Proton

Proton is a freely distributed DOS action game from 1987 by Clove Software, and its premise is a period curiosity: it brings laser tag to the computer. Specifically it is an unofficial homage to Photon, the chain of arena laser-game venues that competed for American attention with the more famous Lazer Tag in the mid-eighties. Instead of running through a smoky hall wearing a sensor vest, you sit at a keyboard.

The basics stay faithful to the source: two three-man teams, blue and red, fight it out in a maze-like arena, and each side has a base of its own. You control a single member of Blue Squad; your two team-mates are run by the computer, as is the entire Red Squad. The aim is to tag opponents and threaten their base before they dismantle yours.

That team structure is the most interesting thing about Proton. In 1987 it was far from common for a small freeware title to attempt a six-character skirmish where five of the participants think for themselves. It is also the game's weakness: you cannot give your team-mates any orders, so much of the time you watch what your computer colleagues get up to and try to complement their wandering with initiative of your own. The maze enforces caution — an opponent can wait behind any corner, and firefights are short and unforgiving.

In all honesty, Proton feels raw today. The graphics are simple, the sound minimal, and the artificial intelligence on both sides is more milling about than tactics. But as a document of its time it is a gem: it preserves the brief craze for laser arenas that hardly anyone remembers now, with the enthusiasm typical of one-person productions of the day. It makes for an entertaining half-hour excursion rather than a game you will return to for weeks.

You can launch Proton on oldgame.cz straight in your browser, with nothing to install.