Proto Raider

About

Proto Raider is a single-screen puzzle platformer with ASCII graphics, where players explore a colorful and imaginative world filled with quirky characters and dangerous obstacles. Collect treasures, complete quests, and gain superpowers to defeat fearsome monsters and become a legendary raider. Watch out for consequences, as actions like swimming, diving, and sailing can result in unexpected hazards.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

66%

Audience ScoreBased on 61 reviews

music12 positive mentions

The game features a charming ASCII art style and a relaxing chiptune soundtrack that enhances the overall experience.
The level design is creative and offers a variety of obstacles and puzzles that keep gameplay engaging.
Despite its simplicity, the game provides a unique challenge that requires players to think strategically about their jumps and movements.

Many levels rely on luck rather than skill, leading to frustrating experiences where players can die due to random events.
The one-button control scheme can feel limiting and unresponsive, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.
There are no Steam achievements or options to revisit important in-game text, which diminishes the sense of progress and accomplishment.

music
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
45%
11%
The game's chiptune soundtrack is generally well-received, described as nice and catchy, though somewhat repetitive, and sourced from a 2008 album by composer vibe/crc. While the music is praised for its relaxing quality and ability to complement the game's challenging puzzles, some players noted issues with volume levels, particularly at lower settings. Overall, the music enhances the game's charm, contributing to its enjoyable retro aesthetic.
- “The retro music is amazing too!”
- “On top of this, the ascii-style of the game is surprisingly gorgeous, and the music that plays throughout is quite relaxing and beautiful.”
- “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 settings: 33%, 66%, and 100%.”
- “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.”
- “Relaxing music balances the hardcore nature of the game's puzzles (and yes, it also means you will die a lot).”
graphics
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
30%
13%
The game's graphics, primarily featuring charming ASCII art, have been well-received for their retro aesthetic and smooth visuals, enhancing the overall experience. While many players appreciate the artistic style and level design, some feel that the graphics alone cannot compensate for the game's lack of momentum and one-dimensional gameplay. Overall, the visuals are considered enjoyable, particularly for fans of retro styles, but they may not appeal to everyone.
- “The level design is amazing, the graphics are beautiful.”
- “The graphics were charming in their ASCII beauty, the gameplay was pretty solid, and the music was actually pretty catchy.”
- “A simple yet very fun puzzle game with extremely clever ASCII graphics and nice music!”
- “It isn't very hard at first, but was a little too one-dimensional in gameplay that the art style couldn't fully overcome.”
- “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).”
gameplay
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
72%
14%
The gameplay is characterized by its simplicity, relying on a single action button for movement and jumping, which allows for a deep and diverse experience despite its minimal mechanics. However, players have noted significant issues with the jumping mechanics, describing them as unresponsive and inconsistent, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. While the game encourages learning and discovery, the inability to revisit important text and the frustrating mechanics lead to mixed feelings about its overall execution.
- “The gameplay is one button: start moving, and then jump.”
- “The simplicity of game mechanics is absolute (you literally only have one action button) but the gameplay is deep and diverse.”
- “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.”
- “The first issue is that the jumping mechanics feel very weird: jumps feel unresponsive and collision response (with walls and ceiling) is inconsistent and just feels wrong.”
- “The gameplay is meh, very meh.”
- “The ideas here are solid, the gameplay less so.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is noted for being both amusing and notably brief, with multiple users highlighting its short duration as a source of comedic effect.
- “The game is also hilariously short to boot.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express frustration with certain levels that rely heavily on luck rather than skill, particularly starting from level 5, where random falling boulders create unexpected challenges that can lead to emotional distress. This randomness detracts from the overall enjoyment and can evoke feelings of helplessness during gameplay.
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Players note that the ability to change the typeface and color scheme in the options menu adds a unique layer of replayability, allowing for a fresh visual experience when revisiting levels. However, some users have not explored these features post-completion, leaving their full potential for enhancing replay value somewhat untested.
- “In the options menu, the typeface and color scheme can be changed; I didn't try them out after finishing the game, but I guess it would be pretty neat for some form of replay value to see how the levels look when they deviate from the original default settings.”
- “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 to see how the levels look when they deviate from the original default settings.”