Dream Investigator
A downloadable game
In brief:
- PREPARE YOUR MIND
- ALLOW YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS TO FILL BLANKS
- USE WORDS TO FILL DREAMS
- READ YOUR DREAMS ALOUD
- LISTEN, AND PONDER
Dream Investigator is a reflective, Lynchian journaling game, generally played by a single person over several sessions.
It creates space for the player to let go of the real world and all its judgements, expectations, and pressures, and instead dip their toes into the introspective depth and freedom of dreams.
This experience combines free-association and short, in-the-moment responses to fill the outline of a pre-written dreamy situation.
Think a weirder, introspective Mad Libs.
You will read, record, and listen back to this creation as a tool for reflection (and perhaps dread, laughter, or sadness).
Follow your intuition and curiosity, and reject any inclination to “do things the right way.” There is no correct outcome to these Investigations.
Together, we will discover what was interesting, hilariously weird, prescient, provocative, and/or disharmonious afterwards.
The goal is to take whatever you created, and make something out of it.
Inspired by the Dreamer himself.
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Both the Game and the Cypher files are required to play, while the Word Association Assets is an optional tool.
No AI was used in the creation of this game.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Community Copy
Support this game at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Community Copies
It's a fun game, and I think more people should be able to play it even if they can't afford it. Enjoy - and tell a friend (and me) if you liked it!
8.27.25 UPDATE: Added new community copies to celebrate our amazing collaboration with the folks at Tales Yet Told! Check out the expansion to this game and an actual play of the files here: /itch/lurzblurbz/filesfromthesublime
Comments
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Hello! Would it be possible to get more community copies? Thank you!
Whew. 11/10, I needed this.
What a beautifully Lynchian game you've created. I love the atmosphere of it; there's a feeling of eerie, preternatural urgency, mixed with deep kindness, on every page. I'm very impressed by the baked-in safety tools and game breaks. I think more rpgs should have these strewn throughout, using in-universe tone and vocabulary, as you've done here.
The investigation files themselves are just beautifully constructed. As I completed each one, I felt as if I'd been on an important archaeological dig in my subconscious; most notably, the last two files felt like an emotional magic trick.
Thank you for an incredible experience. These investigations have shown me a generous handful of strange and lovely things, and left me just a little bit changed. I'd never have imagined that a madlib-style game could do something like that.
It's been a privilege to investigate with The Bureau. May auspiciousness be seen everywhere; may suffering belong to no one.
First review in a bit(ever lmao) but I just wanna highly recommend this game, I think the prep time required to get into the beginning sequences is absolutely worth it, and the writing style really helped me roleplay with myself more effectively (I loved the blacked out text and fought myself in trying to search it every time, the joys of playing games digitally)
that being said, this is definately much more immersive as a physical game that you scrawl into with your grubby hands (and I'm assuming that the file layout supports that conclusion) but as someone without a printer, I appreciated the thoughtfulness that came along with the extra assets and the writing style options. Things like that go a long way to make a player feel held, and the end of it truly had me feeling like I was waking up from a version of dreams that I've had many, many times. This is great tool for making super surreal monologues if you're also just a writer looking to practice with your word association : )
Hi there! Author here - what an incredible gift you've given me with this review. It found me in a day/week/month/year that needed it. It's so gratifying to hear you enjoyed your experience with the game and all it's weird little bits and bobs, and that you came away feeling like you'd gone to that dark imaginary place of dreams. I very, very appreciate you sharing.