Overview
Dream as a game can be easily compared with the Stanly Parable, but unlike the Parable, is slightly harder to Google for walkthroughs. This guide will attempt to explain at what point you could say “that was it?”.
Introduction
****Update*****
Hey, we hit final(?) release of Dream! Give me a few days to update the page with all the new content, but what I’ve seen so far isn’t that bad, not bad at all.
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This will not be much help as a walkthrough
Its not really my goal to step-by-step the entire game (although I’d be happy to answer small questions in the comments). Some people have already made guides that are brilliant and in the case of Act 3 quite possibly needed, so I’ll link to those if its wanted.
This guide will just show the content you can access in dream, giving newcomers an idea of knowing when they’ve hit the “ending”. I will update this if someone chimes in with a level I haven’t reached (likely)
Everything said, this game can easily entertain for a few hours and the soundtrack is great, so I hope you enjoy a brief look into the mind of a (depressed teenager? unambitious son? multidimensional test subject?)
Mild spoilers ahead, proceed at own risk yadayada.
Howards big empty house
Starting out we walk around the big empty house and listen to Howard wax on about the electric bill
Not much can be done here, so its best to head straight up to his room, but If desired you can open the fridge or listen to the jukebox or visit the freakishly clean attic:
I guess its saved for the nightmares later…
Clicking on the bed brings you into the “hub” area, so lets do that now.
Hub world: Whats with all those black cubes?
Welcome to the white space you are gonna be seeing a lot of:
If you are just starting, only the left archway is there, feel free to enter into the first act of this dream, but try grabbing the compass first, it might be useful cause its there.
A personal theory, there was going to be 6 acts, each with a nightmare but it got scaled back, so everything post 3 nightmare got cut. If we get lucky, act 3 might get finished, but the archways you see here (and the one I missed on the right) may be the only we get to see 🙁
Anyway, head through by clicking to enter…
Act 1: temp extremes
Note: it starts with sand and sun, I was just too lazy to start a new game.
Act one is probably the most confusing of levels, with the map being completely useless and everything looking the bloody same, but here you can find the 2 starting side dreams and the least buggy nightmare. Have fun running around with the smoke and listen to Howard while hes still got a voice, then head over the graveyard puzzle for your first side quest.
Terrence walkway
While this a beautiful level with a nice soundtrack its 50/50 if the mechanics work for you. If you can solve it, please tell me what it does because I can’t. 🙁
If you found the map in the first level it might give you some clues for this one.
Waking up and heading back to the desert (technically the snowy version could also be called a desert cause of the whole no rain thing), follow the signposts to a place called the Hollow till you find the portal into a game called Antichamber:
Or just The Hollow if you don’t take the piss 😛
I like this one, it has a nice flow to it. Sprint at the blurry text for awhile then head back to the main dream for your first nightmare…
Act 1 Nightmare: Apply yourself Howard
Husky East gives a really great guide for this one here, great if you get stuck on the music box (like I did).
Somewhere around the view point is a black doorway into this nightmare, walk in at your own risk to explore dark thoughts about being watched and judged, in a house kinda like Anna, but with less broken river sounds and illogical riddles.
Yep, nothing offputting about that 😛
Anyway, when you finish the nightmare/ give up in fear its time to advance to act 2!
Act 2: A different view
The corporate view that is! Augmented realities co. is strangely empty today, but I don’t think they mind you walking around a bit. You can work your way up to the top floor to solve a Docs puzzle involving doors, assuming you find the password, or walk around finding the 2 side dreams here: the Escher room and literally the most disappointing roller-coaster ever.
The single most disappointing roller-coaster ever
Made for those using the oculus rift, this is just sad. I don’t even mind possibly insulting the designers, this is just, just sad. I’m not even going to tell you where to find it, its that bad. I guess the foggy level is nice, however the coaster kills it. Don’t bother. My personal recommendation.
Also on this level because AR is all about the extreme, is the most interesting dream that I can really believe people have had, the
Escher room
Look at it!
You get to walk around in it, how many games let you do that in first person? This also has the best music track in the game, so good I’ve visited it a few times now. Walk up and down till you find the exit (hint: while you can walk out the entrance or one of first portals, there is one right at the “top”).
Act 2 Nightmare: good feelings gone now
Speaking of up and down, head down to the basement
Haha, it sure is a way down
So the music is kinda scaring me now
… I wana go home
NOPE NOPE NOPE
Act 3: A well deserved holiday
OK, that’s over now. Deep breaths, its over now.
“I hope the next act is nicer” I hear you say, “I could do with something nice and relaxing”. Well, you’re in luck:
Act 3 is the most tropical, most relaxing, most calming experience outside of possibly going to Hawaii. Or Tonga. That said, its also an experience that can quickly get repetitive, so I hope you mastered bunny-hopping by now.
What you do in this act is unlock the islands one by one by solving a series of puzzles, the food delivery one probably the point 75% of people will give up on (pro tips: for the conveyer puzzle, one of the buttons doesn’t work, so run around to the other console. Wait 5 secounds at least for each press and by jove do not hit a button if its empty, you will mess up everything)
Act 3 is also still under contruction, with Meadow just finished recently and Hospital still locked:
Those are what they are called on the map, assuming its correct. Speaking of the map, you can use the shooting starts to orientate, they all stream in a totally not ominous way towards “vanishing point”.
Anyway thats the nightmare, but we want to look at the side dream first, so when you are ready jog on over to Meadow (its quite the jog… be prepared to do it several times too).
I think its a metaphor for patience, which will certainly be tested if you’re not careful in…
Meadow
Meadow is nice, although it seems to have a series of minor problems in its geo. Specifically, Howard a nimble bugger, but can easily get himself stuck somewhere he shouldn’t be and somewhere he can’t get back out of, aside from waking up.
I’d guess Meadow is just out of his world 😀
Anyway, its an Easter egg hunt! Run around, try not to get stuck, and ponder the possible Symbolism like:
That egg is trapped in the ice, was I supposed to be able to use it despite not having “broken the ice” or did I find a bug?
Is this a patch of his hub-dream-world breaking into the real-dream-world or is it a placeholder?
So I read the patch notes and it turns out its a placeholder for the exit. Well, I’ll update when they do I guess… Either or, once you’ve had your fun getting “stuck in” the rolling hills we can head over to th-
Act 3 Nightmare: it all falls apart in the end
Stumble around the house, turning on all the lights in preparation… just in case… while alternating between broken
And less broken (physically anyway)
Slow mo your way back to Howard’s bedroom and you’re done. Right?
…
But all the lights are on now @_@
Conclusion
Conclusion, I always spell Conclusion wrong. Also that’s basically it. I’ve left a few smaller secrets for you to find (sauna room, the hidden bedrooms) and most of the puzzle-work will be up to you, but this collection should allow to squeeze that little bit of extra enjoyment of what is an interesting but ultimately very short game.
It my hope that HyperSloth keep working on this because I do believe it has some potential, but right now its empty. We may never be able to fix Howard’s cluttered mind 🙁
Still, what is here was great fun for quite a few hours.
You and me both Howard.
