Black Book’s Lucid – A Game About Dreams on Kickstarter

Lucid – A Game About Dreams is, as the title suggests, a dreamlike experience. It follows the story of a very “boring” (and very relatable) hero whose only escape from life are the vivid dreams he has at night. Lucid is currently looking for backers on Kickstarter and we believe it to be a really innovative game of the point-and-click genre.

Lucid is a narrative adventure game about Leif – a boring, cowardly and lonely man on a steady track towards defeat and death. A beautiful midsummer night in the tiny northern fishing village Måsnes, Leif wakes up and remembers his dreams for the first time in many years. Is there a connection between his dreams and the real world?

Step into the life of Leif – the world’s least impressive video game hero – who may not even have the power to get out of bed. Explore his tiny comfort zone and use lucid dreaming to search his subconscious for a spark of life – or discover a final nightmarish madness.

The game is based on beloved point-&-click mechanics coupled with filmic camera movements and an emphasis on a story that drives the game forward.

For anyone from experienced gamers to those fresh to the genre, and even those new to gaming altogether – the point-&-click adventure is a time honored genre that is both accessible and engaging.

The story spans over several days and nights in the life of our protagonist Leif, and the gameplay shifts between his awake and dreaming states.

You play as Leif who’s unfortunately losing his will to live. That is… until you come in! Like a spark of life force, you can control Leif to interact with the environment. However, Leif has his own will and may lack the energy or motivation to do something. Progress is achieved by working through Leif to make him mentally unstuck and create any type of connection to himself and the world around him.

In the awake state, interactions are based around Leif. Move around and explore the environment with the cursor. Elements can be interacted with in typical point-&-click fashion with common interaction types like:

When awake, Leif has a basic set of action points that symbolizes his energy level. Since Leif is human and not a typical game hero, there is a limited amount of major actions he can perform in a day – sometimes extremely limited due to Leif’s crippled functionality level.

In the dreaming state, you enter Leif’s mind. In this metaphysical state, the rules of time, space and physics do not apply. The only logic is that of Leif’s subconscious mind. The elements of dreams are in constant shift from the associations that are made within the dreamscape. You act as the consciousness interacting with the subconscious depths of a dreaming mind.

Wit the introduction of lucid dreaming, Leif learns special powers based on notes found in the journal of his late Sámi grandfather:

These lucid powers are used to examine and affect Leif’s dreams by uncovering hidden elements, changing things and creating new connections.

The small fishing town of Måsnes is located in the most northern part of Norway, which is also the indigenous land of Sápmi. This land of the midnight sun and of aurora borealis has great beauty – and danger. Leif’s granddad was lost at sea, and survival in this part of the world has always been subject to the forces of nature and the cooperation of its people. Now however, this small society faces modern economical struggles, on top of old wounds from the conflict between indigenous Sámi and various settlers and past attempted conquests – wounds that are slow to heal.

Lucid will initially be available in English, German and Norwegian and Sámi, with more languages planned for stretch goals!