Midweek Fun! Unleash Your Inner Speed Demon In ‘Proun’

A popular trend emerging in the world of independent gaming is the idea of gamers paying what they want for a game. It’s a daring move, but can pay off big for the developers. The Humble Bundle, which has gone through three iterations to date, has raised millions of dollars for developers and charities alike. The latest big name independent game to employ this strategy is the high speed racer Proun.

Proun takes a few cues from popular high speed racing series like F-Zero and Wipeout while also managing to inject some charm of its own. Controls are extremely simple; up makes you go fast, down makes you go slow (but really, who’s ever going to use it?), left and right steer, and shift activates a turbo boost. Instead of racing on a traditional track, Proun takes place on a cylindrical track with various geometric objects serving as obstacles.

As you steer you wrap around the track, which can be a bit disorienting at first as obstacles fly wildly around the screen. There are other competitors as well, but it’s impossible to interact with them. No knocking your opponents into walls here.

Like most racing games, Proun is all about racking up fast times. There are only three tracks (plus a bonus track), but Proun can be played at four different speeds. The lower speeds are nice and leisurely, perfect for learning the tracks and game mechanics. Supersonic will have you tearing your hair out in no time. After each race your time gets posted to the online leaderboards, where you can see how you stack up against the rest of the world.

Best of all, Proun can be had for whatever price you decide. Download the full game (minus a bonus track) without paying a cent. If you like it, I strongly suggest supporting awesome independent game developers and paying whatever you think is fair.

Proun is still a bit rough around the edges (there doesn’t seem to be a way to change the resolution, and there have been a few issues with the high score server), but overall it’s a brilliant concept that’s a blast to play, and well worth your time and money.

If for some reason you still can’t decide if you’re interested, check out the game’s promo video below.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh2uBxie3Kc