74/100
Players6 ratings

Where to get it

Game Jolt

2013 · Scriptwelder · Adventure · Horror

Deeper Sleep

Will you be able to find a way out of this nightmare... again? Or, maybe on the contrary - will you go even deeper?

Released: 20 September 2013
Platforms: Browser
Genres: Adventure Horror Indie Point-and-click adventure
Developers: Scriptwelder
Publishers: —
Modes: Single-player
Themes: Horror
Engine: Adobe Flash Player
Time to beat: 0.5hwith extras

About

Deep Sleep is a series of point-and-click adventure games created by Polish indie developer Mateusz Sokalszczuk (also known by his online name scriptwelder). The series consists of three free browser games in which the player attempts to navigate and eventually escape a dream world inhabited by shadow people. The first game, Deep Sleep, was designed for and won first place in the 2012 Jay Is Games Casual Gameplay Design Competition. Connections between scriptwelder's Deep Sleep and Don't Escape series were hinted at throughout each, with a much deeper connection being established with the release of Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive. Ties between these series and the fictional company Sidereal Plexus have been referred to as the "scriptwelder multiverse".

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Story

Interested in lucid dreams, an unseen researcher constructs a world in his mind to explore. However, the world in his dream quickly turns nightmarish, and the researcher becomes trapped. Prompted by a phone call from an unknown source, the researcher must "wake up" and to look for a lighthouse that somehow leads to freedom. Shadowy figures haunt this world and attempt to capture him.

In order to advance, he unlocks doors through the building they're trapped in. A dark room in a long hallway contains multiple news clippings informing the researcher of mysterious events that imply he's far from the only one to have ventured into this nightmare realm. Near the end of the game, shadowy figures start to appear and will advance towards the researcher. He has to escape the figures, as they cannot be killed.

Reception

Deep Sleep received mostly positive reviews. Adam Smith of Rock, Paper, Shotgun wrote that although the game has a minimalist story, it "relies on mood rather than jump scares to unsettle". Cassandra Khaw of Indiegames.com called it "creepy without being overdone". Steve Brown of Adventure Gamers called it "a truly disturbing experience".

Both sequels received similarly positive reception, with Jay Is Games calling Deeper Sleep a "chilling, wonderfully creepy game that will make the hair on your arms stand on end, and you'll wind up eager for more" and PC Gamer including Deepest Sleep in its "best free games of the week" for August 2, 2014.