Awake/Asleep Concept Trailer

Awake/Asleep is an innovative adventure puzzle game that explores the relationship between the real and dream worlds. If your dream world is a subconscious reflection of your Awake world then what does it mean if your dream world is out of control and slowly but surely falling apart? Perhaps there is more to Raven’s Awake world then even she knows…

Raven is 14 years old and lives with her mum, dad, little brother, her cat Jiji and goldfish Persephone in the Awake world – but in her dreams, she traverses the increasingly terrifying world afraid and alone.

A mysterious girl wearing blue shoes jumps off a cliff, a giant tsunami comes crashing towards her, a car veers into her path, a brutal murder takes place in front of her – and yet – in these dreams – she cannot run, she cannot scream and she cannot stop the mysterious girl with the blue shoes ending her life.

There are two worlds we all inhabit – the Awake world and the Dream world. If your dream world is a subconscious reflection of your Awake world, so too is your Awake world imprinted with the remnants of your dreams.

The giant tsunami wakes Raven from her sleep, the veering car means she becomes overprotective of her little brother, the brutal murder causes her to be racked with guilt and the mysterious girl wearing blue shoes – well, the mysterious girl has shown up at Raven’s doorstep with questions that Raven cannot answer.

With the Awake and Asleep worlds quickly closing in on each other – threatening ultimate collapse there is only one thing Raven can do – she must unlock the symbolism of her dreams and untangle the complex web to finally set herself, and the girl with the blue shoes, free.

Across two synchronised platforms – a Sims-like PC game which follows Raven’s exterior world, and a touchscreen mobile app, which acts as a ‘midi’-type controller, – an ‘interface’ to her mind – the player must untangle this complex web to discover the shocking truth behind these dreams.

By traversing between the parallel universes through the portal of Raven’s bed each night, the player must discover:

• …what actions in the real world reflect what results in her dreams. Will watching a horror movie in the Awake world create nightmares? Will drinking coffee before bed disrupt or change her sleeping patterns? Will looking at childhood photos means these people manifest themselves in her dream? What if Raven purposely disrupts her dreams via the use of a REM sleep cycle monitoring watch at that crucial moment to write down what that mysterious old woman says?
• …how to control her dreams. By levelling her ‘lucidity skills’ she can take actions in her dreams that previously she was only an unconscious witness to.
• …the meaning of dream symbols. With the aid of a variety of sources such as an ancient dream dictionary and an internet forum about dreams, she can finally begin to unlock the dream symbols and discover the truth…

The touchscreen mobile app (available for iPhone, iPad and Android) – the interface to Raven’s mind – also acts as a standalone artificial intelligence engine, collecting and analysing various user data such as the user’s social media data, REM sleep data, personal dream information and symbols inputted by user as well as results of flow-of-consciousness- style games.

This information gauges mood, personality and dream of the user – affecting Raven’s state of consciousness and thus providing an emotionally powerful personalised experience.