Projected Dreams by Flawberry Studio
Memories can be fleeting. If they aren’t written down or documented, moments spent with loved ones and good times may be forgotten. Projected Dreams uses the concept of journaling past memories for its puzzle-solving.
You’re Just Projecting
Within each stage, a spotlight casts a shadow on a wall. The goal is to grab, turn, and stack objects to fill each shadow as precisely as possible.
The game mixes things up to make puzzles more challenging: two light sources to make stacking and layering more complex, for example, or giving the player the ability to clone objects or alter their size. There are enough wrenches thrown in to make the core mechanic more enjoyable, offering up some nice variation to the whole experience and keeping things from getting stale.
Although Projected Dreams is fairly simple, a three-star grading system for each stage adds a little challenge. If you want three stars, you have to make sure your shadow is perfect, with nothing outside and no visible light within the shadow’s outline.
The game can get a bit finicky here. Oftentimes, I felt what I had was perfect, but the game needed it to be more precise. This makes things more of a challenge but is frustrating sometimes since it sometimes feels like getting three stars requires one specific solution. That being said, besides those moments, Projected Dreams still allows for a couple of different solutions to its puzzles.
Shadows of the Past
On the narrative side of things, each shadow represents a moment or core memory from the protagonist’s past. Once each puzzle is completed, the full picture of that memory is revealed as a page in the protagonist’s journal. One puzzle has you fill out a shadow of a squid; once completed, it reveals a memory involving the protagonist’s father and a time when they went to the aquarium.
Ultimately, the narrative is sparse, with no traditional cutscenes or dialogue, but if you read the notes within the journal and analyze the pictures of these memories, you can see bits and pieces of larger details. It’s a nice touch and adds a little more depth to make the storyline more interesting.
Visually Projected Dreams has a soft, inviting vibe with a pastel color palette that makes the game feel like a kids’ storybook. There are plenty of nicely detailed objects to interact with, giving them so much more life. I really enjoyed the look of this game; it has a relaxing, whimsical tone that evokes childhood.
The music game is calming, with soft, cozy piano chords and ambient synth-echoed melodies, making for a relaxing, puzzle-solving vibe that does a great job of evoking that warm feeling of reminiscing on past memories.
The Verdict:
Projected Dreams is a fun little puzzle game for those looking for something different. Solving its puzzles is delightful. If you’re looking for a relaxing puzzle game, check this one out.
Projected Dreams is available via Steam.
Check out the official trailer for Projected Dreams below:
