There's been some heated discussion as to whether Proteus—Ed Key and David Tanaga's award-winning lo-fi ambient exploration game—can be called a game. All the back-and-forth boils down to just so much fooferaw. But, if you want to nail Proteus down to a more restrictive, AAA-centric definition of what a game is, then…

Opinions on Ed Key and David Kanaga's newly released game Proteus are likely as mixed as the crowd at a Justin Bieber/Mastodon double-bill. Personally, I think it's just lovely. It relaxes me, which certainly isn't true of most games I play these days. It's a rare game that just sort of is, and it manages to forge a…

Proteus, which went on sale on Steam on Wednesday, is the latest art piece to kick up a fuss over whether something deserves to call itself a game. Twitter's self-appointed video game cop has weighed in on the discussion, as have thousands of his deputies in message boards and comments. Now one of Proteus' creators…

Last year, I wrote about the beautiful digital island found inside of Proteus. Proteus is an exploration game where the world is reactive to the player. Stones will hum as you walk by. Frogs will sing to you. I'd tell you more but it's best that you experience it yourself; there's nothing quite like it.

I've never really been one for the appreciation of the "great outdoors." Take me out of my skyscraper rainforest, ground me in something other than the tangled detritus of concrete streets and roads, and I become unmoored. I blame it on my upbringing: I was largely sheltered, and as a result my outdoorsmanship was…