D is for Dreamscape

by Sylex

Backed this one on Kickstarter during a serious game-backing frenzy... The artwork and the 3d puzzles really sold me on this one.

Players: 1-4

Time: 60-90 minutes

Ages: 10+

Theme: Dream-Building

Mechanics: Resource Collection, Pattern Building

In Dreamscape, you play as a dreamer, collecting dreamshards, which you use to build your 3D "dreamscape." During the construction phase, you create lakes, rivers, waterfalls, mountains, swamps, and various other landscapes to complete personal challenges, which is the first way to obtain points. There is also a set of shared goals that will influence your play throughout-- some of these can be completed/scored by multiple players, while others-- the winner takes all. The advanced rules throw Mr. Nightmare into the mix, and then you must do your best to avoid him and his nightmare shards.

Managing the two different phases of play keep you thinking and planning ahead. It's well balanced-- In our first game, Dustin spent time completing one large personal goal while I completed several small ones, and vice versa in our second game, and our scores were pretty close. We also see lots of replay-ability for this one due to changing group goals and new personal goals every time you play. Not only that, but it came with 4 different mini expansions that add to the complexity. It's a pretty unique game and I'm happy we backed it!

We played two games and scored as follows:

D = 51, B = 41 (He beat me)

B = 49, D = 48 (I beat him)

Our rating: 8/10 - Enjoyable-- will play more!