Pregnancy is a worrisome time for any expectant parent, even more so when you have the added threat of monsters to contend with. That’s the basic premise of Devastated Dreams, a psychological horror by Matt Gilgenbach and his studio, Infinitap Games, the team behind Neverending Nightmares.
The game is inspired by the real-life experiences of Gilgenbach, he’s not pregnant, but his Filipino wife is expecting their first child, something Gilgenbach has described as ‘terrifying’. It’s also heavily influenced by Filipino folklore, arising from a trip Gilgenbach took to the Philippines, which he found unnerving due to the rural area’s lack of running water and electricity.
Vulnerability is the key focus for Devastated Dreams, with pregnant protagonist Angel equipped with only a flashlight to face the nightmarish monsters that prey upon unborn children and infants. Gilgenbach is hoping to terrify players with a similarly menacing atmosphere experienced in the P.T. demo.
The 2D world is rendered in a grayscale watercolor/ink wash art style with blood providing the game’s only color. The setting is equally grim, taking place in the Western Visayas, an area of the Philippines devastated by super typhoon Yolanda. This is also conspicuously an area that has the Kabayan caves, home to well-preserved mummies.
Unlike Neverending Nightmares, which focuses on imagery and symbolism, Devastated Dreams is promising a more coherent narrative as well as a branching story with multiple endings. Curiously, at times in the trailer Angel appears pregnant and not at others, raising concerns over the actual status of the baby.
The game has just launched on Kickstarter and will be released on PC, Mac, and Linux if it reaches its very precise goal of $115,896 by August 17. A demo is also available allowing players to sample the game before deciding if it’s worth backing.
