The Dream Machine (2017)
The long-awaited sixth and final episode of the episodic The Dream Machine was released in May 2017. In this physically handcrafted game we follow a young man whose life has reached a dead end — only for him to become an unexpected hero, saving the tenants of an apartment building from their landlord. The adventure takes him into other people’s dreams, all the way to the core of a collective dream world. It has been fascinating to follow the series episode by episode; each instalment has surprised me with its distinct character.
The Swedish studio Cockroach Inc., formed by Anders Gustafsson and Erik Zaring, have said they financed the development of The Dream Machine with freelance work and donations. Other obligations surely slowed down production: seven years passed between the first episode and the completion of the game. The chosen production method is not the fastest either — this is stop-motion clay animation. The entire game world, or perhaps more accurately all seven of its worlds, was built by hand using physical materials such as cardboard, cotton wool and moss, and then hand-painted.
A new home
At the beginning of the game, the protagonist Victor Neff moves into a new apartment with his wife/girlfriend. Commitment hangs heavily in the air — Alice is pregnant. Victor is not convinced about where his life is heading. He has dreamed of becoming a rock star, and bachelor life seems difficult to leave behind. Yet on the very first day in the new apartment, strange events begin to unfold and Victor’s life derails sharply.
The building’s caretaker spies on the residents in an unusual way: he invades their dreams. He comes from a long line of dream researchers. Behind the mad-scientist façade lies a force that has escaped control, and Victor takes it upon himself to stop it. The Dream Machine has developed a consciousness of its own and is now draining the human subconscious for life force. Victor can only succeed by pulling out its roots one dreamer at a time. To his horror he realises that the victims include Alice — and their unborn child.
Interpretation and intrusion into private territory
For me, The Dream Machine is fundamentally about an identity crisis. Victor’s self-image proves to be holistically flawed in a troubling way. If the game has only one possible ending (and I assume it does), it is neither happy nor a real solution to his life situation. It raises the question of what Victor’s problem truly is. Has he been unhappy since childhood? His baseline attitude — his core emotional state — resembles that of someone lost.
Despite the heavy theme, the game contains humour and, above all, compassion. When Victor enters his neighbours’ dreams, their inner lives or defining traits are revealed to him. These moments are sympathetic, comical and surprising. Each episode touches on something deeply human and intensely private.
The nature of the animation
The visual style of The Dream Machine is simultaneously ugly and charming — rough and highly detailed at once, imperfect yet deliberate. The miniature-scale stop-motion world does not feel like 3D but rather like watching a miniature theatre stage from within its own perspective. One feels shrunk or flattened, or perhaps as if observing through a divine magnifying glass. Distances shift unexpectedly. Visually, The Dream Machine is unquestionably striking.
The music and sound design follow the visuals closely. The soundtrack is melancholic and calm — not particularly memorable, but interesting in a non-intrusive way. The sound effects, playfully caricatured, suit the visual tone.
Verdict
The six episodes (plus the additional seventh world embedded in the final one) are clearly point-and-click adventure games, yet the differences between the dream worlds and the logic of their puzzles create a varied whole. You can follow a clear arc of design evolution from episode to episode. In the final instalment I found myself frustrated by the dialogue and the sheer amount of non-interactive content.
Every part of The Dream Machine has brought me joy. As a story it may appear deceptively light-hearted, relaxed and quirky, but at its core it is serious and sad. My personal play experience lands at 81 points out of 100.
Availability
The Dream Machine is available for Windows and macOS via Steam, and also as a browser-based version for other devices. It can be purchased in episodes or as a complete bundle.