A friend of mine gifted me Dreaming Sarah on Steam telling me that they thought I would like it as it seemed to be my kind of game. I was curious as I read the description of the game explaining that it is a platformer where you play as Sarah, a girl in a coma and you are to explore and help her wake up. I started playing the game and was drawn in by the image of Sarah lying on a grassy hill and the gentle music. It is obvious Sarah is in a dream world with the whimsical things you find and the people you talk to.
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| Sarah meets a person fishing. |
Dreaming Sarah is a side scroller platform game and you can see the nods to old school 16 bit gaming and the homage to the game Yume Nikki. There's no combat, but the game encourages you exploring each area on the map and sometimes the map loops on itself guiding you to new discoveries and experiences. There are different tools you find in this dreamworld that help Sarah navigate through different obstacles on her journey.
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| Items in your inventory help on your journey. |
If you get lost in the game, you can always loop back to a previous map and see if there's anything you missed. The various tools help you with these things such as using the umbrella to jump across large gaps and gently float to the ground or wear glasses that help you see invisible things in the area.
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| Sarah gently floats to her destination. |
The game doesn't really hold your hand and you have to figure out things with a lot of trial and error. I admit a couple of times I had to look up what I was supposed to do because I got really stuck and had been several places at once with no clue what I had to do to move forward. Other times, the people Sarah meets in her dream will give hints about specific items that are needed in order to move ahead. It was a bit frustrating getting stuck, but I did find myself enjoying the relaxed vibe of the game.
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| Sarah gets a hint from the bartender. |
There are some areas in the game that are a little creepy such as the room with giant eyes watching you and some that are beautifully serene. The musical score aptly fits each area and is very well done. It fits the calm, relaxing vibe of Dreaming Sarah really well.
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| Sarah in one of the unsettling dream world areas. |
The game is not that long; I finished it in a couple of hours. Dreaming Sarah is an interesting and thoughtful game that shows it's all about the journey. Beautiful music, great pixel art, well designed levels, and insightful moments in the story made the game quite enjoyable for me. If you are into games that inspire old school gaming nostalgia you will like Dreaming Sarah.
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| This is a beautiful game. |
*Dreaming Sarah is available for PC on Steam
