History VideoGame / TheSandman2014

* GeniusDitz: The Sandman is reportedly smart enough to study the human world and invent his own language, and yet he doesn't know or forgets that [[spoiler:fairy food is poisonous to humans]].

* BonusBoss: [[spoiler:Sophie herself, in the bonus scenario. She's significantly faster than the Sandman, and only has to get him down to 10 HP, while he has to get her down to zero. You're actually expected to lose to her, and it nets you the good ending for the bonus scenario, but you need to beat her if you want to see all the endings, and it's not easy.]]

* EvilCostumeSwitch: [[spoiler:Sophie, upon becoming the Queen of the Night, is seen wearing a [[EvilIsSexy rather flattering black dress]].]]

* TrueFinalBoss: The bonus scenario ends in a fight against [[spoiler:[[TheProtagonist Sophie]] herself]].

* ThePrankster: [[spoiler:The Unicorn]] is such a gadfly that nobody likes them.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: The Unicorn may be a {{Jerkass}}, but [[spoiler:when he learns Sophie made the jewel from her own soul, he urges her to take it back with her]].

Those interested can pick up the game on vgperson's page [[http://vgperson.com/games/sandman.htm over here]]. Please note when it comes to usage of footage from the game, Uri has said videos are allowed, livestreams are allowed, Website/YouTube monetization is allowed, but any other means of profiting off the game are not.

* AlphaBitch: Regan, who spends her time bullying Sophie, as well as coming from an affluent (if disfunctional) family.

* BackstabbingTheAlphaBitch: When [[spoiler:Sophie turns the tables and insults Regan's hair,]] Regan's GirlPosse laughs at her.

** The Sandman goes absolutely NUTS upon [[spoiler:realizing the Unicorn has Sophie's pink jewel.]]
** In the good ending, [[spoiler:Sophie demands that Regan never make fun of her mother's bright red hair.]]

* TheConfidant: David and Sophie's friendship is founded on the fact he listens to her, and is the only one she feels she can really talk to about her problems.
* ContinuityNod: During the Good Ending [[spoiler:David tells Shirley that he fell asleep while watching TV and now his neck hurts. She answers [[VideoGame/TheCrookedMan "No wonder your neck looks crooked."]]]]

* EmpathicShapeshifter: [[spoiler:Lullaby. Its sole purpose is to make people fall asleep by being whomever or whatever people want it to be. For Sophie, it took on the form of David and showed her images of people in her life suffering.]] After Sophie takes care of the Sandman, [[spoiler:it turns into her mother and eases her into sleep.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: The Unicorn may be a {{Jerkass}}, but [[spoiler:when he learns Sophie made the jewel from her own soul, he urges her to take it back with her.]]
* EvilCostumeSwitch: [[spoiler:Sophie, upon becoming the Queen of the Night, is seen wearing a [[EvilIsSexy rather flattering black dress.]]]]

* FailedASpotCheck: While at the Blumberg Mall, Sophie can [[spoiler:sneak right behind the commander and his guards to cut Regan loose.]]

* GenreShift: The first part of the game plays like a horror mystery very similar to ''The Crooked Man'', but after [[spoiler:Sophie enters the Sandman's world, the horror/mystery elements are drastically toned down and the tone becomes more reminiscent of an ''Alice in Wonderland''-like story with the seemingly terrifying villain turning out to be not so villainous after all.]]

* HeroicBSOD: Sophie goes into one after [[spoiler:failing to rescue her father.]]

* HighPressureEmotion: The Sandman has this a couple of times. The first one happened when [[spoiler:people continued waking up, thus making him think about making the eternal sleep powder.]] The second time after Sophie [[spoiler:gave her pink jewel to the Unicorn. He ran after the Unicorn and demanded that he give it back.]]

* LoopholeAbuse: Exploited by [[spoiler:Lullaby.]] While they can't directly defy their creator, they were assigned to [[spoiler:make Sophie's wishes come true.]] Therefore, they can use that to their advantage.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: [[spoiler:Apparently, in the bonus chapter, once Sophie puts him to sleep, he develops feelings for Sophie. Obviously, he's unaware that she's a girl in high school and he's a fairy that's centuries old.]]

* MultipleEndings: There are four, based on two decisions Sophie makes: whether she [[spoiler:takes the pink jewel or lets Unicorn keep it]], and how she chooses to handle [[spoiler:the Sandman.]]
** If Sophie [[spoiler:lets Unicorn keep the jewel]] and [[spoiler:accidentally kills the Sandman]], she gets [[spoiler:Bad End 1: Queen of the Night. Though guilt-ridden by her AccidentalMurder, Sophie decides it was ''his'' fault for making everyone fall asleep forever. Remaining in the fairy realm, she [[FaceHeelTurn becomes the Queen of the Night, gleefully watching the eternally slumbering world.]]]]
** If she [[spoiler:takes the jewel]] and [[spoiler:kills the Sandman]], she obtains [[spoiler:Bad End 2: Sleep With One Eye Open. Upon returning home, she discovers that killing the Sandman didn't fix anything: time's still frozen, and she's the only one left awake in this eternally slumbering world. Paranoia keeps her from being able to sleep herself, jumping at shadows and bumps in the night like a frightened child.]]
** If she chooses to [[spoiler:take the jewel and puts the Sandman to sleep]], she gets [[spoiler:Bad End 3: Invisible Sweet Heart. Rather than return to her miserable life, Sophie gives up her humanity so she can stay in the fairies' world, becoming a Glimmer.]]
** Finally, if Sophie decides to [[spoiler:let Unicorn keep the jewel and puts the Sandman to sleep,]] she earns [[spoiler:Happy End: Don't Stay Up Late at Night. After falling asleep, she wakes up at the same time as everyone else and starts standing up for herself, even when it gets her into trouble. Facing her problems head-on causes some problems, but she winds up much happier than she was before, and even befriends David's fiancee, Shirley.]]

** If you [[spoiler:beat Sophie,]] you get [[spoiler:Bad End 4: See You In Bad Dream. After struggling in vain to stay awake, Sophie falls into an endless nightmare. The guilt brings the Sandman himself to tears...]]
** If you [[spoiler:lose instead,]] you earn [[spoiler:the good ending: Welcome Back, Insomnia! After getting some rest and seeing Sophie enjoying her life again, the Sandman remembers why he worked so hard in the first place. ...On top of that, he's got a crush. On Sophie.]]

** In the first bad ending, [[spoiler:Sophie accidentally kills the Sandman and breaks down upon realizing it.]]
** In the last bad ending, [[spoiler:the Sandman successfully puts Sophie to sleep, only to accidentally trap her in an endless nightmare.]] They don't take it well.

** Why is Sophie such a StepfordSmiler? Because [[spoiler:after her father collapsed from overwork, her aunt told her he'd get better if she behaved. So she bottles everything up and tries to deal with her problems all by herself rather than confront the issues head-on, not wanting to burden anyone with her problems.]]
** Also, [[spoiler:Sophie will die if she eats the food the Sandman offers her or gives Unicorn the 'pink' jewel that's actually a painted clear jewel. If you play through the bonus chapter where you see the story's events from the Sandman's perspective, you'll learn that the Sandman just wanted to give Sophie a nice meal and honestly had no idea that fairy food was poisonous to humans. He also painted the clear jewel pink to help Sophie with Unicorn's demand, not thinking that Unicorn would be clever enough to notice the difference.]]
* NoSympathy: One sign that you're en route to a bad ending is if [[spoiler:Sophie reacts poorly to the Sandman's diary.]]

* NotQuiteTheRightThing: Given what [[spoiler:Unicorn]] says after you give them [[spoiler:the pink jewel,]] it's pretty clearly important. However, if Sophie [[spoiler:takes back the jewel,]] you're locked into a bad ending no matter what.

* PoorCommunicationKills: A lot of problems would be resolved much quicker if [[spoiler:Sophie could understand what the Sandman was saying. The Sand Man's scenario reveals he can't understand her, either. Once he brushes up on his language skills, her dialogue in the climax is readable.]]

** In one ending, Sophie [[spoiler:unleashes a series of these, having decided she's no longer going to passively put up with everything anymore.]]

* RipVanWinkle: At both good endings of the game [[spoiler:the Sandman awakens and he takes Sophie home before time starts running again. While everything was still the same, it's heavily implied that everyone slept for ''a couple of centuries''.]]

** Sophie has a brief encounter with [[spoiler:the Boogieman,]] who will appear in the next game in the ''Strange Men Series''.

*** One of the bad endings is named "Sleep with one eye open"
*** Sophie is reminded to say her prayers before sleeping. [[spoiler: Lullaby takes the form of her mother and reminds her again in the True ending.]]

* SlasherSmile: Seen on [[spoiler:the shadow girls, as their only discernable feature.]]

* StealthBasedMission: One appears in [[spoiler:the Blumberg Mall]] when Sophie has to get past the [[spoiler:soldiers to cut Regan loose.]]

* TimedMission: At Loren, Sophie has just three minutes to [[spoiler:find Anne before she's killed by the shadow girls.]]
* TheToothHurts: [[spoiler:Poor Sophie]] loses a tooth from being [[spoiler:blown through the doors and out of a building.]]
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. Flashbacks show that even back in kindergarten, [[spoiler:little Sophie]] looked down on 'crybabies', even when they were upset over [[spoiler:their parents constantly fighting.]] This attitude contributed to later issues.
* TrueFinalBoss: The bonus scenario ends in a fight against [[spoiler:[[TheProtagonist Sophie]] herself.]]

* UsedToBeASweetKid: Having to deal with [[spoiler:her abusive father always tormenting her and her mother]] really took its toll on [[spoiler:Regan.]]

* YouBastard: Beating the TrueFinalBoss will ''not'' feel satisfying, as [[spoiler:you've just defeated tormented protagonist Sophie; she's last shown ''crying'' ''herself'' ''to'' ''sleep.'' [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone The Sandman then does the same.]]]]

* AlienLunch: [[spoiler: The food made by the sandman is pretty disgusting by the description: red soup with what appears eyeballs and a metallic scent, large, stripped catterpillars, meat with little white worms crawling on it... and it's poisonous to humans to boot! However, among fairies, the Sandman's cooking is considered a delicacy]].
* AlphaBitch: Regan, who spends her time bullying Sophie, as well as coming from an afluent (if disfunctional) family.
* AnotherSideAnotherStory: [[spoiler:The bonus chapter follows the Sand Man. This explains why he did certain things and why he chased after Sophie.]]
* BackstabbingTheAlphaBitch: When [[spoiler:Sophie turns the tables and insults Regan's hair]], Regan's GirlPosse laughs at her.

* BerserkButton: The Sand Man goes absolutely NUTS upon [[spoiler:realizing the Unicorn has Sophie's pink jewel]].

* BonusBoss: [[spoiler: Sophie herself, in the bonus scenario. She's significantly faster than the Sandman, and only has to get him down to 10 HP, while he has to get her down to zero. You're actually expected to lose to her, and it nets you the good ending for the bonus scenario, but you need to beat her if you want to see all the endings, and it's not easy.]]
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: [[spoiler: The fight with Sophie in the bonus scenario. She can pull out bursts of extra speed that the Sandman can't match near-constantly -- making just staying out of her reach at all difficult, let alone hitting her without her retaliating immediately or swiping at you as you try to get back around her -- and wins when she gets you to 10 HP, while you win when you get her to zero.]]

* ContinuityNod: During the Good Ending [[spoiler: David tells Shirley that he fell asleep while watching TV and now his neck hurts. She answers [[VideoGame/TheCrookedMan "No wonder your neck looks crooked"]].]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: The Unicorn may be a JerkAss, but [[spoiler: when he learns Sophie made the jewel from her own soul he urges her to take it back with her.]]
* EvilCostumeSwitch: [[spoiler: Sophie, upon becoming the Queen of the Night, is seen wearing a [[EvilIsSexy rather flattering black dress.]]]]
* EyeScream: According to a scary story, The Sand Man inflicts this on naughty children who won't sleep.
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: The 'Queen of the Night' ending, in which Sophie watches the world's eternal slumber with joy.]]
* FailedASpotCheck: While at the Blumberg Mall, Sophie can [[spoiler:sneak right behind the commander and his guards to cut Regan loose]].

* GenreShift: The first part of the game plays like a horror mystery very similar to ''The Crooked Man'', but after [[spoiler:Sophie enters the Sandman's world, the horror/mystery elements are drastically toned down and the tone becomes more reminiscent of an ''Alice in Wonderland''-like story with the seemingly terrifying villain turning out to be not so villainous after all]].
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: The shadows at the school are fairly standard, expected opponents if you're used to Uri's work or similar indie J-Horror games. The soldiers are a bit weirder, but are foreshadowed by one of the movie posters. Then, finally, you face a ''giant fire-breathing dragon''. [[spoiler: Even when Lullaby explains what was actually going on when you faced these opponents, it's not clear why Sophie's wish for her father manifested as a huge dragon.]]
* GirlPosse: Regan's two followers.

* HeroicBSOD: Sophie goes into one after [[spoiler:failing to rescue her father]].

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In the good endings, Sophie smiles and flashes a VSign at [[spoiler:the Sand Man through his telescope]].

* LoopholeAbuse: Exploited by [[spoiler:Lullaby]]. While they can't directly defy their creator, they were assigned to [[spoiler:make Sophie's wishes come true]]. Therefore, they can use that to their advantage.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: [[spoiler: Apparently, in the bonus chapter, once Sophie puts him to sleep, he develops feelings for Sophie. Obviously, he's unaware that she's a girl in high school and he's a fairy that's centuries old.]]

* MultipleEndings: There are four, based on two decisions Sophie makes: whether she [[spoiler:takes the pink jewel or lets Unicorn keep it]], and how she chooses to handle [[spoiler:the Sand Man]].
** If Sophie [[spoiler:lets Unicorn keep the jewel]] and [[spoiler:accidentally kills the Sand Man]], she gets [[spoiler:Bad End 1: Queen of the Night]]. [[spoiler:Though guilt-ridden by her AccidentalMurder, Sophie decides it was ''his'' fault for making everyone fall asleep forever. Remaining in the fairy realm, she [[FaceHeelTurn becomes the Queen of the Night, gleefully watching the eternally slumbering world.]]]]
** If she [[spoiler:takes the jewel]] and [[spoiler:kills the Sand Man]], she obtains [[spoiler:Bad End 2: Sleep With One Eye Open]]. [[spoiler:Upon returning home, she discovers that killing the Sand Man didn't fix anything: time's still frozen, and she's the only one left awake in this eternally slumbering world. Paranoia keeps her from being able to sleep herself, jumping at shadows and bumps in the night like a frightened child.]]
** If she chooses to [[spoiler:take the jewel and puts the Sand Man to sleep]], she gets [[spoiler:Bad End 3: Invisible Sweet Heart]]. [[spoiler:Rather than return to her miserable life, Sophie gives up her humanity so she can stay in the fairy's world, becoming a Glimmer.]]
** Finally, if Sophie decides to [[spoiler:let Unicorn keep the jewel and puts the Sand Man to sleep]], she earns [[spoiler:Happy End: Don't Stay Up Late at Night]]. [[spoiler:After falling asleep, she wakes up at the same time as everyone else and starts standing up for herself, even when it gets her into trouble. Facing her problems head-on causes some problems, but she winds up much happier than she was before, and even befriends David's fiancee, Shirley.]]

** If you [[spoiler:beat Sophie]], you get [[spoiler:Bad End 4: See You In Bad Dream]]. [[spoiler:After struggling in vain to stay awake, Sophie falls into an endless nightmare. The guilt brings the Sand Man himself to tears...]]
** If you [[spoiler:lose instead]], you earn [[spoiler:the good ending: Welcome Back, Insomnia!]]. [[spoiler:After getting some rest and seeing Sophie enjoying her life again, the Sand Man remembers why he worked so hard in the first place. ...On top of that, he's got a crush. On Sophie.]]

** In the first bad ending, [[spoiler:Sophie accidentally kills the Sand Man and breaks down upon realizing it.]]
** In the last bad ending, [[spoiler:the Sand Man successfully puts Sophie to sleep, only to accidentally trap her in an endless nightmare]]. They don't take it well.
** [[spoiler:When Dwarf has a chat with the Sandman in the bonus scenario, Sandman is horrified that he could have accidentally killed Sophie with the food he offered her. He didn’t understand at first since he forgot fairy food is poisonous to humans.]]
* NeverMyFault: [[spoiler:Sophie decides this in the [[FaceHeelTurn 'Queen of the Night' ending,]] blaming everyone else for all her problems.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Why is Sophie such a StepfordSmiler? Because [[spoiler:after her father collapsed from overwork, her aunt told her he'd get better if she behaved. So she bottles everything up and tries to deal with her problems all by herself rather than confront the issues head-on, not wanting to burden anyone with her problems]].

* NoSympathy: One sign that you're on route to a bad ending is if [[spoiler:Sophie reacts poorly to the Sand Man's diary]].
* NotEvilJustMisunderstood: [[spoiler:The Sand Man just wants to be able to sleep himself. Since Sophie couldn’t understand the Sandman’s speech, she had no idea he was friendly and thought he was helping her with her insomnia.]]
* NotQuiteTheRightThing: Given what [[spoiler:Unicorn]] says after you give them [[spoiler:the pink jewel]], it's pretty clearly important. However, if Sophie [[spoiler:takes back the jewel]], you're locked into a bad ending no matter what.
* NowWhereWasIGoingAgain: In [[spoiler:the Sand Man's scenario]], the player can consult some in-game notes to figure out what their next move is.

* PoorCommunicationKills: A lot of problems would be resolved much quicker if [[spoiler:Sophie could understand what the Sand Man was saying]]. [[spoiler:The Sand Man's scenario reveals he can't understand her, either. Once he brushes up on his language skills, her dialogue in the climax is readable.]]

** In one ending, Sophie [[spoiler:unleashes a series of these, having decided she's no longer going to passively put up with everything anymore]].

* RipVanWinkle: At both good endings of the game [[spoiler: the Sandman awakens and he takes Sophie home before time starts running again. While everything was still the same, it's heavily implied that everyone slept for ''a couple of centuries''.]]

** Sophie has a brief encounter with [[spoiler:the Boogieman]], who will appear in the next game in the ''Strange Men Series''.
** After beating [[spoiler:the Sand Man's chapter]], the player can access teaser trailers for two other projects.
* ShrinkingViolet: Anne Flanagan.

*** In the city, Sophie dreams of war (the soldiers in the mall), dreams of liars (the spirits in the school) and dreams of dragon's fire (the dragon in the office building)

* SlasherSmile: Seen on [[spoiler:the shadow girls, as their only discernable feature]].
* SpeakingSimlish: The Sand Man makes strange, indescipherable babbling noises. [[spoiler:In his scenario, Sophie has a higher-pitched voice.]]
* StealthBasedMission: One appears in [[spoiler:the Blumberg Mall]].

* TimedMission: At Loren, Sophie has just three minutes to [[spoiler:find Anne before she's killed by the shadow girls]].
* TheToothHurts: [[spoiler:Poor Sophie]] loses a tooth from being [[spoiler:blown through the doors and out of a building]].
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]: Flashbacks show that even back in kindergarden, [[spoiler:little Sophie]] looked down on 'crybabies', even when they were upset over [[spoiler:their parents constantly fighting]]. This attitude contributed to later issues.
* TrueFinalBoss: The bonus scenario ends in a fight against [[spoiler: [[TheProtagonist Sophie]] herself.]]

* UsedToBeASweetKid: Having to deal with [[spoiler:her abusive father always tormenting her and her mother]] really took its toll on [[spoiler:Regan]].

* YouBastard: Beating the TrueFinalBoss will ''not'' feel satisfying, as [[spoiler: you've just defeated tormented protagonist Sophie; she's last shown ''crying'' ''herself'' ''to'' ''sleep.'' [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone The Sandman then does the same.]]]]

Has nothing to do with the comic book series known as ''ComicBook/TheSandman''.

!!This adventure game contains examples of:

* [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair You Gotta Have Pink Hair]]: One of Regan's GirlPosse has pastel pink hair. Which makes it seem a bit ironic when [[EstablishingCharacterMoment they're first seen]] teasing Sophie about her red hair.

* MayDecemberRomance: [[spoiler: Apparently, in the bonus chapter, once Sophie puts him to sleep, he develops feelings for Sophie. Obviously, he's unaware that she's a girl in high school and he's a fairy that's centuries old.]]

* GrewASpine: [[spoiler:Sophie's CharacterDevelopment in the best ending.]]

* NotEvilJustMisunderstood: [[spoiler:The Sand Man just wants to be able to sleep himself.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: A lot of problems would be resolved much quicker if [[spoiler:Sophie could understand what the Sand Man was saying]]. [[spoiler:The Sand Man's scenario reveals he can't understand her, either.]]

** The entire game has Shout Outs to the lyrics of [[Music/{{Metallica}} Enter the Sandman]] scattered all over:

* EarlyBirdCameo: When Sophie is hiding from the Sandman in a closet, she meets [[VideoGame/TheBoogieMan the Boogieman]].

* EarlyBirdCameo: When Sophie is hiding from the Sandman in a closet, she meets [[''VideoGame/TheBoogieMan'' the Boogieman]].

The second installment of Creator/{{Uri}}'s ''Strange Men Series'', set in the same world as ''VideoGame/TheCrookedMan'' after the game's events. The game is then followed by ''VideoGame/TheBoogieMan'' and ''VideoGame/TheHangedMan''. Uri also created ''VideoGame/{{Paranoiac}}'' and ''VideoGame/MermaidSwamp''.

Still, she quietly endures... until one night, the clock in her room suddenly stops ticking...

* ShoutOut: The entire game has Shout Outs to the lyrics of [[Music/{{Metallica}} Enter the Sandman]] scattered all over:
** In the city, Sophie dreams of war (the soldiers in the mall), dreams of liars (the spirits in the school) and dreams of dragon's fire (the dragon in the office building)
** Lullaby also asks her to take his hand before taking her to the fairy realm.
** One of the bad endings is named "Sleep with one eye open"
** Sophie is reminded to say her prayers before sleeping. [[spoiler: Lullaby takes the form of her mother and reminds her again in the True ending.]]

** In the city, Sophie dreams of war (The soldiers in the mall), dreams of liars (The spirits in the school) and dreams of dragon's fire (The dragon in the office building)

%%* AlphaBitch: Regan.

* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: [[spoiler:The Tooth Fairy]] berates Sophie for voicing her disbelief about their existence, declaring that every time somebody stops believing in [[spoiler:the tooth fairy, a fairy dies]].

Those interested can pick up the game on vgperson's page [[http://vgperson.com/games/sandman.htm over here]]. Please note when it comes to usage of footage from the game, Uri has said videos are allowed, livestreams are allowed, YouTube monetization is allowed, but any other means of profiting off the game are not.

The second installment of Creator/{{Uri}}'s ''Strange Men Series'', set in the same world as ''VideoGame/TheCrookedMan''. Uri also created ''VideoGame/{{Paranoiac}}'' and ''VideoGame/MermaidSwamp''.