Yume Nikki

Yume Nikki is an adventure game set in the surrealistic horror world. It was created and released by Japanese developer known as Kikiyama in 2004 as a free title, and fourteen years later it debuted on Steam.

Plot

Yume Nikki tells a story of a Japanese woman named Madotsuki. She is the so-called hikikomori – a person who never leaves her house due to various fears and social maladjustment. She only explores her home, watching television and playing on her old console. At night, however, she ventures into various dream worlds.

Game mechanics

Yume Nikki is an adventure game focused on exploration, with no dialogues. After going asleep, the heroine finds herself in a room with twelve doors, each leading to a different world with its own “effect” – an object that can change her looks. We have to find twenty four of them throughout the entire game.

We can wake up Madotsuki at any moment and return to her room, and there are no deaths per se. However, encounters with monsters can move her to places with no exit, forcing us to wake her up and starts a dream from the very beginning.

Technical aspects

As a title based on RPG Maker engine, the game uses simple two-dimensional visuals and a top-down view, with the surrealistic design of dream worlds giving it a specific charm.

Misc.

Yume Nikki has achieved the classic status, being among the most famous of many free Japanese games made with RPG Maker, inspiring many other creators. It’s so well known it even got its own story adaptation and comic series, as well as the commercial remake with 3D visuals named Yume Nikki: Dream Diary.

Last updated on April 3, 2018