The Dream Machine is a miraculously great point & click adventure game in the style of classics in the genre, like Grim Fandango and the Monkey Island series. Where The Dream Machine differs is in its delivery. It is an extraordinarily beautiful game, the result of ten years of hard work and graft from just two developers. In an attempt to keep this review brief (so that I might move on to review the other chapters elsewhere), I will simply state the strengths of the game as a whole before quickly reviewing chapters 1 & 2.

The Dream Machine deals with a lot of subject matter that isn’t typically approached as a subject for discussion in video games. It is often meditative and requires a certain amount of thought after each play session. It is a work of art in more than just the visual medium (although it is worth noting, every different screen in this game is beautiful and engrossing in its own way), and is philosophically intelligent and mature. Puzzles are intellectually stimulating and make you feel clever when you solve them. It is worth noting that the puzzles in the earlier chapters are far weaker comparatively to later chapters, where it is clear the developers have honed their craft over the years.

The Dream Machine is also marvelously written. As an amateur writer, I know how hard it is to maintain a consistent tone while ensuring that the reader is engaged by the material. The Dream Machine manages to be at times laugh-out-loud funny, genuinely horrifying, and heartwrenchingly, tear-jerkingly, emotional. It is among the finest examples of video game writing I have ever had the pleasure of coming across. Like the puzzles, it is obvious that the developers have refined their skill over the years, and the quality and sincerity of the writing, while great from the get-go, only gets better with time. It is no understatement to say that The Dream Machine is one of the best point & click games I have ever played, and one of the finest examples in the genre out there.

The first chapter begins sedately, and eases you into the experience. A simple puzzle showcases the knowledge that Cockroach Inc. have regarding adventure game design, and you are introduced to the world and characters in a seamless, quiet way. Having breakfast on a cardboard box with your partner is a particular highlight, a way for the developers to ground you in a slice of life. It feels remarkably genuine, and the connection with your spouse is immediately established. The first chapter ends with a great, mysterious hook, and you likely won’t be able to help but play further. Were I to rank it out of ten, I would probably score it with a nine. A single lackluster puzzle is enough to sink a point, but a walkthrough can circumvent this, should it frustrate you.

The second chapter begins to ramp up the difficulty of puzzles quietly while maintaining the attention to detail that you will already come to expect from the game by the end of the first chapter. The story ramps up delightfully alongside the puzzle difficulty, and in the interests of avoiding spoilers, I won’t go into the revelations here. But rest assured, the plot revelations you learn here provide the impetus for your actions through the rest of the game, and provide a sense of gravitas and even urgency regarding your mission. I’d give this episode another nine, a point deducted only for brevity. Despite some puzzles being more difficult, they are quicker to solve when you have figured out the solution. All in all, though, a fantastic episode that leaves you wanting more.

The Dream Machine walks on a tightrope, it is true. A tightrope that has been traversed many hundreds of times before. Some have crossed with flair, others have fallen down below. The tightrope is worn now; taut and difficult to traverse. The Dream Machine traverses it with more flair than ninety-nine percent of the competition before it. Whether or not there is a rope to traverse any longer, whether or not point & clicks ever find new ground to traverse, The Dream Machine is a shining example of video games at their most artistic, their most unique, and their best. If you are sick of the stale, unoriginal, copy/paste shlock that makes up a lot of mainstream video games’ output, buy this game for yourself. You deserve it.

You can get The Dream Machine on Steam and GOG.