Review / Sweet Dreams Alex (PC)

I’ve said this a million times by now but something being simple doesn’t make it bad. We expect far more from our gaming experiences now than we ever have in the past and it shows sometimes in the worst possible light. If something isn’t aesthetically perfect or technically innovative it just doesn’t meet whatever standard of “good,” we’re going for. This obviously isn’t the case when a game touts itself as “retro,” something that has nothing to do with quality but seems to lower our expectations sometimes, which is insane in and of itself. Having grown up through a period when it wasn’t retro it was pretty much what we had, I try to be a bit forgiving of everything on the market and will happily play the games with the simplest premise because they can be some of the best out there. This being said, I didn’t play Sweet Dreams Alex because I was looking for the next big thing. I played it because it looked fun and that’s sort of the point. The fact that I’m called Alex had nothing to do with it either. Probably.

In Sweet Dreams Alex you take the role of a Dream Architect, and all you have to do is ensure that a little girl gets a good night’s sleep. You do this by preventing a nightmare from getting to her bed by creating an obstacle course for it. If she remains soundly asleep for the allotted time granted by the level you win and pass on to the next. The premise here couldn’t be simpler. The game, on the other hand, takes infuriating fun to a new level. This is a puzzler that’s really going to stretch the old gray matter and I’m totally here for that.

You’re only given a certain number of obstacles that you can place during a level. This means that you have to use your resources to the best of your ability. So why not just create a wall and block the nightmare in, right? Well, you’d think that would be your simplest option but that’s against the rules. All that will do is send the nightmare insane and that isn’t good for anyone. In fact, you need to make sure that the nightmare can move by placing other objects that allow safe passage. You basically have to give the creepy creature a fair chance without ever letting it win and this is very much easier said than done.

I played through the tutorial and first few levels without really having to think about any sort of strategy and initially thought this was the type of puzzler that was designed for a more casual gaming style. I don’t mean this offensively, by the way, not every game has to be something that’s going to absorb your life. Sometimes you want something you can play in a quick sitting and not really think too deeply about. As I found out when I hit my first difficulty wall this totally isn’t the case here. I restarted the same level umpteen times just to see my slumbering child get woken up literally seconds before the time ran out. The levels don’t play in real-time, so you plan everything out first and then set it going. I think I actually prefer this because it takes the frantic multitasking you find in a lot of tower defense games away and gives you thinking time. The downside of this is you end up watching the clock tick down until you either succeed or end up going back to the start. This is excruciating when you’re just close enough to have almost solved the puzzle but not quite enough to complete the round.

One big plus that comes with Sweet Dreams Alex is that you can’t die. If you don’t manage to keep the nightmare at bay long enough, you’re returned to the planning phase and given as much time as you need to re-jig your obstacle course. When you’re happy with what you’ve got you set things in motion again. This is a title that’s strategy over action and this is a refreshing change that I really enjoy. Every level will obviously make you alter your thinking so things don’t get dull. It also means you can play just a few levels at a time and feel comfortable putting the game down because each one is a puzzle confined to itself. It’s not like you’re having to reserve enough time to play, say, a chapter. This being said there’s a casual element to play that fits really nicely.

There’s a story that runs through Sweet Dreams Alex that I’m not going to go into here. You’ll find diary pages scattered about the levels that build the narrative as you go. Everything comes in short, easy to digest, snippets so those of you that don’t like plot-heavy games and just want to get on with things will probably find a lot to like here. The way the story is written makes it really suitable for all ages which is a plus. This probably isn’t a game for younger players though unless they really love their puzzles. The necessarily repetitive nature of play definitely won’t be for everyone. The difficulty is something else that will possibly put younger gamers off too. Saying this, this isn’t difficult in the traditional sense, rather this is a title that requires quite a lot of patience. You feel really good though when you get things right, so there’s that.

As a fan of puzzles and strategy Sweet Dreams Alex is right up my alley. I like the slow pace this title offers and the casual aspects fit my playstyle really well. I’m noticing the older I’m getting the less time I have for more epic adventures. Not that I don’t like them but I always end up feeling guilty that I’m not doing something else. The pick-up-an-play nature of this title is really appealing because I can enjoy a few levels at a time and still get on with my day. All in all, this is a really good shout for those of you who like a bit of a head-scratcher. If you’re looking for a graphical masterpiece you won’t find it here but that really shouldn’t be the point. This is a game that’s well worth playing if you want something to take you away from the usual frantic action that comes with a lot of the games on the market.