Dreams of Another is a fascinatingly surreal mind trip

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In essence, Dreams of Another intentionally veils its meaning and complexity, intending to establish a dream-like setting where the usual laws of demolition are reversed. Crafted by Q-Games, known for their PixelJunk series, this philosophical journey features a protagonist who employs a gun that fires bullets as tools for creation. It’s an unusual journey, and despite the brief demo shown at the Day of the Devs event during GDC 2025 being incredibly short, it left me puzzled, trying to unravel the mystery behind its concept.

Sleepwalker, don’t be shy

The presentation initiates by introducing a character known as “The Man in Pajamas.” He’s dressed in striped pajamas, white and blue, in a surreal environment filled with floating yellow and red orbs. These orbs shroud the surroundings like dense fog. To unveil what lies beneath, you must grab a rifle and shoot aimlessly, hoping to strike something. This action will momentarily clear up the space, revealing structures such as walls, lights, fountains, stairs, and figures.

Instead of being exact, the game employs a method known as point cloud rendering to determine where the player fires their shots. This technique resembles attempting to perceive a blurry pointillist artwork with a magnifying glass, except that the “magnifying glass” happens to be bullets. The reason behind this design is rooted in the philosophy that creation often stems from destruction, a concept that Dreams of Another aims to creatively delve into using video game terminology.

Mental confusion

The reason for the main character wandering within other people’s dreams, if we consider the game’s name literally, remains obscure. This ambiguity might be purposeful, similar to a David Lynch production where understanding becomes a puzzle rather than accepting things at face value. In the preview, the character encounters a town square where doors converse with him and incomprehensible voices echo. Subsequently, a manhole cover rotates sideways across the field and must be fired to progress the narrative. To call this confusing would be an understatement.

I speculate that the game character might be attempting to traverse someone’s memories, somewhat like Inception, although this is only a speculative idea. The Steam page description for the game suggests that it revolves around another character called “The Wandering Soldier.” This could potentially be the mind our pajama-wearing character is investigating. Whatever unfolds in the game, I’m eager to discover more about where the storyline is going once it is released.

Dreams of Another is expected to release in 2025 on PC via Steam, PS5, and PlayStation VR2.

This sneak peek originates from a glimpse offered by the publisher at the Day of the Devs: San Francisco Edition event, which took place during the Game Developers Conference in 2025.

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2025-03-25 22:59