Sick Dreams Demo

Mental illness is a pretty big issue nowadays, especially since people are exposed to a lot more stressful environments that can affect their ability to think straight. Naturally, childhood experiences have a tremendous contribution to an individual’s development, and there are many other factors as well. Thankfully, at least we are constantly finding new ways to control, treat and even cure some of these illnesses.

Sick Dreams is a pretty interesting concept that features a few unique elements when it comes to story and gameplay, yet it shouldn’t be difficult at all to understand how it works and what it tries to tell you. In essence, the game focuses on things like anxiety and depression, although many other mental illnesses are presented and depicted in one form or another.

Most of the ideas are presented in a symbolic way, however, since you are supposed to have fun shooting things most of the time. Thus, you play the role of a boy who’s describing his dreams and the kind of feelings he’s having on a regular basis, which hints toward some kind of medical condition. The actual gameplay is all about shooting demons using your disembodied jackal head, which is quite cool.

Although it may not directly show many of the things you stumble upon along the way, the game can be pretty dark sometimes, so you should be prepared to deal with it if you are suffering from anxiety or depression. Granted, you should be empowered by the fact that you are destroying demons and fighting against the illness, but it may also awaken a few nasty feelings as well.

When it comes to the graphics, the game is not exactly a looker, at least not in most regards. While the enemies and the special effects are pretty nice, the backgrounds are a tad too dull most of the time, which might cause you to feel like the experience is a bit too repetitive. Granted, the action is continuously evolving, but it may not appear that way.

In the end, Sick Dreams is a laudable effort, in spite of its current flaws when it comes to the gameplay mechanics and the visual aspect. Thus, the final game could really help people in one way or another, so you can show your support by backing the project on Kickstarter.