Dreamcore

I went into "Dreamcore" hoping for something atmospheric and immersive, but after a few hours I felt mostly let down. The rooms and halls are just way too big and empty. I spent so much time jogging through these oversized, plain corridors with almost nothing to look at or interact with. It got incredibly repetitive, one bland area blending into the next, and the sense of scale that should feel eerie quickly turned into plain boredom. The VHS aesthetic is a big part of the game’s identity, but it’s a mixed bag. I tried turning off the visual filter thinking it might clean things up, but then I noticed weird glitches in the reflections of off-screen space that broke the illusion. The constant tape hiss, though? You’re stuck with that. It drowns out a lot of the quieter environmental sounds that would otherwise make the spaces feel more alive and unsettling. It’s a shame because the potential for great sound design is clearly there. What bothered me most was the feeling that the game was trying to cash in on the Backrooms/Pools trend rather than offering a strong artistic vision. It leans heavily on copy-and-paste style content, familiar liminal aesthetics stretched across huge, bloated maps instead of delivering tight, memorable, or creatively distinct experiences. There’s ambition in the scale, sure, but it often feels padded. In the end, I found myself thinking back to "Pools" and wishing "Dreamcore" had followed its approach more closely. "Pools" felt more focused, relaxing in its emptiness, and better at delivering atmosphere without forcing me to wander through endless repetitive voids. "Dreamcore" has its moments and looks impressive at times, but for me it ended up as a game that promises dreamy unease and too often delivers fatigue.

This game requires a lot of patience and it really doesn't feel like there's an exit to any of these levels at first. Eventually you'll detect subtle clues that just seem "off", even with everything else being completely weird. And the controls are simple, you don't pick anything up or engage in combat, you are just LOST af. The game has a unique way of dropping surprises that are motionless and quiet, yet seem like fireworks against the backdrop of everything else. It's one of the smartest Backrooms games I've played, although it might not be for everyone. If you liked exploring Pools and Liminal City, you'll probably like Dreamcore. If you're looking for something more dangerous like Backrooms 98 or Escape the Backrooms, then probably not. I found the VHS filter unnecessary though. You can toggle it off, even though the game insists in the settings menu that you should leave it on for ambiance. That's nonsense though, the game looks better clean. Turn it off.

The ONLY thing I wish about this game is it could be VR. I know that's not easy, and I'm not waiting for it - if it happens, awesome. If not, this has been one of the most favorite gaming experiences I have ever had. Thank you so much <3

Like POOLS, this game has extremely satisfied me, anxiety-inducing gameplay without entities and jumpscares, an excellent walking simulator that genuinely entertains and intrigues you, 100% excellent experience and vibe for those who love backrooms and dreamcore in general, amazing.

This is one of the best backrooms/liminal space games I've ever played. The thing that really made me buy this game in the first place was the VHS effect that made the game look so genuinely real and just like the "found footage" style videos on YouTube. For people thinking that this is a horror game, its far from that. It is made to look like a horror game with the atmosphere of each map and the sense of unknown that it brings psychologically. There are no entities that will chase you randomly and all you have to do is walk and just explore the map. That's the main premise of the game, it is more of an aesthetically pleasing game than it is a game where you have an objective and you need to do things to achieve it. This game is really suited towards the audience that is into the entire niche of analogue horror, backrooms and liminal spaces because you can truly appreciate how vast each map is, and the different areas in it. Otherwise to the average person, it may be perceived as a very boring game where you just walk around doing nothing. So far at the time of me writing this review, I've played Dreampools, Liminal Hotel and Dead Mall and all 3 of the levels have insanely, insanely huge maps. You seriously can get yourself lost in this game which can be reminiscent of the backrooms being so infinite and vast that you just don't know where to go, what turn to make, if you have explored an area that you already have before but you don't know it. They are genuinely that massive and props to the developers for making such a huge map without making it seem like copy/paste of other areas. Each section of the map is truly unique and random, one area can have a giant room which then leads into a small hallway which somehow then leads into a completely different style of room which dosen't fit the theme of the one you were just in previously. They really outdid themselves with the map design, especially Dreampools and Liminal Hotel. It is one of those situations where you can easily get lost even when starting the level. The only thing that is a negative in this game is the walking sounds sounding almost too repetitive, like there's no difference in it no matter what floor surface you are on, the lack of background ambience in a lot of the areas and the static from the camera being a bit too loud. I wish you could have an option to just turn it off whilst keeping the VHS effect on but these issues are nowhere near enough for me to say I woudn't recommend buying the game. I'm sure they can fix/add these features in future updates. Overall, please buy this game and try it out if you are a huge fan of liminal spaces because this is by far one of the best in my opinion when it comes to the looks, the VHS effect and the size of the maps

personally i'm a big fan of this game. i think they hit the nail on the head as far as creating that lonely, dreamlike feel. i'm a very vivid dreamer and a good chunk of these spaces reminded me of dreams i've had and i love the idea of being able to wander through those "dead" spaces, so to speak. i'm not a big fan of creatures/monsters/whatever in games like these because to me that starts to feel corny, so i'm glad this game strays away from that and uses aesthetics and sound to create those dreadful feelings for you. i notice a lot of people complain about the longevity/complexity of levels like the playrooms, but i liked it. i don't want to dive into a game like this and speedrun it and be done. i want to wander and get lost and feel hopeless and confused. it fits the idea of being thrust into liminality or suddenly experiencing lucidity in a dream. when things are kind of familiar, but wrong somehow, like you're remembering a memory of a memory of a memory. i was also a fan of the new dead mall release. it was kind of repetitive visually, but in a way that worked. i do wish we could've gone into some of the stores or had a weird wonky food court or something to visit, but overall i didn't think it was bad. it had this really eerie feel where everything was so sterile and dead, yet there's this vaporwave type music playing that makes it feel even more dreadful. like you're so alone and lost and in another realm but you have just this one tether to the real world going on -- which is music. anyways, i could yap about this game for a while, but i'll end it there. i give it a 4/5 stars and look forward to how it develops in the future as i'm sure this isn't the end.

Ходилка-бродилка. Dreampools прикольный, субурбия прикольная, отель прикольный, игровая комната душная - без гайдов не пройти, торговый центр чилловый. Под диалоги Платона зашло.

The premise of the biggest liminal exploration game seems like a great idea. The look of the game is awesome and was hyped to walk around a bunch. This fell flat for me personally as things felt very intentional but just too non linear. I get the point is to explore, but it felt very much like just like I am supposed to randomly just find what the game wants me to find to move forward. I would walk into a new area and enjoy the first few minutes but either would be in a room that felt way too big or just 1000 rooms of nothing that felt like filler to slow me down. The game feels sluggish and boring at times where other games I have played similarly are a bit linear which makes it feel a bit more intentional. I genuinely want to find all the easter eggs in these games. This game I think would just take a bit more time than I have day to day.

straight dookie. POOLS is a million times better and came out first.

i love how this game shows that you can get scared by nothing, the horror of this game without monsters is such a cool thing, this game focuses on backrooms type stuff [ofc] and is prob one of the best backrooms games of all