutral feelings

[*] In the options menu, the typeface and color scheme can be changed; I didn't try them out after finishing the game, I guess it would be pretty neat for some form of replay value on seeing how the levels look like when it deivates from the original default settings.

Sadly, I honestly don't think I would recommend this overall to others, even within the puzzle platformer video game genre, mainly because of the luck-based parts of the game that don't feel good to play through when encountering them, since you spend more time than necessary to finish them through. The people who made the game and the levels appear to have realized this since the some of the later half of the levels, there is some control over the obstacles to overcome and bosses to defeat that are normally luck-based, by being able to perform actions to dodge from being harmed. Level 64 can't be finished since it's the end screen, saying there will be more levels to come through updates; unfortunately, there hasn't been any more updates since then.

If you like calculator-style games, with exploration, puzzle-solving and action, this game is for you. Simple, but quite interesting.

Enjoyable graphics and music aside, the game lacks any kind of momentum in movement and the fact you can't control your forward movement compounds problems that wouldn't exist otherwise. Having to slow the game speed via the options to make level 26 feasible? Not good. The game is also hilariously short to boot. It's got a lot of unique qualities, it's a shame that some of those are what make it not fun.

I almost recommend this game. Almost!

I like the graphics, it's ASCII-Art imitation of a text-based display, but with smooth movement outside the grid (which means it's clearly not a text-based display, but also means smoother visuals).

The gameplay is one button: start moving, and then jump. Your character (or, dare I say, 3x3 grid of characters!) moves automatically to the right, and can climb stairs if you jump onto them, and switches direction (lef/right) upon hitting the arrows. Thus, the levels are half puzzle (figure out how to traverse the level with such limited controls) and half reaction (I must press jump at the right time). These restrictions make the gameplay quite interesting.

However, the game falls apart at later levels, where you either need perfect reactions or a lot of luck. Let me give some examples (minor spoilers):

- 26: Random deadly objects fall from the sky, but thankfully random clouds move horizontally to protect you. However, you move too fast, you will out run those clouds, and die. And die. And die. Until you realize that you can change the movement speed in the options screen. (WTF!)

- 31: You have to jump perfectly in a tight space to leave enough holes to let some debris fall through, while leaving enough floor for you to jump on. Then you have to hope the random-ish nature of the physics simulation will not leave any debris in the path. Then you have to execute perfect jumps. Well, that's what I believe is the solution, and I watched a video of someone playing this level many times trying to perfect the movement. The person had more patience and more luck than me: I gave up.

It's a shame, I mostly liked the game, but some terrible levels ruined my enjoyment.

The simplicity of game mechanics is absolute (you literally only have one action button) but the gameplay is deep and diverse.
The level design is amazing, the graphics is beautiful. Relaxing music balances the hardcore nature of the game's puzzles (and yes, it also means you will die a lot). The latter is not a big problem because each level is compact and can be replayed / completed quickly once you figure out the logic.
Highly recommended!

I really wanted to like this game, since it has such a nice ASCII art and graphical style in general. But there are two big issues with game mechanics that make it hard to recommend:

The first issue is that the jumping mechanics feels very weird: jumps feel unresponsive and collision response (with walls and ceiling) is inconsistent and just feels wrong.

The second problem is related to the level design. The levels are non-determenistic and in many levels your ability to succeed depends on things that are out of your control: like some platforms that has to spawn in exact right spots. To complete such levels you have to restart them many times which is extremely irritating and it feels like the game is just wasting your time.

However, if those issues are fixed, that would be a really nice little game.

Really cool style for a platformer. But the one-button control to just jump wasn't really fun. It isn't very hard at first, but was a little too one-dimensional in game play that the art style couldn't fully overcome. I wish it was a full control platformer in this style. Worth a try, runs fine on my Win10 Alienware GTX 1080 in full screen on my TV.

A great game with a very smart level design. While the game may look like a platformer, it's actually a logic game and it's good. The art style may not be for everyone, but if you like the retro style (срулс out the screenshots), you'll definitely love it! The retro music is amazing too!

Very well done! A simple yet very fun puzzle game with extremely clever ASCII graphics and nice music!

Don't let the low playtime fool you, I completed the game so far (and I hope there really will be more levels/content eventually).

This game is not for anybody easily frustrated. While some levels require trial and error, there are at least 3 levels that have randomly timed hazards that simply require retry after retry after retry to complete. There's also a stage that, while not difficult, puts the player into a moving field and randomly rotates him, leaving you with a task of waiting until you're happen to get into the position you need to be in to jump and finish the level.

Despite the few levels with these problems, most are trial-and-error, timing and practice-makes-perfect puzzles that are charming and fun and run with a low system footprint.

So yes, i recommend it, but be prepared to be frustrated by a few nearly impossible levels.

I like this game, but why DO i down-vote it? It gives a heavy reason why: Random Events in a Auto-Runner Game.

Watch this:
https://youtu.be/SLsq9eR8uKw

(also Sorry about that i didnt record it fullscreen but that should do it)
I didnt count how often i died coz only of the random Lava drop here in this Stage. It is really a lovely made game, i like the music and the style of it BUT such things ruins the fun.

AND i must be honest:
I made this video coz i already hang in this level good 15 minutes. So you could guess how much "FUN" i had. Im glad i finished it finally but there was already such Levels before this one AND i bet such events keep going on and on - and those ruin the gameplay in such games wile you cant avoid it - and its not even your fault. If they had a counter, like every 3 seconds (as sample), you can actually blame yourself but the Lava (and other stuff in other Stages before already) have no counter. they keep coming randomly and you cant count for them.

So it is a fun game and i really love the music and style but that should be changed, really

(People still can buy and try to enjoy it of course. I try at least to finish it coz how i said, it makes somehow somekind of fun but still, that events really are "Missplaced" in a game like this)

Small edit:
I finished the game with all Chests and every Level so far - which means 100% beaten. It made a lot fun but the random stuff still keep doing sometimes...

Meh, It doesn't really bring you the etertainment you are searching for...
At least the ascii art is fun to look at if you have spare money.

So, I love the style of this game. The art is solid. The concept is cool. The gameplay is meh, very meh. The one button is jump and you move forward until you hit arrows to bounce you back. One level had random falling boxes, which really sucks in a platform game with no dodge or stop function. I got through it, but that level alone is reason enough for me not to recommend this game. The ideas here are solid, the gameplay less so.

Proto Raider's title screen proclaims it a "Hardcore Arcade Quest," but it's far more like an "Action Puzzle Platformer." You'll need decent reflexes to clear some of the monster-fighting levels, yes. For 90% of the game, though, it's more about figuring out and executing the optimal path through each one-screen level to collect all the treasure and escape.

The peculiar rules of the game's physics take some getting used to. You can't control how high or far you jump except by timing it so you collide with an obstacle. The jumps themselves use a strange arc that loses all momentum at its peak, dropping you straight down. And though the game's animation moves pixel by pixel, jumps only launch when your character is lined up on a column of the ASCII-styled text grid, leading to a delay in response to your button presses. It's not unfair, exactly, but it requires unlearning old assumptions.

The closing credits promise more levels in later updates, but what we have here is already an optimal length. My recorded time is what it took to 100% the game, collecting all but red-herring chests. It's perfect for its style, giving you time to learn and master the mechanics while retaining a sense of discovery with the surprises each new level introduces. A worthy purchase at full price or otherwise!

!!!Recommended with a warning!!!

This is one of those games that are in the middle for me. On one hand it's a neat little game with a look that fits it well. On the other hand RNG in the form of obstacles can make everything a real pain. Objects will still move when you are waiting at the start so most of the time it's just about finding the best time to actually start. I would like to note that these RNG obstacles are not in every level but you will have to complete them to progress. That said I feel I can recommend this game but only with the RNG warning. So if you are the type of person who likes puzzle-platformers and can look past the RNG issue then you might like this game. If RNG makes you get mad quickly then this game is not for you.

I was loving the game, the first like 30 - 40 levels were really good and fun to get all of the 3 chests. But someway during development, the rest 20 levels or so got pretty bad, specially the last couple of levels (currently there are 63 levels) and the last boss were really bad. In the last boss fight, there are mice looking things coming down the ceiling and you have to stay close to the golem head to kill it and you can only change direction; at first it might not seem bad but when you actually play it, it's so easy to kill the boss by just staying at one of the edges of the platform and then keep rotating that it's laughable. And the fact that the mice keep coming down after you kill the boss really pisses me off it's so unnecessary.
To sum it up, the first levels are good but then they just start to test your patience, become monotonous and just not fun anymore. It gets so frustrating and cheap that I rage quitted a few of times and I beat freaking Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 both the normal and the Scholar of the First Sin edition. So unless they fix these issues and stop going down this path, I can't recommend this game.

Edit 24/14/2018: Still sucks.

Bought this on a whim while it was on sale for less than a dollar, very happy that I did so and would even have enjoyed it at full price.

It's a simple little puzzle game where the only input you have is when your character jumps, but they manage to take this concept and use it to create all sorts of brain teasers that'll have you scratching your head for a while. On top of this, the ASCII-style of the game is surprisingly gorgeous, and the music that plays throughout is quite relaxing and beautiful.

It's not perfect though; the traps you encounter often do not appear to be programmed with set patterns, which sometimes results in unavoidable deaths thanks to sheer bad luck. It's not a dealbreaker by any means, but it can be a bit frustrating to die several times through no fault of your own.

That being said, this is a really enjoyable little gem that I'd absolutely recommend to anyone as a fun way to kill an afternoon.

Dispite how short the game is, I really enjoyed it. The graphics were charming in their ASCII beauty, the game-play was pretty solid, and the music was actually pretty catchy.
I hope that the creator adds more levels though ^_^

For what it's worth, it's a pretty fun retro-themed game. The controls are pretty tight, the puzzle platforming gets just challenging enough to stave off boredom, and the ascii look is as good or better than most games of its type. Surprising depth involved in the design, too. I love the music most of all. Reminds me a lot of instrumental songs from Air/Lemonjelly/Zero7. And for the price, you really can't complain much.

It's certainly not a bad game, and the graphics are not without their charm, but ultimately it's nothing new. Sort of like a less music based, more RNG, simpler, even more retro aesthetic bit trip runner (sans scrolling screen of course).

THAT SAID: at its current price it's more than worth it. Even if you only get a few minutes of fun out of it the price is low enough to justify the novelty of the game alone.