Release Date: 18/11/2016
Played On: Win
Available On: Droid / iOS / Win
Time Played: 2h 5m
Progress: 100% Complete
Developer: Big Loop Studios
Publisher: Big Loop Studios
I'll probably give it a post eventually, but one of my favourite games of all time is The Tiny Bang Story. It's a simple little game that mixes solving puzzles with finding hidden objects, but it's all about the presentation. In a game with such simple gameplay, there's loads of room for beautiful art and music to tie the experience together and The Tiny Bang Story does this without ever uttering a word of dialogue, written or otherwise.
Every now and then I go on a hunt for other games that might be as beautiful and enjoyable as The Tiny Bang Story, but I've rarely found anything that meets its level of quality and perfection. Although, when I came across Dreamcage Escape I thought I might have been onto a winner, but it gets held back by some simple decisions that missed the mark.
Don't worry, I'm not going to continue comparing Dreamcage Escape with The Tiny Bang Story, because it just doesn't compare. I'm not saying this as an insult, but the comparison is why I was interested in giving this one a go in the first place, so on some level I'm comparing them no matter how much I try not to.
Dreamcage Escape is a puzzle game that features a series of scenes and locations that task you with some light puzzle solving and hidden object finding to complete. Early on it's clear that this is a mobile port, thanks to the tell-tale signs of the interface and level structure. There's a three start system for each level, and a "map" for selecting individual levels, rather than locking you into a linear campaign.
The star system always makes me roll my eyes a little as earning stars can either be a drag, or a compelling incentive to replay levels. In Dreamcage Escape, the star system is tied to finding three coins that are hidden within each level. The game says that you have to collect certain amounts to unlock later levels, but this only comes into play with the final level that won't unlock unless you've found a minimum number of coins and earned their associated stars.
It's all good in theory, especially as you're scouring each scene for hidden objects to combine and use to solve puzzles, but the coins have little to do with the rest of the game. They're often hidden in locations that have no relation to other puzzles, and they have no utility in the game beyond earning the stars associated with them.
I played Dreamcage Escape on PC, which I assume is why these elements stand out like dog's balls to me. While other games have a use for everything you can interact with, the coins in these scenes are a contrived method of forcing you to replay levels to unlock later ones. It's unnecessary and detracts from the good parts that are actually enjoyable.
Most of the puzzles are straight forward with only a light challenge involved in solving them, which I appreciate. I found myself working through each fairly consistently, only getting stumped every now and then because I'd missed a small clue somewhere in the level. I love seeing how different games present the same puzzles in different ways, and Dreamcage Escape is no exception. A lot of the puzzles are recognisable, but presented in a way that's fun to figure out.
One of my favourite levels has you looking at photographs to find reflections of door combinations in mirrors. It's not hard to figure out, but once you discover the method, executing the process and succeeding is satisfying and keeps you moving forward.
However, none of that is all that interesting to me because I was sold on the game by its beautiful screenshots that feature some fantastic art and creative world design.
While some levels can be a bit boring and unimaginative, most of the game sticks to the creative and illustrative art that frames each level. The style is a bit of fantastical realism, with understandable environments draped in saturated palettes and contrast. I really like the art in Dreamcage Escape, as it's probably the strongest part of the experience in my opinion. Thus, it's a little bit of a disappointment that some levels lack the polish of some others.
It reminds me of my illustration classes when we were told that the trick is to tell a story through our art. I was in the habit of drawing little speech bubbles above characters and writing short lines to express their story. Thankfully though, I eventually learned the value in conveying the story of a scene without relying on awkward speech bubbles and text.
This is why when I played Dreamcage Escape, I felt a little deflated in some scenes. Occasionally there are pages with notes and journals to read, which is fine in a game, but didn't really add a lot to the experience. In other scenes, there wasn't really anything interesting going on, so I ended up asking myself if it really needed to be there. I guess it's the definition of whether something is "killer" or "filler", and unfortunately there's a bit of filler found here every now and then.
Despite these shortcomings, I enjoyed my time with Dreamcage Escape. It's important to remember that it's a free game on mobile (with in-app purchases apparently, but I haven't looked at the mobile version) and it's only a couple of bucks on Steam. This is one of those rare cases where the price does come into the equation of assessing the game, as its flaws are certainly forgivable when considering the low cost of entry.
Is it the coolest art driven puzzle/hidden object game available? No, but it's a pretty nice way to spend a couple of dollars and see what someone's created. There are parts of brilliance in the art and puzzle interpretations, but overall it averages out to an enjoyable time.
Spending some more time on the PC port would have helped Dreamcage Escape feel more polished, and a little bit of restraint applied to the number of levels to avoid filler. Although it's interesting enough and the art is good enough, that I'll be keeping an eye out for their other games to see if they improve on this potential.