The Sandman

Adapted from a SpringThing25 Review

Played: 4/6/25
Playtime: 30m, 4 playthroughs

The Sandman is a horror-tragedy of helplessness. The setup is a small group of people, huddling in isolation, trying to escape a devastating plague that infects when you sleep. A desperate family finds a purported shelter with only a single remaining occupant, and they weather the days together waiting for rescue (Spoiler - click to show)that never comes.

It is structured as a series of days, during which you get 3 actions, and goads you into engaging conversations that provide opportunity to frame the protagonist (and player’s) thoughts on life, afterlife, truth; y’know the kind of things our human brains fascinate with when not overwhelmed by daily routine. The plague is kind of a lens bringing these philosophical problems into focus, and foregrounding our human desire to grapple with them. It is a legitimately interesting setup, reinforced quite capably by both the graphical presentation and its sound design. Collectively it really creates a dire, compelling mood.

I wish the gameplay, and even the conversations it sparked, rose to the same level. Here’s the thing. As a player, you inhabit the mother-of-two protagonist. You are told that falling asleep will kill you. Of the three actions allowed you must choose between: 1) keep yourself awake; 2) keep child #1 awake; 3) keep child #2 awake; 4) have deep convo. You see the problem? How on earth does #4 EVER rise to the top of the priority list??? What does it say about you and the protagonist if it does??? The game CLEARLY incentivizes you via end score and achievements to embrace those conversations, but remains quite mum on the implicit costs.

An initial playthrough reveals how (Spoiler - click to show)futile trying to save your family is. Ok, maybe this is the game’s way of saying “Might as well prioritize inner life, its the only agency you will have.” Sure, so… then what? Then of the available choice selections, WHICH option do I forsake to choose option #4? It is not a passive acceptance, it is an ACTIVE CHOICE to sacrifice loved ones to… have a midnight dorm-room conversation?

Assuming you can get on board at all (which, yikes), that puts a LOT of weight on those conversations, and for me, they were not up to the task. The back and forth seemed pretty shallow, usually culminating in “enter your thoughts into text box.” The driving force of the game is not bad, providing opportunity for player to reflect on deeper thoughts. We could probably all use more of that. But the scenario provided is a problematic launch pad. It doesn’t help that game world developments continually remind us that maybe chatting is not our best pursuit at the moment. Specifically, as loved ones (Spoiler - click to show)start passing not only is this glossed over, it is not even prioritized as a conversation worth having! Meaning a community is choosing to philosophize on everything BUT grief and interpersonal loss, while nominally suffering that in spades. I mean, in what world?

So yeah, I appreciated the impulse of the game’s aims, but could not embrace its setup even a little bit. It doesn’t help that the prose was to the ‘trying too hard’ side of my sweet spot. I think an editing pass would sharpen that up dramatically. Here are a few samples of prose that feel overdone, but could be sharpened into something better:

“she moves to the beat of forgotten water dripping from a loose pipe”
“scraping stridently across the cement floor”
“her exhausted body sits up with fervor”

There are examples of prose that did land for me, so it does feel in reach:
“light returns to them [eyes] like an old, abandoned, phone powering on”

While the overall presentation was very well done, there were some game artifacts too. Conversations didn’t seem to track game state, so if I delayed talking until day 6, dialogue informed me I “got here yesterday.” A major character disappears at some point, a disappearance unremarked upon by narrative or characters. Daily task selections were sometimes repeated in the menu to no obvious purpose.

There is a nice bit where seemingly obsolete options are revealed as very much in story, but their presence only undermines the artificiality of the philosophy discussions MORE. After four playthroughs, I was left with admiration for the presentation and impulse of the game, but a rejection of its dramatic construction. It was time to sleep.

Horror Icon: Leatherface
Vibe: Resignation
Polish: Smooth
Gimme the Wheel! : If this were my project, wow, what do I do? I guess maybe I would try to foreground the deep conversations in a way that DIDN’T require actively horrible player choices. And I think we would be well served to engage the scenario directly, steer the deeper conversations to the very vital events surrounding us, at least initially, and build to the less tethered concerns.

Polish scale: Gleaming, Smooth, Textured, Rough, Distressed
Gimme the Wheel: What I would do next, if it were my project.

This is a well-written and illustrated game with a post-apocalyptic setting. In it, the world has been afflicted with (very early spoiler) (Spoiler - click to show)a disease that kills those who sleep. You meet your work another survivor, along with your two children.

The game then cycles through a few days. You can talk to the others , try to keep yourself awake, or try to keep others awake.

I like the idea a lot. The controls were a little strange. I had trouble noticing when time had passed so would do things like “keep myself awake” then “do nothing” and ended up dying because of it. So I feel like it could communicate its system a little better. But I definitely like the style and would play more by this author.

Note: This review was written during Spring Thing 2025, and originally posted in the intfiction forum on 24 April 2025.

"The world is ending. Will you be awake to see it?"

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to play this. Things are bleak enough in the real world in many respects right now! But it’s called me in, so here goes.

First up I turned the sound off. it’s very atmospheric and brooding, but distracted me too much from reading the text. which is my core focus.

In the game you’re one of the last survivors of a virus, seeking sanctuary with your two children. And above all to survive you have to stay awake, and keep your children awake too. And then you meet the mysterious man.

It’s an episodic day by day adventure, where if you can keep going you can play for longer. I got to (Spoiler - click to show)day 11, and then had no viable option but to (Spoiler - click to show)go to sleep. But at least it felt like a satisfying ending.

However it’s a difficult game emotionally. And a lot of the more interesting discussions are uncovered by talking to the old man, which increases the risk of your children dying. Which left me really not knowing what to feel for much of the time.

Helplessness I suppose. It did not leave me in a happy place emotionally! Though that’s thanks to the quality and emotiveness of the writing. I did hang on at one point to the core idea and importance of (Spoiler - click to show)love though.

It’s definitely a game that deserves replaying, though like me you may get to the point where you can’t get further. I liked how it invited you to name your character and your children. And also how this was remembered when you replayed, if you wanted, so you didn’t need to reenter the details every time.

But it is extremely bleak, and will be too much for some players.

You face an unusual apocalypse. One which will put you to sleep forever as soon as you fall asleep. You can either give in to this mysterious condition, or fight it by staying awake for as long as you can.

It took me a bit of time to figure out how to 'survive' to the next day and after without falling asleep forever on the first day. Still, even once you figure out the steps, you get the dark sense that you are only keeping the inevitable at bay for a short time. The writing and conversations with the other characters also help to convey the hopelessness of the situation, and perhaps a certain sense of acceptance and tranquility they might find within. If you find yourself in the position where you are the sole survivor, the situation also takes its toll on you. If you can survive well over ten days, the choices all around you work to show that the inevitable is right around the corner.

I don't think there is a way to win this, and I think that's the point. That said, there is apparently a secret ending for the game, but I don't have the energy to try unlocking it at this point.