History VideoGame / DareToDream

* DreamLand: As you might gather from the title, the entire game takes place in Terry's dreams -- the first episode literally, the last two in a much more mystical sense thanks to [[{{Macguffin}} the Key of Enigami]].

* PixelHunt: There's a pile of dust on the first screen of Episode 3 that you need to pick up. It is completely invisible and the only way you'll find it is if you happen to mouse over that spot.

%%* SewerGator: Tyler meets a friendly one who passes along a bit of helpful info. Along with some of the above ProductPlacement.

%%* SssssnakeTalk: Enthius, a skeletonized snake, still talks like this.

%%* TheTreesHaveFaces: They're cute in the second episode, and scary in the third one.

* {{Unwinnable}}: Completely averted. You can't even die, either.

* TalkingAnimal: A lot of the characters in Tyler's imagination are these, possibly tying into the game's theme of Tyler growing out of the fixtures of his childhood, like cartoons with talking animals.

* StuckInTheDoorway: Tyler has to grease some sewer gratings to be able to squeeze through in the first episode.

* SewerGator: Tyler meets a friendly one who passes along a bit of helpful info. Along with some of the above ProductPlacement.

* ProductPlacement:
** Assorted adverts for ''VideoGame/JillOfTheJungle,'' ''Zone 66,'' ''Palace of Deceit: Dragon's Plight'', and other games from "number uno shareware game company" Epic Megagames.
** A key found in the second episode has a Treasure Troll doll on the keyring, those having been really big around the time the game was made.

* PlotTriggeringDeath: The shock of Tyler's father dying causes him to repress all negative emotions, which form into an evil personality unto itself inside Tyler's mind. One he has to confront before it can destroy him.

* ParentalSubstitute: Kind of weirdly, Christian claims to be Tyler's father during their confrontation.

* 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.]]

* MoonLogicPuzzle: 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 episode. 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.]]

* LightDarknessJuxtaposition: The second and third episodes. The second one takes place in Tyler's happy thoughts, where everything's bright and colorful, with all the talking bugs and suchlike looking like they just stepped out of a Saturday morning cartoon. It segues into the third episode which takes place in his personal hell, where everything he hates and fears lives. It's full of blood, monsters and dead bodies.

* KillerTeddyBear: An evil-looking teddy bear with red eyes sits in Christian's lair. Inspecting it summons him.

* ImaginaryFriend: Tyler's best friend Terry is a figment of his imagination. [[spoiler:He's also the benign counterpart of Christian, the game's BigBad.]]

* AllThereInTheManual: Some things about the games aren't evident just from playing them. For instance, all you see of Rennis is a pair of glowing eyes through a skull's eye socket. You might never guess he's supposed to be a rat unless you had the games' official hintbook with profiles for all the characters.

* AshFace: At one point in the first game Tyler shoots a surly bartender with a shotgun, and he looks like this in the aftermath.

* BagOfSpilling: Tyler loses all his inventory at the end of the first game (that is, when he wakes up). He deliberately throws away everything except the magic key at the end of the second game.
* BatOutOfHell: There's a monster bat in the first game Tyler's afraid will attack him. He has to find some way to deal with it before he's brave enough to do anything its room.
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: The first game is a nightmare playing out, but the other two are Tyler directly entering his mental landscape to confront his darker urges.
* BeingWatched: After escaping from his dream in the first game Tyler can't get back to sleep, having "the horrible feeling of being watched".

* CatDogDichotomy: Barth and Jazz, a cat and a dog met in the second game. Arch-enemies locked in a MexicanStandoff for the duration of the game.

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

* DifficultyLevel: The first game has a choice of playing in normal mode, or an easy mode, where some of the weirder things the player has to do are already taken care of.
* DueToTheDead: Solving one puzzle in the third game involves giving a dead soldier his last rites.
* 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.]]

* GhostShip: Two of them are visible on top of a hill in the third game. They're just scenery, though.

* HypnoticEyes: The second and third games both have an obstacle where Tyler's paralyzed by a statue with hypnotic eyes he can't pass until he finds a way of neutralizing its gaze.
* ImaginaryFriend: [[spoiler:Tyler's best friend Terry is actually the benign counterpart of Christian, the games' BigBad]]
* IncredibleShrinkingMan: Getting to several locations in the second game involving using pills from a prescription bottle to shrink, allowing access to new areas.
* InnocenceLost: The intro for the third game from Tyler's psychiatrist describes this as happening in the game, where he has to confront his darkest thoughts. The ending reinforces this, saying Tyler's grown past needing the mental constructs of his issues featured in the game.

* LightDarknessJuxtaposition: The second and third games. The second one takes place in Tyler's happy thoughts, where everything's bright and colorful, with all the talking bugs and suchlike looking like they just stepped out of a Saturday morning cartoon. 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.
* TheLostWoods: The third game, appropriately set in Tyler's personal Hell, has a tree maze that's easy to get lost in, but has an important puzzle at the end.

** 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.]]

* PalatePropping: One location that needs to be visited in the second game is the inside of a tree with a face. Tyler won't do so until he finds something to wedge its mouth open, since he's afraid of it closing and trapping him inside.

** A key found in the second game has a Treasure Troll doll on the keyring, those having been really big around the time the games were made.

* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The third game's color palette is mostly red with lots of dark blues and blacks.

* 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.

* SssssnakeTalk: Enthius, a skeletonized snake, still talks like this.
* StuckInTheDoorway: Tyler has to grease some sewer gratings to be able to squeeze through in the first game.
* TalkingAnimal: A lot of the characters in Tyler's imagination are these, possibly tying into the games' theme of Tyler growing out of the fixtures of his childhood, like cartoons with talking animals.
* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight: The final visual of the first game is a pair of glowing monster eyes under Tyler's bed.

* TheTreesHaveFaces: They're cute in the second game, and scary in the third one.

* HeWhoMustNotBeNamed: A lot of the characters in Tyler's dream know about the BigBad, but make a point not to directly mention his name.

* HornsOfVillainy: Christian has a pair.

* GratuitousPrincess: Lissa, a girl who lives in a cardboard castle in the happy party of Tyler's imagination. She seemingly sees Tyler as a KnightInShiningArmour who'll slay the "dragon", his evil split personality.

* FourthWallObserver: A lot of the characters Tyler meets in his journeys will observe in dialogue the fact that they're just characters in some kid's dream. They don't really seem to mind, except for how bad it'll be if Christian gets loose.

* CerebusSyndrome: 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.

* LetsPlay: [[https://www.youtube.com/user/Resulka#g/c/F6B056A40B86A16F This one]] (by Resulka, [=LateBlt=], and hercrabbiness)

* ConcealingCanvas: Well, concealing ''mirror''...

Developed for Windows 3.1 running with 16 colours, and written in Visual Basic 1.0, Dare To Dream was one of Creator/EpicMegagames' first games released for Windows, divided into three episodes. They were:

If you're running 64-bit versions of Windows [[note]]this is most likely true if you bought your PC preinstalled with Windows 8 or later, although certain [=PCs=] from the Windows 7 era also came preinstalled with 64-bit Windows 7. 64-bit Vista and XP, however, are extremely rare and usually only appears on built-to-order systems where the owner specifically requested for said OS[[/note]], 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 ''UsefulNotes/{{DOSBox}}''. Other alternatives include virtualizing a Windows 95 PC inside a compatible emulator like [=VirtualBox=], [=VMWare=] or [=VirtualPC =]if your PC is beefy enough.