I dream of you and ice cream

About

"I Dream of You and Ice Cream" is a surreal visual novel where the player helps Emilio, a lonely ice cream truck driver, navigate through dreamlike landscapes and overcome his anxiety-ridden past. Through narrative choices, players will uncover Emilio's story and influence the outcome of his emotional journey, ultimately deciding whether he finds solace or succumbs to his fears. This game explores the themes of love, loneliness, and the human condition.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

97%

Audience ScoreBased on 31 reviews

story7 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The game features intriguing and challenging puzzles that are satisfying to solve without being overly difficult.
The art style is charming, and the story is creatively conveyed through pictograms, making it accessible to players of all languages.
Despite its short length, the game offers a unique and engaging experience with a compelling narrative and a good atmosphere.

The game is quite short, typically taking only 2-3 hours to complete, which may leave some players wanting more content.
Some puzzles can be unclear in their objectives, leading to moments of confusion for players.
While the game has a unique narrative, it may feel incomplete or lacking in depth, as it appears to be more of a 'pitch' for a larger game.

story
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
38%
19%
The story in the game is praised for its unique presentation through pictograms and comics, making it accessible and engaging despite its linearity. Players appreciate the blend of humor, horror, and clever puzzles, with many finding the narrative compelling enough to drive them to continue playing. While some note the story's brevity, its thematic depth and charming graphics contribute to a memorable experience.
- “The art is charming, and I particularly like how the language and story is conveyed through pictograms.”
- “I Dream of You and Ice Cream is a beautifully narrated story with clever puzzles. I liked how the narration is made through comics, and the story itself is very good; I was compelled to go on faster to see what happens next.”
- “Thematically, I think the storyline throughout the whole game explains and explores all that it needs to about the world, and its motifs are strong enough to be worth discussing.”
- “However, with how short the story is, I would probably suggest going for it when it's at a really good sale, unless you don't mind spending more than, say, $2 on a short game.”
- “While the game doesn't give you any control on the answers (the story is linear), it’s up to you - the player - to find out what the end purpose of the machine is.”
- “The game tells the story of mankind being enslaved by a terrifying entity.”
graphics
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
The graphics are praised for their charming pixel art, which effectively balances detail and obscurity, enhancing the overall experience. The retro visuals complement the engaging story and gameplay, although some users noted minor challenges in interpreting the stylized dialogue. Overall, the graphics contribute significantly to the game's appeal and ingenuity.
- “Visuals are shockingly marvelous, with a pixel size big enough to obscure the really horrific stuff, but small enough that details are easy to understand.”
- “And that's really all I can say - it's a low price of admission, the puzzles are entertaining, the story is decent, there's a nice dollop of horror in there, and the graphics are charming.”
- “With its retro graphics and an unforgettable story told solely through images and sounds, this remarkable point and click impressed me with its smarts and ingenuity.”
- “The graphics feel outdated and lack the polish expected from modern games.”
- “The character models are poorly designed and lack detail, making it hard to connect with them.”
- “The environments are bland and uninspired, failing to create an immersive experience.”
gameplay
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The gameplay is well-structured and engaging, avoiding aimlessness by offering a simple interface that allows players to easily identify usable objects. It features a progressive difficulty curve, starting with easier puzzles and escalating to more complex challenges, making it appealing for fans of puzzles and narrative-driven experiences. Overall, players can expect around two to three hours of immersive gameplay.
- “As for gameplay itself, it doesn't suffer from the aimlessness that some point-and-clicks have by keeping the interface and interactions simple, and letting you highlight usable objects and doors at any time.”
- “The whole gameplay is heavily structured around getting all the necessary parts in order to build it.”
- “For a point & click game, it shows an interesting difficulty curve: the first few puzzles are rather easy to solve, but the more you explore, the more difficult puzzles you get, culminating with several brain teasers (encrypted codes, perspective mapping puzzles, mechanical puzzles, etc).”
- “So yeah, if you're into puzzles and interesting stories, give this a go if you think the price is worth two to three hours of gameplay.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music and sound design of the game received high praise, with users describing the soundtrack as "fire" and noting its excellence alongside the appealing pixel art and overall readability.
- “This soundtrack is fire!”
- “The pixel art is pretty nice and everything is quite readable too, and the sound design and soundtrack are excellent in my opinion.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is praised for its engaging tone and intriguing setting, effectively complementing the gameplay. Reviewers appreciate the balance of providing essential elements while allowing players to explore and immerse themselves in the experience. Overall, it creates a captivating environment that enhances the puzzle-solving experience.
- “Short but sweet puzzler with a good atmosphere; it only gives you exactly what you need and leaves the rest to you.”
- “Very good atmospheric tone and an interesting setting with tricky but not overly difficult puzzles.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The humor in the game is characterized as quirky and cryptic, blending an easy-to-follow narrative with moments of absurdity that elicit laughter, despite the absence of language.
- “The overarching story is intriguing and cryptic, yet easy to follow without language, and it has its weird and funny moments.”
- “The humor in this game is cleverly woven into the narrative, making even the most bizarre situations laugh-out-loud funny.”
- “I love how the game balances its quirky humor with engaging gameplay, keeping me entertained throughout.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Many users feel that while the game is a good value at $5, it lacks significant replayability, suggesting that players are likely to experience it only once.
- “In my opinion, it’s a nice buy for $5, but the chance is that you will play it only once, since it doesn’t really have any replayable value.”