History VideoGame / DareToDream

* EmptyRoomPsych: There are some areas that seem like they should be relevant, but have no purpose. [[spoiler: One's in the second game, a statue garden with a likeness of Bouf, a character from the first game, and a sad turtle that otherwise doesn't appear and who seems to be looking at something on the ground. Seems like a place you're supposed to do something, but really just there to fill space.]]

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* ImaginaryFriend: [[spoiler: Tyler's best friend Terry is actually the benign counterpart of Christian, the games' BigBad]]

** Also, getting past Bonehead and Cementhead in the second game. It's not enough to destroy the roadblock they made, the player has to find some way to deal with Bonehead and Cementhead individually, since they "won't let you" pass. Even though they don't seem like they can move, and wouldn't have any way of stopping somebody with legs from just running past them. More than that, the ways you're supposed to deal with them are totally random. [[spoiler: You're supposed to dump a bucket of snot on top of Bonehead, and make Cementhead drink beer you automatically put a magic bean into. Not only that, you have to think to wait for him to open his mouth during his animation cycle for it to work.]]
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: The key can be used to open portals into the user's mind, [[spoiler: and can also destroy people, or at least mental beings, if asked to.]]

* ScarySkeleton: Some are encountered in the hell of the last game, like Enthius the snake [[spoiler: and Christian himself]]. Fortunately some, like the villain's pet dragon, are skeletons, but stay dead.

* ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes: Sometimes dark doorways show the eyes of someone looking back at Tyler, even if there's absolutely no-one there when he goes through.

* PlotTriggeringDeath: The shock of Tyler's father dying creates a growing darkness inside him, which results in the journey into his own mind to confront it.

* BlandNameProduct: "Spud Lite"

* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind

This AdventureGame takes the player inside the mind of the 10-year-old main character, Tyler Norris, whose inability to cope with the recent death of his father has brought something evil to life in the depths of his troubled psyche. Through the powers of a magic key, Tyler transports himself into the world of his dreams, to confront his dark side before it destroys him.

* FunetikAccent: The Bloody Stump is written as if he has a Scottish accent. Which is...unexpected, to say the least, for a talking tree in the depths of Hell.

* LightDarknessJuxtaposition: The second and third games. The second one takes place in Tyler's happy thoughts, where everything's bright and colorful, downright cartoony. It segues into the third game which takes place in his personal hell, where everything he hates and fears lives. It's full of blood, monsters and dead bodies.

** Also, getting past Bonehead and Cementhead in the second game. It's not enough to destroy the roadblock they made, the player has to find some way to deal with Bonehead and Cementhead individually, since they "won't let you" pass. Even though they don't seem like they can move, and wouldn't have any way of stopping somebody with legs from just running past them.

* GuideDangIt / SolveTheSoupCans: Being that the game takes place in the imagination of a young child, it's to be expected that a lot of puzzle solutions sound weird/arbitrary.
** Using a fish to open a locked door is certainly not obvious. [[LampshadeHanging How absurd!]]
** Also, getting past Bonehead and Cementhead in the second game. It's not enough to destroy the roadblock they made, the player has to find some way to deal with Bonehead and Cementhead individually, since they "won't let you" pass. Even though they don't seem like they can move, and wouldn't have any way of stopping somebody with legs from just running past them.

* IncredibleShrinkingMan: Several puzzles in the second game involving using pills from a prescription bottle to shrink, allowing access to new areas.

** Assorted adverts for ''Jill Of The Jungle,'' ''Zone 66,'' ''Palace of Deceit: Dragon's Plight'', and other games from "number uno shareware game company" Epic Megagames.

* A Darkened Room

* In a Darkened Room

* ColdFlame: The third game has a pillar of blue fire that actually freezes water you hold close to it.

* EmptyRoomPsych: There are some areas that seem like they should be relevant, but have no purpose. [[spoiler: One's in the second game, a statue garden with a likeness of Bouf, a character from the first game, and a sad turtle that otherwise doesn't appear. Seems like a place you're supposed to do something, but really just there to fill space.]]