
I never have the flying dream. So many people I know do, and I envy them. They say it's exciting. Liberating. Exhilarating. Personally, I think I'd be scared to death, hurtling in the sky like that. Maybe that's why I keep having dreams where I'm falling. Am I an inveterate pessimist? Or just a realist?
Des Rêves Élastiques Avec Mille Insectes Nommés Georges (Elastic Dreams With A Thousand Insects Named George, DREAMING) is a 2008 Point-and-Click Adventure Art Game, created by Dietrich Squinkifer aka Squinky (formerly Deirdra Kiai Productions) with the Wintermute Engine.— The game's introduction
The game aims to replicate the experience of dreaming, and consists of a number of rooms that the main character (Dietrich Squinkifer) walks through, meeting various strange characters and communicating with them. The rooms are created by different artists in different art styles, and they go in random order that is different each time you launch the game.
The game can be downloaded here
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See also other games by Squinky: Dominique Pamplemousse, Cubert Badbone, P.I., The Game That Takes Place on a Cruise Ship, Chivalry Is Not Dead, and Life Flashes By.
The game provides examples of:
- The Cameo: One of the rooms in the dream is the Rainbow Motel from Dirty Split, and Squinkifer gets to meet José aka Chee Chee, the Camp Gay receptionist.
- Darker and Edgier: Compared to some of Squinky's more upbeat titles like The Game That Takes Place on a Cruise Ship and Chivalry Is Not Dead, DREAMING has a more somber and existential mood.
- Never Trust a Title: There isn't a single insect named George in the game.
- Rhymes on a Dime: In one of the rooms, there's a man who only talks in rhyme. You can either reply to him in rhyme or refuse to play his "game" and leave the room.
- Self-Deprecation:
- In one room, there are two characters discussing Art Games and agreeing that they're pretentious nonsense. Guess what DREAMING is?
- Another room is a classroom, in which a teacher (that looks like a flamingo) scolds the main character about their school essay, which lacks a coherent plot structure, and is "a mishmash of meandering conversations". Again, this perfectly describes the game itself.
