A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux

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When rumours say that a strange dream allows you to meet your soulmate, Jane is dragged into a life or death riddle game with a mysterious dream boy as the stakes. Guide Jane as she attempts to save the boy, herself and the very fate of the dream world. 

The game lasts around half an hour and has five different endings. 

Dream Dilemma is a visual novel created in a month for NaNoRenO 2020.

Art by RuneRaccoon, Konett and Noraneko-Games. Sound by various artits at filmmusic.io. (See game for full credits.)

Warning: Max and Linux versions are untested - please report any issues on this page!

StatusReleased
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Rating
Rated 3.6 out of 5 stars
(13 total ratings)
AuthorAmesyFlo
GenreVisual Novel
TagsAnime, Dreams, Otome, Romance

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Click download now to get access to the following files:

DreamDilemmaGuide.docx 15 kB
DreamDilemma-1.0-pc.zip 138 MB
DreamDilemma-1.0-linux.tar.bz2 125 MB
DreamDilemma-1.0-mac.zip 121 MB

Comments

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Will there be a mac version

Hi Metaparadox! Thanks for your interest. I've uploaded a mac version but as I don't have any mac hardware, there's no guaranteeing its bug free. 
Give it a go and let me know if it works! 

Thanks! Will try it out!

This was fun and the concept of it is unique. I've been reading a lot about  dreams and astral projection lately so I just had to play this. I really liked Eileen and Jane's friendship and Caleb was so sweet. I played all of the endings and the one with Phobetor struck me the most. It seemed like such a miserable fate lol even if it was a good(?) ending. Overall, it was pretty fun although short.

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thanks for playing! Really glad you liked it and stuck around for all the endings 😊

I think think the concept is super interesting! I played the game in one go using the guide ( I just love getting things 100% right, I have to to have it perfect lol) and it was a really fun experience! I went for 4/5 good ending and I was satisfied. The characters all have a really cute design, and I loved the horror elements thrown in. Overall, a good experience and an interesting game! Good job~

This was a fun game! I thought the concept was really interesting. Eileen was great, I loved how supportive she was. And the riddles were fun to solve!

Thanks for playing! Glad you enjoyed it. Which ending did you get?

I got ending 1/5 first lmao, I figured out the location to go to but I couldn't quite find what I needed to find there! But I got all of the endings eventually and I really enjoyed them. :) I used the walkthrough for ending 3/5 but I was able to get all of the others on my own.

Oh wow, really happy you liked it enough to get all endings! 3 does seem to be a tricky one, not many folk have gotten it! Next time I include an ending like that I might make it a little less specific to find. 

This was a lot of fun! I was able to get the 5/5 and 4/5 endings!

Eileen is like the best friend anyone could ever ask for. I loved how she was always in Jane's corner and helped her out even when her friend might be having strange magic-related dreams?? (And so when I got the 5/5 ending I was like AWWWW YAY!!) 

I liked Jane as the protagonist, I liked that she was a bit older than typical VN protagonists at 25 and that she had a job. I also felt like the riddles were just the right level of difficulty! 

Thank you so much for making this game!

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Haha, that's great. I really enjoyed writing Eileen, I think I channelled my real life friends into her.

I just wanted to write a character I can relate to - high school drama gets a bit silly feeling sometimes. 

I was concerned about them being too easy so that's great to hear! 

Thanks for playing! 

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An excellent period piece.

 

In summary: this is a charming, sentimental but enticing exploration of the Unconscious, as well as the Surreal in general. It resonates with me most palpably for how it reaffirms the underlying Reality of Dreams in our Waking World. More clinically, it paints a believable picture of the Animus, in both its positive and negative manifestations, as well as making speculative reference to the Collective Unconscious which is ominous in its verisimilitude.

 

Some more observations follow:

 

  •  “out of the clouds and into a dating app”: priceless irony.
  • Thank you for spelling “caffeine” properly. HA!L the CAFÉ.
  • Nice use of sound effects. I immediately remembered the Literature Club.
  • Okay, O.K. I just saw the first image of your dream boy. You wear your influences on your sleeve. Looks kind of like a Kandinsky, too.
  • “You’re not saying anything? I suppose you agree.” Your depiction of villainy certainly echoes modern apprehensions. Way to keep things topical.
  • The first riddle was easy enough.
  • The walkthrough feels tense and immersive, as well as surreal.
  • The Old News was charmingly nostalgic.
  • I am LOVING the P.K.D. reference. (the author, not the disease.)
  • PHOBETOR: “Kira desu.”
  • Appropriate appropriation of Greek. Somehow Western English-speakers seem to learn more about Classic culture through Japanese renditions than by direct tradition.
  • “We’ll see what wins: the blind stumbling of ‘true love’ or the calculated moves of the nightmare realm.” Oh? There ever was a difference? MUAHAA.
  • I like the mirroring technique. It really helps to mislead.
  • The strongest moments in the text were the brief, alliterative ones.
  • A “queue” is a line, usually of ordered variables, especially people waiting for something. A “cue”, conversely, is an imperative gesture meant to signal further action.

Jane is certainly the strumpet if she has a whole queue of boys waiting for her. I must infer your meaning to be the latter of the two.

L.J.

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Wow, thank you for the detailed feedback! I'd just finished reading a book on the basics of Jung before this, but I hadn't actually realised how much of it had seeped into the story!

I've got a build on the way with some spelling/grammar corrections, so I'll pop that one in, thanks for finding it. :) 

Which ending(s) did you get? 

I got 4/5!! Does that make it a B-? Haha.

L.J.

Post-scriptum: I should love to invite you to the Dream Jam!! Its duration is the month of April, starting tomorrow. Come take a look, in case you haven't yet, and spread the word to fellow surrealists and psychonauts!!!

https://itch.io/jam/dreamjam2020

[({L.J.)}

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Nice! Haha! That seems to be the most popular ending so far.
That looks really interesting, but coming off the back of one game jam straight into another probably isn't good for my sanity! Let me know if you run it again though. :) 

Sure thing, Amesy!! Just so you know: one of my most talented collaborators would often slide from one project to the next, with stellar results, but different genius is conveyed by different avenues. As writers we must remain in our respective elements. That is why I have given participants one month for this one. You have time to let it stew in the back of your mind. It's a very flexible event. I know that, personally, I find that if I don't follow up one success with another then I fall into a depressive rut. But that's a matter of temperament. Do what feels sane, and listen to your Heart. Looking forward to seeing more great stories come from you.

[({L.J.)}]

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thank you so much for making this. I love how sweet the story is amd love the whole dream soulmate idea.

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Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the kind words :)