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Exclusive Interview With the Designer and Publishers of When I Dream

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Category: Age: 8+ 20 - 40 Min 4 - 10 Players 2016
Designers: Publishers:

 

When I Dream…I See…

When I Dream is a deduction party game with a really interesting and unique theme about dreaming!

Each round one player will “fall asleep” by wearing a cloth mask and the other players will take a secret role card which will determine their spirit affiliation. Spirits can be “good”, helping the dreamer figure out their dream, “naughty”, trying to confuse the dreamer, and finally “tricksters”, playing with the dreamer’s mind by both helping and confusing him in order to maintain balance and have fun! During a round, “Dream” cards will be drawn, determining what the dreamer sees and what the spirits will describe depending on their secret role. At last, after 120 seconds of dreaming (guessing correctly or not “Dream” cards), the dreamer must use the words he guessed and his imagination to describe his dream for some extra points.

I had the opportunity to playtest this game and I can still remember my dream, the betrayal of these naughty and trickster spirits messing with my smooth sleep and the moments of loud laugh! So this is a game that I am extremely excited about, coming with some dreamy art by the well-known Vincent Dutrait and Christophe Swal.

When I Dream will be available at Essen Spiel 2016.

Here is an exclusive interview with the designer and the publisher of the game:

What was the inspiration for this game’s dreamy theme?
Chris Darsaklis (Designer): When I Dream is the result of 2 great loves. The love for board games, especially of the party genre, and the love for dreams. How many times do you wake up after a great dream or nightmare and try to recall it? How many times have you wondered if your dream had a meaning? And yes, I like dreams too much. I thought that they must be affected by something. That our inner self or some spirits, someone or something greater is responsible for them and I tried to create a game with this idea. So When I Dream was born. One player will be sleeping and the other players will affect his dream by either helping or confusing him. Just like a dream that you never know how it will evolve. And it works so well, when at the end of the round you try to recall your bizarre dream! Just like it usually happens!

What kind of gaming experience do you want to create with this game? 
Chris Darsaklis (Designer): Grabbing a theme so familiar to everyone, dreaming, firstly I tried to make the players have a great time enjoying the game and secondly, I want to give them the chance to use their imagination through playing. I want them to dream! It’s funny not seeing an image and your friends trying to describe it to you when some of them intentionally try to confuse you. And I’m very happy to see people playing, laughing and having a great time, even when they fail to get as many points as they wanted to!

Do you have any designs that you work on and are excited about? 
Chris Darsaklis (Designer): Yes, of course. I am sure every designer has a lot of creations in his mind. The problem is when he must decide what ideas to keep and what ideas to discard. Currently, I look forward to working on an expansion for When I Dream and I’m also trying to complete a board game with battleships that combines worker placement and dexterity mechanics. Yes, that’s odd, I know! It was an idea that I kept on standby, as long as I was working with When I Dream. I hope that people will enjoy this one, too.

What was the greatest challenge that you faced during the designing and development of the game?
Chris Darsaklis (Designer): We were lucky enough to overcome every challenge we faced through designing and development. The nature of the game, which is fun and quick, helped us a lot. I can remember that the art from the first cards troubled me a little, because they were too realistic but our artists  are extremely good at their work and the art now is a ”dream”! All cards fit perfectly to the theme and each of them is a unique piece of art.

Drawlab: The game relies heavily on its cards, and we wanted to make each particular card interesting and fun to play. So we tested various combinations before coming up with the final cards and the artwork that accompanies them. It was super fun doing so, though. It was really fun seeing the actual art pictured on the game. The artists did a phenomenal job there.

When and where will the game be available? 
Drawlab: The game is having a limited release in Essen 2016, but we are planning on launching its worldwide release on Kickstarter in November. So keep an eye on it!

What kind of gamers is this game suitable for? 
Drawlab: We wanted the game to be suitable for all kinds of gamers. We started by having families in mind, but we believe that the game can be equally enjoyed by hardcore gamers who want to have a fun game to play.

What else can we expect in the future from Drawlab Entertainment? Are there any projects that you are excited to talk about? 
Drawlab: We are really excited since we have 3 projects in development right now! Besides When I Dream, we are also releasing Motion Pictures: Movies out of cardboard in Essen this year, a strategy card game about making movies with a unique blend of hand management and deck building. We have also just launched our campaign for Mystic ScROLLS, a quick and fun real-time dice game which you can find on Kickstarter.

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