Dream Cage

About

Dream Cage is a single player action game with a horror theme. It was developed by Hitori De Productions and was released on February 6, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Dream Cage immerses you in five nights of sleep paralysis horror, confronting uniquely designed demons rooted in real experiences. Use your microphone to detect sounds, find anomalies, and manage memory lapses with pills while uncovering the mystery behind these haunting episodes. With two endings available, only one reveals the ultimate truth.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

66%

Audience ScoreBased on 108 reviews

gameplay10 positive mentions

stability10 negative mentions

Dream Cage features impressive graphics and sound design that enhance the immersive horror experience.
The game offers a unique take on the anomaly hunting genre, focusing on psychological horror and environmental storytelling.
Players appreciate the engaging narrative and multiple endings, which encourage exploration and replayability.

The game suffers from significant bugs and performance issues, making gameplay frustrating at times.
The mechanics, particularly the sanity and battery management, can feel overly punishing and detract from the horror experience.
Many players found the lack of a tutorial and unclear HUD confusing, leading to repeated deaths and a steep learning curve.

gameplay
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
69%
7%
The gameplay is centered on exploration and survival rather than traditional combat, effectively conveying themes of helplessness and psychological tension. While the mechanics can be engaging and the atmosphere immersive, many players find the lack of clear instructions and the presence of bugs frustrating, leading to a steep learning curve. Overall, the experience can be enjoyable once players grasp the mechanics, but issues like repetitive tasks and performance problems detract from the overall enjoyment.
- “Gameplay is built around exploration, observation, and endurance rather than combat or traditional puzzles.”
- “Overall, Dream Cage is a focused and emotionally charged horror game that prioritizes atmosphere, psychological tension, and thematic depth over traditional gameplay complexity.”
- “The gameplay is very fun and the different monsters every night change it up.”
- “Unfortunately, the game barely explains its mechanics—some key elements are hidden, which can get frustrating.”
- “It seems like there's something really cool in there, but there are a lot of bugs that make the gameplay just frustrating.”
- “The most annoying part for me in this game was batteries and pills; every time you pick them up, there is a long animation that you have to watch, and you do this a lot. I mean, like half of your gameplay is doing these.”
story
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
46%
12%
The game's story is conveyed through immersive environmental storytelling, allowing players to piece together the narrative through details and anomalies rather than explicit exposition. Set across five nights, it features a compelling and gruesome plot with multiple endings, enhanced by stunning visuals that deepen the psychological impact. While some reviews note a decline in gameplay mechanics compared to previous titles, the overall narrative is considered solid and engaging, with intriguing world-building and a mix of horror elements.
- “The story unfolds gradually through environmental details and discovered anomalies rather than explicit exposition, allowing players to interpret events and draw their own conclusions.”
- “The story is pretty interesting and the world-building was intriguing to me.”
- “I felt that the way the story was given as well as how it played out was perfect.”
- “No storyline at all.”
- “I believe the story was better than previous games; as I said, it had a good concept, but unfortunately, execution held it back.”
- “The anomalies are not ghosts; they're more like zombies, and you need to go around the apartment looking for a place where you can take a photo. On the first mission, you will need to take 10 photos, and if you get caught, you will need to start all over again. The game only saves once you catch all 10 and then go to sleep.”
graphics
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
20%
15%
The graphics in the game are widely praised for their stunning visual fidelity and immersive atmosphere, particularly when played on high settings, with many users noting impressive performance even on mid-range hardware. The visuals are described as both familiar and fresh, featuring detailed character animations and a colorful lighting scheme that enhances the overall experience. However, some players mentioned that lowering graphics settings can obscure important elements, slightly detracting from the gameplay.
- “If you have the hardware to push the 'cinematic' graphics preset, the visual fidelity is staggering, creating an immersion that makes the psychological weight of the story hit much harder.”
- “The graphics are unreal, ghosts are actually scary looking, definitely a good buy.”
- “Visuals are incredibly detailed and diverse throughout the nights, and the game seems to be running better than previous installments.”
- “Only real downside, because I had to turn down the graphics, some anomalies were practically invisible to me.”
- “Graphically the games they've put out have been great, but gameplay and story-wise have fallen short.”
- “The visuals are familiar whilst being fresh each night.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is widely criticized for its numerous bugs and glitches, leading to a frustrating experience for many players. Despite some enjoyment found in its gameplay, the overall stability is described as poor, with reports of game-breaking issues and unbalanced mechanics. Many users note that the game feels unfinished and janky, significantly impacting their enjoyment.
- “The meds for keeping mental down will randomly drop like they should but they don't seem to actually do anything in the first place. No matter how many times I play through this, I can never get past the first part due to game-breaking glitches.”
- “It’s buggy, it’s unbalanced, and it can be frustrating.”
- “Extremely buggy, ran like buns even with my decent rig.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The atmosphere of the game is described as suffocating and emotionally charged, creating a sense of psychological tension and unreliability in reality. Players appreciate the intense and immersive experience, enhanced by impressive graphics, though the game is noted for its short playtime. Overall, the focus on atmosphere and thematic depth is a standout feature, overshadowing traditional gameplay complexity.
- “Intense atmosphere when you start the game and don't know what is going on.”
- “This tight focus gives the game a suffocating atmosphere, where repetition becomes intentional and every small change feels significant, reinforcing the sense that reality itself is becoming unreliable.”
- “Overall, Dream Cage is a focused and emotionally charged horror game that prioritizes atmosphere, psychological tension, and thematic depth over traditional gameplay complexity.”
- “+ intense atmosphere when you start the game and don't know what is going on.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The optimization of the game has received mixed feedback, with some users experiencing significant bugs and performance issues that detract from the overall experience. However, others report satisfactory performance, managing to maintain high frame rates on powerful hardware without major problems, indicating a divide in user experiences.
- “Performance-wise, I limited my frame rate to 120 with a 3090 and the highest quality on 1440p resolution, and I hit it without any major issues.”
- “I'm glad we are on the 'quality over performance' arc.”
- “This frustration is compounded by bugs and performance issues that undermine the experience.”
- “It has performance issues, too.”
- “I'm glad we are on 'quality over performance' ark.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game offers moderate replayability, primarily due to multiple endings that incentivize players to explore thoroughly and uncover the protagonist's deeper narrative. However, achieving the true ending requires finding all anomalies and reading all notes, which may limit replay value for some players.
- “Multiple endings add replay value and encourage thorough exploration, particularly for those who want a deeper understanding of the protagonist’s condition and the true nature of the experiences haunting him.”
- “There is some replayability in this game; if you want to get the true ending, you need to find all anomalies in each level and read all notes.”
- “Replayability: 2/5”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its reflective narrative that transcends typical horror elements, offering a focused and charged experience. It emphasizes atmosphere, psychological tension, and thematic depth, distinguishing it from conventional horror titles.
- “The emotional weight of the narrative lingers beyond the scares, giving the game a reflective quality that sets it apart from more conventional horror titles.”
- “Overall, Dream Cage is a focused and emotionally charged horror game that prioritizes atmosphere, psychological tension, and thematic depth over traditional gameplay complexity.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor elicits a strong emotional response, blending laughter with moments of intensity. However, some players feel that key comedic elements, such as standout animations, are spoiled by their presence on the store page, detracting from the overall experience.
- “This game made me laugh, cry, and scream at the same time!”
- “Hilariously enough, one of the best animations is spoiled for you right on the store page, so there's even less to see.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game received a mixed response, with users rating it 3 out of 5. While some appreciated the sound design, others felt it lacked memorability and depth, suggesting it could benefit from more variety and emotional resonance.