Back to Bed

Masterful Co-Op Adventure

75%Game Brain Score

graphics, gameplay

story, replayability

77% User Score Based on 1,055 reviews

Critic Score 68%Based on 3 reviews

Platforms

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About

Back to Bed is a single player casual action adventure game with horror and fantasy themes. It was developed by Bedtime Digital Games and was released on August 6, 2014. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Back to Bed is an artistic 3D puzzle game with a surreal twist. It tells the story of Bob, an unlucky narcoleptic who has a tendency of falling asleep in his boring office and then proceeding to sleepwalk into the dangers of the big city. Luckily, Bob has a subconscious guardian named Subob, whom spawns from the mind of Bob and whose job it is to protect the sleepwalker from any danger and guide h…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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77%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,055 reviews

graphics165 positive mentions

replayability7 negative mentions

Unique and surreal visual art style inspired by Salvador Dalí, M.C. Escher, and René Magritte, creating a memorable dreamlike atmosphere.
Simple and accessible puzzle mechanics involving guiding a sleepwalking character back to bed using placed obstacles; approachable for casual players.
Includes a 'Nightmare Mode' that adds challenge by requiring key collection, extending gameplay and increasing puzzle complexity.

Short total gameplay length, with main story completable within about an hour and additional mode adding limited replay value.
Controls can be clunky or frustrating, especially on mouse and keyboard; game is best played with a controller but even then can feel imprecise.
Puzzle design is basic and somewhat repetitive, relying heavily on timing and trial-and-error rather than deep or evolving puzzle mechanics.

graphics
333 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
47%
3%
The game’s graphics are widely praised for their unique, surreal art style heavily inspired by Salvador Dalí, M.C. Escher, and René Magritte, creating a dreamlike, visually striking atmosphere. While the visuals are considered the game's standout feature, some find the style an acquired taste, with occasional confusion due to the complex, twisting level designs. Overall, the graphics are seen as exceptional and memorable, elevating the experience despite the game’s simple and sometimes short gameplay.
- “The game's colourful and surrealistic graphics immerse players in a dream world.”
- “The combination of beautiful visuals, innovative gameplay, and an unforgettable story make this game an absolute must-play.”
- “The graphics and art style are outstanding.”
- “The artwork in this sucks and looks like it's out of a cheap, try-hard trendy kids book, rather than a beautiful book like 'Where the Wild Things Are'.”
- “Also, graphics are awful and sound is awful.”
- “It is an okay game, graphics are not that good and controls lag lots.”
gameplay
270 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
72%
8%
Back to Bed features simple, intuitive puzzle mechanics centered around guiding a sleepwalking character through surreal, Escher-inspired levels. While its gameplay is accessible and occasionally clever, it suffers from limited variety, short length, and underutilization of its unique visual and thematic elements, resulting in a generally repetitive and modestly challenging experience that may not fully satisfy puzzle enthusiasts seeking depth or innovation.
- “The pacing of this escalation is deliberate, allowing players to adapt to each new mechanic without feeling overwhelmed.”
- “The straightforward interface and intuitive mechanics make it enjoyable for players of all ages.”
- “While the gameplay seems simple at first sight it gets more complex and requires relatively quick executions to keep Bob on the right path: sometimes we have to pick up and use the same apple in order to shepherd him and use fish-shaped planks as bridges so Bob can cross platforms.”
- “The entire main campaign can be completed in a little over an hour, and while a “nightmare mode” offers harder versions of existing levels, it doesn’t add significant new mechanics or extend replayability in a meaningful way.”
- “Unfortunately, it seems the developers didn’t care as much for gameplay and level design as they did for the visuals.”
- “The first few levels are attractive, but they become much less interesting when you realize that you have seen all the gameplay in less than an hour.”
music
94 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
56%
11%
The music in the game is generally described as ambient, haunting, and relaxing, effectively reinforcing the surreal, dreamlike atmosphere. While many praise its calming and atmospheric qualities, some find it repetitive, monotonous, or even distracting over extended play, with a few noting that the short soundtrack can become grating. Overall, the soundtrack complements the unique art style and mood but may not stand out as memorable or varied.
- “Complementing this surreal imagery is a hauntingly calm soundtrack filled with ambient tones and subtle melodies, reinforcing the dreamlike mood and inviting players to lose themselves in its world.”
- “Thankfully the soundtrack and the minimal yet interesting and well-placed audio cues from the creepy narrator enhance the game's dream-like atmosphere and reinforce the feeling of floating within a surreal dream.”
- “Superbly atmospheric world and ambient music.”
- “If for some reason I was inclined to try earning all the achievements, this is a game I would mute and have some background music playing instead.”
- “Be prepared to turn down your volume after an hour or so; the game's entire soundtrack is 6 1/2 minutes long including the credits track and it's bound to start grating on you eventually.”
- “- The music isn't even decent; it's extremely repetitive and almost a headache to listen to, and it's extremely loud.”
story
76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
76%
12%
The story is minimal to nearly nonexistent, consisting mainly of simple, abstract concepts and a few cutscenes that provide light context about the sleepwalking protagonist, Bob. While some appreciate the thematic coherence and imaginative world, most find the narrative lacks depth or engagement, serving more as a backdrop to the gameplay than a compelling plot.
- “The combination of beautiful visuals, innovative gameplay, and an unforgettable story make this game an absolute must-play.”
- “The story focuses on our main character Bob, who suffers from narcolepsy. It's suitable to the story and theme, as well as the title itself!”
- “Back to Bed tells the story of a sleepwalker named Bob and his ‘dreamdog Bob’ (it's some sort of dog’s model with the face of Bob).”
- “There is no story, just a weird concept and world you will have to evolve in.”
- “It has an interesting theme, but is void of any meaningful story, so there is no sense of adventure in it, which makes the short but nice looking cut-scenes in between levels rather pointless.”
- “Sadly this game's story isn’t that interesting since it is told through some pictures and some words but doesn’t show where Bob is in the real world.”
atmosphere
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
57%
7%
Back to Bed's atmosphere is widely praised for its surreal, dreamlike quality, combining artistic visuals inspired by Salvador Dalí and Escher with eerie narration and soothing ambient music. This unique blend creates an intense yet relaxing mood that sets the game apart, though its quirky style may not appeal to everyone. Overall, the standout atmosphere elevates the experience beyond its simple mechanics and short length.
- “The surreal imagery, the soothing atmosphere, and the deceptively simple mechanics combine to form an experience that feels distinctively personal, like wandering through a dream that teeters between whimsy and unease.”
- “The game is visually stunning, with hand-painted cityscapes that mix elements of reality and dream to create a truly surreal atmosphere.”
- “As I alluded to earlier, what makes the game stand out from other short and mediocre puzzler/platform-lite games is the well-crafted, surreal atmosphere.”
- “There is a button to make time faster, but to me this negatively impacted the atmosphere of the game.”
- “I got it that it's for the 'dream atmosphere', but...”
- “They probably mean to create atmosphere, but to me, they were mostly annoying in their derpiness.”
humor
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by its quirky, surreal, and sometimes absurd tone, often enhanced by amusing voiceovers and a playful, dreamlike atmosphere. Players find its lighthearted, slightly strange humor charming and fresh, with moments ranging from subtle wit to outright silliness, contributing to an enjoyable and entertaining puzzle experience.
- “It’s as though the game is aware of its absurdity but embraces it fully, weaving humor and melancholy into its dream logic.”
- “A fun, if a bit short and easy, logical puzzle game with hilarious voice work and gorgeous art based on M.”
- “Most notably, he sounds like a native Dane speaking English and therefore, through the unmistakable, funny accent, naturally fits perfectly.”
replayability
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
37%
44%
The game offers limited replayability, with the main campaign being short and additional modes like “nightmare” and challenge modes providing minimal new content or mechanics. Replay value mainly comes from achievements and attempts to improve speed or efficiency, though overall it remains low and typically only appeals for a few replays.
- “Beating the game unlocks a challenge mode that adds to the replayability.”
- “The game is replayable two or three times for players interested in finding more efficient routes and speedrunning.”
- “Achievements encourage replayability by requiring players to find hidden solutions in two of the levels.”
- “The entire main campaign can be completed in a little over an hour, and while a “nightmare mode” offers harder versions of existing levels, it doesn’t add significant new mechanics or extend replayability in a meaningful way.”
- “Relaxing puzzler, but really no replay value.”
- “Remember though it's only a short experience and there's basically no replay value afterwards.”
grinding
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
88%
Grinding in the game is widely described as tedious and slow, often detracting from the overall enjoyment due to repetitive animations and lack of rewind options. While some players who enjoy puzzle games may tolerate it, many find the extended hard mode and repetitive tasks to be unnecessarily grindy and frustrating.
- “Ends up being tedious rather than fun or interesting.”
- “The puzzles are pretty okay but the process to solving the puzzle is way too tedious considering you can't rewind your steps so you have to let the animation play out over and over again, so I've lost patience in attempting to solve the puzzle.”
- “There are 60 levels, but 30 of them are just a hard mode for the original level, which winds up feeling tedious and pointless.”
stability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
78%
Stability in the game is mixed, with some users reporting occasional bugs, glitches, and clumsy gameplay affecting mechanics and achievements, while others experienced smooth performance with no issues on their platforms. Overall, stability may vary depending on the system, but it generally does not significantly detract from the experience.
- “Runs great on Linux.”
- “No glitches or hiccups experienced.”
- “The surreal geometry serves mostly as visual decoration, with only a few places where it meaningfully participates in the mechanics (not without glitches).”
- “Back to bed has cool artistic inspirations and mostly enjoyable puzzles, but is a bit short, a little buggy, and occasionally frustrating.”
- “The reason for the negative score however is that a few achievements just seem to be buggy.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
50%
17%
The game generally runs smoothly with clear controls and no major bugs, though some users experience minor performance issues on older hardware. Overall, the optimization is decent but could be slightly improved, especially for PC.
- “The controls are clear and comprehensive and the game runs smoothly.”
- “Ok, so the PC port could have been a bit better, but it works with no bugs and no awful performance, so I'll give it a pass!”
- “I also have some performance issues with the game (which is mostly because of my old laptop).”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game elicits quick emotional engagement but feels somewhat unmemotional and bland in its storytelling. While it stirs curiosity, frustrating mechanics and harsh level restarts can detract from a smooth emotional experience. Overall, it leaves players wanting more but sometimes hampers immersion with its cumbersome controls.
- “Quick emotional game that leaves you wanting more puzzles!”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development received mixed feedback, with some users dissatisfied with certain character designs, though this was contrasted by praise for the game's environmental art.