Dreamview Weekly Roundup #10
07/05/2021
Double figures, baby! It’s a big Friday for the Dreamview Weekly Roundup, then, as it reaches its tenth edition. We can’t wait to see what cake you’ve made or statue you’ve erected in our honour. We’re partial to a bit of coffee cake round these parts, as it goes, but a good old Viccy Sponge would do nicely too. We’re not sure we have a favourite type of statue. Big ones? Big ones. Extra points if you’ve made it out of cake. Go on then, wheel it out.
...What do you mean, there’s no cake? Or statue? Or cake-statue? What are we supposed to do with this giant novelty fork we ordered? Oh, nuts. Well, we suppose you can make it up to us by reading our recommendations for five utterly delightful things to see, play and admire in Dreams this weekend.
Not in the market for some new cutlery, are you? Alright, never mind. On with the roundup!
Steel Warriors 2021 - Robo Battle
by Pencilcase80
SOUND EVERY ALARM YOU HAVE, AND THEN POSSIBLY SOME THINGS THAT ARE NOT ALARMS BUT THAT CAN BE STRUCK TO PRODUCE NOISE: there’s a mecha fighting game in Dreams, and it’s glorious. Steel Warriors 2021 - Robo Battle puts you behind the remote controls of a gigantic robot in a clash versus a hulking, axe-wielding foe. Centauri might have raw power on its side, but your Copter has range and a little more agility: the triggers let you throw weighty, diesel-powered punches, while Copter’s arm-rod is an offensive weapon when twirled one way, and a shield when spun the other. The fight is brief, but exhilarating, as we hype up the crowd with taunts and apply enough pressure to send one of Centauri’s arms clanging to the floor mid-match. We’re desperate for more of this - even if we’ll never look at baton twirlers the same way again.
by Todu
Todu describes this as a ‘visual experiment’: indeed, we can’t quite believe our eyes. With the ingenious use of text gadgets only, they’ve managed to create an otherworldly white room that allows you to... well, peer into other worlds. Or, at least, make your brain feel as though it is. Walk up to the walls, and coloured portals yawn open to reveal cityscapes, interiors, mountainous vistas and a particularly memorable kaiju scene, all constructed around iconic architecture. (Seriously - all of the scenes are made from Dreams’ UI icons.) Happily, Todu’s planning to build a full game out of this concept.
by TheDrVox
There’s something immediately arresting about TheDrVox’s painting of a pylon next to water - and no, we’re not talking about the stop sign. At first glance it appears realistic: the light cast by the sunset, the crisp reflections. But spend a little longer with it, and you realise where the pull of the piece is coming from. Stylistic touches in the clouds overhead and the texture of the water (a river? A sea? A flooded road?) are pleasantly personal choices by the artist that help set their style apart from many others we’ve seen in the Dreamiverse.
by Dj_Frags-_- and The_Tenia
Is that... a peaceful frog watching the sunrise? Yes. Yes it is. The latest album by Dj_Frags starts out strong, then, even before its first track kicks in. The hopeful energy of Free Fall (which feels to us like a caffeinated version of Marskye’s beautiful soundtrack for KO-OP’s GNOG) is the perfect opener to this experimental electronic album, which shifts through several moods and styles - incidentally, watching an amphibian zone out to house beats is something we never knew we needed - before culminating in the high-energy, playfully weird synthscape that is the aptly-named Orange Juice with Toothpaste. 40 solid minutes of pure, protean vibes.
by OptimusCries, thyon, and NikoJaXs
Made in two weeks for the recent Autistica Play Jam, this first-person puzzle game is a thoughtful, allegorical exploration of what it’s like to experience anxiety and grief as an autistic person. The presentation is top-quality - particularly the opening, which recalls Giant Sparrow's What Remains Of Edith Finch with its in-scene handwritten text and wonderfully-acted voiceover (courtesy of Marilyn Ramos). What follows is a magical and melancholic journey through time and space, as you're presented with thoughtfully constructed puzzles based on the challenges autistic people might face on a daily basis - sensory overload, difficulty reading facial expressions. The second half of the latter challenge is perhaps a little too tough, forcing some trial-and-error to solve - then again, we have a sneaking suspicion that might be the point.
Want an easy way to view all of these creations in one convenient collection? Check out the playable version of this week's Dreamview Weekly Roundup right here in Dreams!