After their departure from AAA game development, Afterburner Studios has officially moved their dream project, Dreamscaper to Steam Early Access. According to the developers, the move to Steam Early Access is one of the “final steps in development” for the game’s eventual official release. Doubling its development and stretch funding goals on Kickstarter, Dreamscaper will also be getting an official Nintendo Switch version, with backers able to choose between a PC or Switch copy of the game.
The game’s focus on the surreal in a dream-like world combines with its fluid modernized combat, dynamic relationship building, and rogue-like exploration. Dreamscaper‘s Kickstarter page also summarizes the game as a nightmarish-Hack and Slash, “A surreal, Binding of Isaac-style Hack and Slash, players battle a nightmarish depression that lives in a young woman’s subconscious.”
Following the protagonist Cassidy, players will be interacting with both the real world and the dream world of the player’s subconscious. While players learn more about Cassidy by playing through her daily life, they will also dive deeper into her subconscious by entering her daily nightmares. Similar in style to the Binding of Isaac’s dungeons, the dreamworld will feature rogue-like dungeons full of different rooms, enemies, and randomized variants of the rooms previously entered. Once players have either died in the dream or defeated a boss in the dream world, they will be returned to the real world where they will continue Cassidy’s life. Progressing through the dream world and conscious world will level Cassidy up, earn her new weapons, armor, relationships, and abilities. Dreamscaper is available now on Steam Early Access, with no official release date confirmed for its full Nintendo Switch and PC release.