“The woods are lovely, dark and deep”: The Dream Collector Review
All images are from The Dream Collector by Crump, all images are by me
The Dream Collector isn’t a traditional game–it’s a cool framing device for a poetry collection. Your gut reaction to that sentence will tell you everything you need to know about whether or not this is for you (but you should keep reading anyway because you like me).
Your job at the the Department of Nocturnal Reverie Restoration and Oneiric Artifact Curation is to reassemble dreams and document them through short poems (are they hiring?). The game world is your workstation–a desk suspended in the void that you navigate by clicking chunky, metallic paperweights in the shape of hands. It’s very 1990s CD-ROM in the best way. When you’re ready to begin, simply tug on the heavy, iron chain looming like a noose in your peripheral vision.
The majority of The Dream Collectors runtime is spent shuffling object shards from the right side of your screen to the left. Sometimes you’ll be building a single object, others a more elaborate diorama. Regardless, the assembly process is always the same. Select the next piece and move it to its designated spot. That’s it. Unlike the best works of literature, there is very little room for interpretation here.
The whole experience is starving for movement and satisfying feedback (I have a theory that this is why every time we receive a new package the lid goes flying and smacks us in the face). It comes off a bit stagnant, most nine-to-fives do, but the added sensation of manipulating the glass splinters of a shattered poison bottle or slotting individual rotten teeth into a jawbone (with crunchy sound effects!) could have gone a long way.
You perform the poetry half of this equation by filling in the blanks from a collection of words. If your first attempt needs editing (writing is rewriting, after all) you’ll instantly try again with no penalty. There is a certain degree of trial and error but you’ll never be stuck for more than 30 seconds. While simple, the quill scratches itched the puzzle sector of my brain nicely.
Which words begin with capital letters? What is the rhyme scheme? What is the adjective they’re looking for?
If the “poetry” of it all makes you hesitant, I would encourage you to give it a shot, anyway. It’s not pretentious (though I don’t mind an occasional dose of pretension). The scribbling on your parchment is typically filled with the sort of writing you find in fables or picture books. If Edward Gorey was employed by The Department of Nocturnal Reverie Restoration and Oneiric Artifact Curation, he would be groomed for management before the end of his first shift.
While the Steam description states that The Dream Collector strikes a balance between creepy and cozy it leans heavily towards the latter end of the spectrum. This isn’t a horror game and there are no jump scares. I will continue to perform this service for the gaming community where applicable.
You’ll most likely finish penning all the poems in about three and a half hours. Games can act as a form of meditation and that’s what Crump, the developer, has put together here. It’s not meant to be binged–it’s a thoughtful compliment to your morning coffee–it’s a ritual before bed.
If you’re in the mood for something different, this certainly qualifies.
71/100
*This review was conducted using a Steam key provided by the developer through Keymailer.*