History VideoGame / TheDreamhold

* SchmuckBait: The pit in which the player is allowed to descend is repeatedly stated to be dangerous, with sides and are [[spoiler: usually]] either very hot or very wet or very slick. Indeed, if you descend until the walls are nearly vertical, you will die, with the narrator saying "we're both at fault here." [[spoiler: However, an optional item to get the second ending requires you to brave it.]]

* DifficultySpike: The post-game puzzles are much harder than the previous ones you encounter. And hidden well enough you may not know they exist without a guide.

* BlackoutBasement: Everything north of the Natural Passageway is too dark without a torch.

* DreamLand: Well, it ''is'' named the ''Dreamhold... it is plausible that the entire game sans flashbacks take place within a series of interconnected worlds.

* SchmuckBait: The pit in which the player is allowed to descend is repeatedly stated to be dangerous, with sides and are [[spoiler: usually]] either very hot or very wet or very slick. Indeed, if you descend until the walls are nearly vertical, you will die, wit the narrator saying "we're both at fault here." [[spoiler: However, an optional item to get the second ending requires you to brave it.]]

Don't let this fool you into thinking that this is a short or simple game, however, especially since it won awards for Best Puzzles and Use of Medium in the 2004 XYZZY competition. While ''The Dreamhold'' does rely on the overused "YouWakeUpInARoom with [[EasyAmnesia no memory of who you are]]" IF plot, [[TropesAreNotBad it makes full use of that plot]]. The rooms you need to explore are genuinely fascinating and [[SceneryPorn lush with detail]], the puzzles are clever without being too hard for each difficulty level, and the JigsawPuzzlePlot is effective enough to keep your attention and [[MindScrew leave you with questions]] after the ending has rolled by. Plus, if "normal mode" is too easy for you, you can switch the game to "expert mode" to make the puzzles more challenging.

* EndlessCorridor: A spell has been placed on one hallway to go on forever unless the right dispell is known. The stairs in the dim shed are [[AbsurdlyLongStairway a different example]], as there are far more stairs when going up when going down, but they do eventually end.

* DifficultySpike: The post-game puzzles are much harder than the previous ones you encounter. Fairly justified as they're meant for more experienced players.

* EmptyRoomPsych: A few rooms serve no real purpose, despite being packed with [[RedHerring many intriguing things to see]]. (No, there's no way to safely get the apple from the cage in the mosaic room, or play the broken harp in the harp chamber.) There are also a couple of doors that can't be opened, no matter what you do. Unlike many examples in the genre, this is done intentionally, and [[TropesAreNotBad only adds to the mystery of the game.]]

* FeaturelessProtagonist: A rare [[JustifiedTrope justified example]], [[spoiler:as you have to gather your memories before you can recall what you look like. This is averted after that point.]]

* GottaCatchEmAll: The masks. [[spoiler:Alchemy materials also.]]

* AnIcePerson: The white berries can be used to freeze things.

* NintendoHard: The Tutorial Mode, and in general the first half of the game are very easy by IF standards. The post-game sequences return the genre to its routes, with very tricky platforming, hidden functions of rooms that are only teased at by paying careful attention to their descriptions, and finding the six secret objects of power to receive access to the secret endings. The rotating planet platform puzzle is particularly challenging and requires precise timing. And just in case that wasn't enough for you, there's also a Hard Mode that can be triggered at the beginning of the game, that makes the puzzles even more complicated.

''The Dreamhold'' is an InteractiveFiction game specifically designed by Andrew Plotkin to [[GatewaySeries introduce new players to the genre]] by providing a "tutorial voice" to guide them through the general mechanisms and gist of the game and making the puzzles relatively basic for people unfamiliar with IF tropes.

* AnIcePerson: Once you get the white berries.

* EndlessCorridor: A spell has been placed on one hallway to go on forever unless the right dispell is known. The stairs in the dim shed are [[AbsurdlyLongStaircase a different example]], as there are far more stairs when going up when going down, but they do eventually end.

* EndlessCorridor: A spell has been placed on one hallway to go on forever unless the right dispell is known. The stairs in the dim shed are a different example, as there are far more stairs when going up when going down, but do eventually end.

* ChekovsGun: The room you wake up in, and the hole you exit from.

* ArchMage: The Grey Wizard is strongly implied to be one of these.

* HowDoYouLikeThemApples: The mosaic room has a "single perfect red apple" in a cage. The apple has no real function and is mainly just there for the tutorial voice to explain the undo command when the PC opens the cage only to see the apple instantly become a withered husk.

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* TomatoInTheMirror: spoiler:Masks, actually. You are the Grey Wizard, and the Dreamhold is your own mental construct to provide a place to finish your work.]]

* TheLostLenore: [[Spoiler:A woman that appears to be the player's wife is briefly shown in a few memories, but appears to have died at some point.]]

* MultipleEndings: Three of them.

* SceneryPorn: The evocative and detailed prose are a contributing factor to the game's enjoyment.
* WarIsHell: One flashback implied to be taking place during some sort of war involving mages.

* CreepyChangingPainting: The paintings of birds on the walls of the mosaic room change subtly whenever you reenter the room.
* DreamLand: Well, it ''is'' named the '''Dream'''hold...
* EmptyRoomPsych: A few rooms serve no real purpose, despite being packed with [[RedHerring many intriguing things to see]]. (No, there's no way to safely get the apple from the cage in the mosaic room, or play the broken harp in the harp chamber.) There are also a couple of doors that can't be opened, no matter what you do.

* JigsawPuzzlePlot