Flawberry Studio’s first ever game, Projected Dreams, is getting a public beta demo on September 29th 2023, and they approached me to check it out.

I have never heard of them before, nor did I know about their project on Steam because I am almost strictly a console gamer, but when they mentioned that the game is similar to Unpacking, that was enough to pique my interest. After ensuring my aging laptop could run it, I was all set to check it

So what is Projected Dreams and how does it compare to Unpacking or other similar cozy, puzzle-lite oriented games? It’s a game about using items around your area, namely your room, in order to recreate the silhouette on the wall.  After completing a silhouette, it materializes and becomes an item in your room that you can later use for future puzzles. It then tells a story through images on the wall.

This is where it is most similar to Unpacking. There’s no words, only sound and pictures and this is how they tell their story, much like organizing the items in your room in Unpacking told the coming of age story of our character. I didn’t really understand the story in Projected Dreams yet during the short demo, but it kept me intrigued enough to keep playing to find out, especially because you start off in a modern room into something more futuristic. 

As mentioned, the gameplay is simple enough in the demo.You have items in your room that you bring onto the “stage” where you try and recreate the silhouette. You can rotate the items, later re-size the items, and balance also matters, much like cairns or rock balancing. The beginning puzzle aspect wasn’t too challenging, but I can imagine it being more so as the game progresses, and potentially introducing more ways to complete the silhouette. 

The only feedback I would provide that I hope the lack of impact gets fixed before its full release. Since balancing is important and your eyes are focused on the silhouette, it’s often hard to notice that the thing you are playing around with are going through the other items. Then if you place them incorrectly and they collide, it does an excessive bouncing effect that could ruin your current set up completely. Allowing us the feel when the items are touching one another would prevent them from going through others altogether, resulting in a much better stacking experience. 

Overall, Projected Dreams is a quaint and cozy experience with some room to grow. I’m eager to play the full game when it’s released in 2025.

 

Projected Dreams is slated for release in 2025 on PC.

Beta Demo will be available to the public on September 29th 2023

A copy of preview demo was provided by Flawberry Studios.