

Yume Nikki (Dream Diary) is a free downloadable adventure game built with RPGMaker 2003. While I’d say LSD: Dream Emulator comes closest to being similar to Yume Nikki, even that wasn’t enough to describe the utter horrors to jump out at you. It even has some influence over the popular indie game Undertale. Its unique presentation and strange visuals have inspired many fan games. Yume Nikki is, without a doubt, one of the most disturbing games I ever played. However, I did find one game that is comparable.

You’d be hard-pressed to find something similar to the likes of LSD: Dream Emulator, because something like that would only target a pretty small crowd of gamers. Even some of the artistic games fall within normal gaming conventions, making it easier for people to pick up and play. So experimental games are a pretty rare breed, even in the indie game community. Whether it’s a simple premise like Mario saving Princess Peach from Bowser again or more fleshed out stories through the likes of The Last of Us, it’s hard for the really creative stuff to make any money unless it’s expected to get a lot of publicity. Most games nowadays are created to sell products and consumers usually expect some sort of straightforward narrative to come with the games. Overall, the game is a novelty and had made its mark in gaming history as a rare gem. It was a game loosely based on a dream journal called Lovely Sweet Dream, based on dream experiences by Hiroko Nishikawa. It’s one of those trippy experiences that makes no real attempt to explain itself and showers you with weird stuff with no rhyme or reason. While it was certainly an interesting game, it wasn’t really… good, per say.

So, a year ago, I checked out a rare and infamous PlayStation game from Japan called LSD: Dream Emulator.įor those who haven’t experienced its… pleasantness, LSD: Dream Emulator is one of the most bizarre games to exist in this world due to its copious amounts of disturbing imagery.
