Dreamcore
Critic Reviews for Dreamcore
Dreamcore captures the ethos of liminal spaces, using the Backrooms phenomenon as its springboard. Though certainly not a "chill" venture, the eerie vibes it produces are effective despite having only two levels available at launch.
Dreamcore isn’t a game that’s meant to scare you outright—it’s a game that lingers in your mind long after you turn it off. With its masterful use of liminal spaces, ambient sound design, and non-linear exploration, it creates an existential horror experience unlike anything else. However, its lack of structure, slow pacing, and aimless wandering may not appeal to everyone. Players looking for traditional horror elements might find it lacking, while those who love surreal, psychological horror will appreciate its unsettling beauty. If you’re the kind of player who finds the thought of wandering an endless, empty pool complex or a silent, uninhabited suburb unnerving, Dreamcore is absolutely worth experiencing. But if you need clear objectives, structured gameplay, or tangible threats, you might find yourself lost in its dreamlike void—literally.
Dreamcore is a very unique and memorable game, but I can’t say that it resonated with me personally. An interesting experience that I can imagine will connect with some folks, but in the long-term,, it feels it needs a little more going on to truly capture the imagination and unlock the true level of horror and discomfort that can be taken from this quite exciting sub-genre.
Dreamcore captures the imagination and serves as a nice proof of concept for what liminal space horror could look like in modern game engines. Sadly, it currently doesn’t feel much more than a pitch, and worst yet, one that outlasts its welcome. Eternal Suburbia is the stronger of the two current maps available in Dreamcore, and the developers promise that three more will be released in the coming years. The game is thus only two-fifths complete. I look forward to visiting the spaces the team creates; I'd just like them to scare me beyond the idea of getting stuck in an endless loop.
Dreamcore nails most of its goals. It’s an audiovisually captivating journey through liminal spaces, a dream-like experience that masters the concept like few other videogames before. Personally, I absolutely can not wait to play the upcoming levels, because Dreamcore is already an amazing and unique ride. This is one dream I won’t immediately forget.
Dreamcore may not be the longest game, nor one full of features, but what it aims to do, it does incredibly well. Spend your time walking through seemingly never-ending mazes of desperate environments you never feel safe in, and do your best to escape. And then play the level again.
Dreamcore is one of the best, most unique gaming experiences in this still early year. The unneasyness and creepyness relies on atmosphere instead of cheap and predictable scares. While you do know that nothing will jump up out of nowhere, your mind still thinks something is coming. But as you’d expect, it’s very light on gameplay, this is all about the overall experience and it does feel cheap to have only two levels out of the box. If you’re looking for something different than the typical horror games, Dreamcore is absolute must play.
