Dream On: R.E.M for Groups
As the sun sets, twilight turns to dusk and then night. Quiet falls across the land, and soon, only the sound of the crickets and the occasional hooting barn owl break the silence. A yawn tells you it’s time for bed. Keeping your eyes open becomes a losing proposition. Before you know, it your head is slumped, your body limp, and you are drifting away to another world. However, that’s just the beginning of your adventure!
In Dream On, you and some of your closest friends find yourselves in a shared lucid dream together. You can control the different directions the story in your dream takes, but the key will be remembering the steps that got you there. You can go from a pirate ship to a lush tropical forest to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The important thing will be the story you tell along the way.
Dream On is a cooperative storytelling party game for up to eight dreamers. Everyone starts the game with a hand of three Dream cards. These beautifully illustrated cards represent elements or locations of a dream, like a magic show, a dragon, or an alien spacecraft. With 156 different Dream cards, there’s no shortage of directions your dream can go in.
You and your friends have two minutes to share a dream together. A timer is flipped and one person starts the dream by playing a card and telling the story of the dream. At any time, other players can add one of their Dream cards on top and elaborate on the story being told. The more you’re able to add to your dream, the more chances you’ll have to score at the end of the round. But be careful! You have to be sure you can remember the dream!
Once the timer runs out, the stack of Dream cards that has piled up is flipped over and then, one player at a time, you must recall the steps of the dream. When it’s your turn, you must correctly identify the next Dream card in the stack by remembering the story of your dream. If you can recall the card coming up next without any help, you’ll earn two points for the team. However, it’s possible you might find yourself stumped and need to rely on your friends to remember. If a player hits a roadblock and can’t remember the next Dream card in the sequence, they can ask if any of the other players have an idea. From those that respond they can pick one person to assist them. If they then identify the correct Dream card, they will score one point for the team. Sometimes it’s just too tough to remember, and the elements of your dream will slip away from you as soon as you awake. If you’re unable to recall the next Dream card on the stack on your turn, you will score a negative two points for the team, pulling down the overall score.
The better the story you tell as a group, the more memorable the dream will be and the easier it will be for the group to recall the different steps.
After all of the Dream cards have been scored, your group will be rewarded for how well you remembered the story. A high score indicates an incredible dream, one that anyone would be happy to have, with the power to change destinies. However, if your team comes back with a lower score, you run the risk of waking deep in a mental fog and spending the rest of the day brooding over the details of the dream, which flit just beyond your ability to remember.
Dream On will plunge you and your friends into a storytelling adventure. Your shared slumber can be a dream come true or a nightmare for the ages. As long as you remember it, you’ll score points together!
Dream On will be available at your FLGS on October 27.
Learn more about Dream On here.
