Dreamview Weekly Roundup #103

It’s Friday. Have a bit of Dreamview Weekly Roundup. Go on! Just a smidge. We’ll plop it right here on this webpage for you. See how it glistens wetly in the sun. It only does that when the nutritional content is particularly high. And what’s that smell? Why, it’s five roasty-toasty creations made in Dreams!

Hang on, don’t eat it. What on earth made you think you could eat it? It’s for putting into your eyes, where it will then be delivered - by way of magical electrical impulses - into your brain. Take it out of your mouth this instant. Honestly, how embarrassing. Can’t take you anywhere.

Hook Shot#

by Azure_Kn1ght, steross_4, Dennis-nine-five, Sykroid and Amenjo1

Estimated playtime: 4 hrs

If games are a conversation between a designer and a player, Hook Shot is one of the best chats we’ve had in a while. The language of this parkour-puzzle game is very simple: your main means of interacting with its test chambers is a grappling hook, supported by your ability to climb, wall-run and double-jump. The questions that are asked of you, however, are anything but. After the early levels silently teach you the fundamentals of movement and the capabilities of your first ‘grapple core’ (of four various powers you'll unlock) through careful level design, later rooms will nudge you to think outside of the box.

The eureka moments that follow frequently remind us of our first time playing through Portal - but there’s brawn as well as brains here, as hitting a perfect parkour line on our travels through the facility takes us back to some of our best memories of Titanfall. Not every back-and-forth between designer and player here is perfect - few games achieve that in their design - but the willingness to communicate and see the player succeed can be felt in every detail of this considerate, elegant construction.

Warm Wood ²³#

by moorpheus663

Estimated playtime: N/A

Wild, sprawling, ethereal scenes are moorpheus663’s speciality - as are curious titles. Warm Wood ²³ is no exception, and as such, is going to be marvellous fun to put into words. Imagine a chunk of space dusted with pink and purple clouds, golden light illuminating their insides. Think frozen fireworks below a hi-tech spaceship, which is descending towards a sea of figures with melting faces. Giant hands cling to padlocks, and even bigger planets threaten to join the fray. This may be a static art piece, but the ability to lightly interact with it makes it feel anything but; we highly recommend using the grab cam to zoom in, out of, and around this three-dimensional piece. You’ll see new compositions form in new perspectives, the colours of the sky shifting drastically in response to your godlike powers of movement.

HIT THE BOMB BACK#

by tequilavodka8989

Estimated playtime: Replayable

We do love a tequilavodka. (Little joke there, of course! Dreams is rated PEGI 12. We’ve never touched a drop of alcohol in our lives, mainly because it messes with all the [Absolutely not. - Ed.].) This intoxicatingly-named creator’s works have a keen sense of fun and a tendency towards chaos, the hectic alien sport-sim URANIUM FISHING being a great example. We’re thrilled that they’re back with another improbable competitive activity. It’s table tennis, but instead of a table, there’s an entire auditorium. Instead of one opponent standing opposite you, you’ve got about five of them running at you full-pelt. Oh, and instead of a ping pong ball, you’re backhanding bombs.

A deadly rally ensues across multiple rounds, as you press the right trigger to return fire and try to explode opponents before they impact your health bar. At first, the whole thing feels completely anarchic. But we soon find tactical intrigue hiding just below the surface. Noting the countdown on each bomb before volleying them back helps us carefully time our shots, as well as aim them. Weaving between cover - which, hilariously, are the folded-up table tennis tables you’re definitely not playing on - helps reduce danger, too. A special brand of method in the madness then, as always, from this creator: a toast to even more to come.

Cephalopod#

By inasense48

Estimated playtime: N/A

Games are great. Short films are cool, as are useful bits of code, or carefully-curated collections. But sometimes? Sometimes you just need a really good octopus. Here’s one. This slippery sucker is a masterclass in sculpting texture: you can almost feel the wrinkles, dimples and pock-marks (or should that be oc-marks?) all across the surface. The dappled lighting, too, adds to the overall effect - almost as if it’s being refracted through the surface of the ocean. The cherry on top, however, is the expression of world-weary wisdom, which radiates a gravitas worthy of a creature that can unscrew a jar from the inside without a second thought. We can’t even get up off the sofa most days.

Hover Pad Driving Test#

by DrinkWater200

Estimated playtime: 3 mins

This inordinately satisfying vehicle test from talented sculptor and Liminal legend DrinkWater200, in which we steer a hover pad around a chequerboard test environment by using the sticks to shift our android pilot’s weight in different directions, fills us with hope. Firstly, we hope that this smooth method of travel gets added to a more final environment - perhaps a cyberpunk city, so that we can cruise and carve under the neon lights through sheets of rain. Secondly, we’re crossing our fingers that this sci-fi surfing might actually be how we all get around in the real-world future. And lastly, but perhaps most importantly - that in 200 years or so we’ll all have equally impressive, technologically-enhanced buns of steel.

Check out the playable edition of this week's Dreamview Weekly Roundup right here in Dreams!

Which creations caught your eye in the Dreamiverse this week, and why? Tell us about your personal picks over on the official Dreams forums!(opens in new tab)