Dreamview Weekly Roundup #27

Seven is an inescapable number around these parts. How many days has it been since the last Dreamview Weekly Roundup? Seven. How many letters make up the word Roundup? Seven. How many Roundups has it been since we last summoned Jacob into providing five recommendations from the Dreamiverse? Go on, have a guess. We’ll give you a hint if you’d like. Try looking at the second digit of this week’s Roundup number.

Not one to pass on a Roundup surrounded by spooky superstition (just take one glance at their past clover-infested escapades), Jacob has returned to temporarily take the reins, at least until they find a way to escape again. In that case, we should get onto his five recommendations sharpish. Oh sorry, the answer was seven, if you were wondering.

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Astronautical#

by slamdonahue

Elegant puns notoriously go a long way for us at The Impsider; we couldn’t help but be drawn to slamdonahue’s latest side-scroller. But there’s plenty to unravel in this surreal cosmic adventure beyond its pleasing portmanteau. Structured as vignettes spanning various characters and time periods, Astronautical’s narrative is equal parts cosmic horror and short story anthology, as fragmented as it is intriguing. There’s little in the way of combat or involved platforming, but much like slamdonahue’s previous efforts, the 2D perspective and harsh art style conjure a consistently threatening atmosphere. This one will almost certainly leave you with plenty of astro-thoughts.

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InnerIsle#

by Tricobalt

What if an open-world platformer was set entirely on an island constructed out of body parts? Miraculously nowhere near as grotesque as that elevator pitch implies, InnerIsle is an ingenious demonstration of the potential found in only a handful of assets. Made for stevie128k's 'One World One Character' jam, music video veteran Tricobalt has dissected mav36’s Nyarabelle puppet, crafting a shockingly intricate tropical world from its components. Since Nyarabelle is also the playable character, there’s truly nothing else on-screen but modified versions of this single element. The end result is magically mad - so much so that we’ve started pondering worlds made from our own characters. A Megapenguin mountain range, anyone?

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Bubbles#

by zombi_1975

Finally, a game that resurrects the nostalgic joy of absentmindedly popping bubble wrap, despite repeated warnings to leave the poor things alone. The power of Dreams fortunately lets us pop hundreds of virtual bubbles without consequence, whilst weaving this extremely specific desire into a fiendish time attack mini-game. Spanning nine courses, players are tasked with rolling a ball and popping bubbles across a wooden board as fast as possible. Between the sheen of the different boards and satisfying sound design, this creation is beautifully tactile. You almost want to reach out and pop it.

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Found in Freedom EP#

by Asian-Roro, Forever3kco, FluffyNSassy, The_Tenia

The Dreamiverse is crammed with exceptional music producers, but few can boast as polished and versatile a portfolio as Asian-Roro, having recently released their superb fifth EP into the wild. Venturing through an eclectic mix of electronic textures, tracks such as ‘Generation MMXX’ splice together marimbas with punchy saw waves, whilst the title piece euphorically erupts into energetic drum and bass. However, this release is more than just the music. Accompanied by vibrant visuals from Forever3kco and FluffyNSassy, each track of the EP is given its own striking interpretation, with scenes vividly reacting to the instrumentals.

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Driving the Dream#

by Thebigpier

We’ve all heard of kart racers, but what about the sorely underserved sub-genre of barely functional classic Italian automotive racers? There’s tragically few of them if you ask us. Thankfully, Thebigpier has stepped up to the plate, feverishly working to remake their massive passion project Driving the Dream with revamped tracks and additional unorthodox vehicles. A varied selection of charming coMmunity music, loose handling and an assortment of globe-trotting roads contribute to the wonderfully off-kilter feel. There’s few roadtrips we can recall that begin with a pleasant trip around the European countryside, only to culminate in a rip-roaring tour through a dilapidated haunted manor. Maybe we just don’t get out enough.

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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!