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Video Game: Dare To Dream

Developed for Windows 3.1 running with 16 colours, and written in Visual Basic 1.0, Dare To Dream was one of Epic Megagames' first games released for Windows.

The three episodes of this Adventure Game take the player inside the mind of the 10-year-old main character, Tyler Norris, who is being hunted by a literal demon of his troubled psyche.

Of course, this results in a rather surreal style for the game as a whole (well, as surreal as you can get with a fixed 16-colour palette) and many of the puzzles are counter-intuitive. On the up side, there's no way to die or make the game Unwinnable. Forget an item? Just go back and get it.

If you're running version 5.2 or later of Windows, you won't be able to run it due to Microsoft removing support for 16-bit software. The good news is that for those running the more recent versions of Windows (or Linux, Mac OS, etc.) is that the game works just great under Windows 3.1 running under DOSBox.

This game contains examples of:

Battle in the Center of the Mind
Bland Name Product: "Spud Lite"
Catapult Nightmare: At the end of Part 1.
Cerebus Syndrome: The game takes on a distinctly darker tone in Part 3. In fact, the final instalment takes place in spooky forests and cemeteries full of bones and blood. The earlier goofiness is quite forgotten.
Getting Crap Past the Radar: Clicking on the traffic pylons found in the street gives this description: "These cones are -nothing- compared to the ones in the window..."
Guide Dang It / Solve the Soup Cans: Using a fish to open a locked door is certainly not obvious.
- How absurd!
Imaginary Friend: Tyler's best friend Terry is actually the benign counterpart of Christian, the games' Big Bad
Let's Play: This one (by Resulka, LateBlt, and hercrabbiness)
Product Placement: Assorted adverts for Jill Of The Jungle, Zone 66, and other games from "number uno shareware game company" Epic Megagames.
Unwinnable: Completely averted. You can't even die, either.