Dreamview Weekly Roundup #32

Happy almost-weekend - and happy almost-Halloween! It’s a special Friday in the Dreamiverse: the carnival is coming to town with All Hallows’ Dreams: Ghost Train, featuring a coMmunity-made ghost train ride that’s playable in VR, Mm-created minigames, and all manner of strange and surprising secrets.

Unfortunately, we can’t get any more specific than that. We snuck into the place early looking for a scoop, and it’s sort of… backfired. You’ll see. Needless to say, it’s probably the strictest NDA we’ve ever encountered. Well, apart from those handed out by that one Japanese game company.

Anyway! Once you’re done checking out the event, unlocking your spooky new imps and heeding our cries for help, why not try out this week’s five recommended creations to play in Dreams?

Monster Bash#

by Jimmy_Cultist_

Three little words is all it takes to win our heart: ‘kaiju fighting game’. JimmyCultist receives our eternal admiration, then, for crafting this merrily OTT fighting game that pits you against enormous monsters while playing as a similarly enormous monster. There are 5 playable beasts to master and defeat, each with their own surprisingly flexible movesets and lore. Our favourite? Globula, who looks like a piece of sentient chewing gum, and is able to shoot goo projectiles before swooping in to deal quickfire tentacle slaps (with comic book-style bubbles announcing each ‘Bop!’) while our opponent struggles. Quite apart from the hilarity of the concept, this is an incredibly well-presented and robust brawler, with a good understanding of what makes great fighting game ‘fundamentals’ (read: basic tactical moves).

Carnival Cove#

by Rabrit

Our carnival is not the only one in town this week: Rabrit’s Carnival Cove - which regular readers may remember had a terrifying teaser booth at this year’s DreamsCom - has also rolled up. It is truly magical, too, setting you loose to explore a picturesque abandoned fairground. Oh, and did we mention you play as a disembodied fez? A lonely spirit bobbing and weaving through the misty atmosphere, your mission is to bring light back to the park, using your imp to switch on lamps, shock rides back to life and at one point, even perform an exorcism. A wonderful, whimsical concept that will delight anybody looking to get into the Halloween spirit.

TNKS#

by ninjuana

Spiders: nature’s perfect machine. Strong, glossy abdomens. Infinite web-spinning ability. Propensity for killing annoying flies. Their good qualities are almost too numerous to list - and yet, TNKS somehow manages to upgrade them (mainly with big lasers and guns). This pass-the-pad, turn-based couch co-op game puts you in control of a beautifully-animated spider tank - those lovely wiggly legs! - and challenges you to hunt down your foe and shoot them before they shoot you. Playing out across multiple rounds, it feels purpose-built for close calls and amazing long-range snipes, as you race back and forth to line up the perfect shot. Our top tips: look out for your opponent’s homing beacon, which will help you find them in the huge arenas - and get around faster using your jump ability.

Bee Wave#

by Midjam

See, here we have a creator who just doesn’t appreciate the noble arachnid in the way that it should be. It’s a shame, really, because Bee Wave is a brilliant and well-balanced ‘idle type bee sim’: you play as the impressively titled Boss Bee, collecting honey alongside your fellow workers to upgrade your hive’s defenses, unlock fun minigames and progress your run. Problems arise, however, once you start triggering waves of enemy spiders, fending them off to earn extra resources for your cause... by firing stingers out of your posterior. Just rude, frankly. Not even the adorable addition of being able to buy little hats for your bees can cancel out this heinous spider slander.

The Liquid Skater#

by spiYdrz

At the opposite end of the spectrum, we have spiYdrz. What an attractive PSNID that is: an inventive twist on one of the most mellifluous words in the English language. The sound of it is almost as breathtaking as the showmanship on display in The Liquid Skater. That is, your showmanship: with the Aevonvian Gods threatening to destroy the world, every last hope is on your shoulders to put on the figure-skating display of a lifetime and change their minds. Using the left thumbstick to glide and spin, the cross button to jump, the triggers and shoulder buttons to raise and lower your arms, and the face buttons to perform balletic bends of the torso, it’s easy to simply get lost in the movement - even though you’re really aiming for a huge combo. Who knew you could move so elegantly with only two legs?

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!