Back to Bed - Review
Back to Bed is an interesting puzzle game that delves into the subconscious of Bob, a narcoleptic office worker.
In it you have to guide poor Bob to the safety of his bed, inside his subconscious. Which to be fair looks like something Pablo Picasso envisioned while on drugs and having night terrors.
The art style is unique and appealing, lending it extremely well to the games rather bizarre mind bending puzzles and reality. The same applies to the player’s character; Subob. Which looks like a rabbit-dog with tentacle limbs, and a human’s face.
Dotted throughout Bob’s subconscious are ever watching eyes, a rather bizarre and strange twist, almost as if Bob can sense people in the outside world watching him as he randomly falls asleep.
Making things even more strange and bizarre, are the randomly dotted tentacles, which I have not been able to figure out yet. Add in the rather strange and downright weird announcer voice, which for all I know could be a sick Xenobite that has actually trapped poor Bob in a sick realm for pleasure; and things constantly feel out of place and uncomfortable.
This bizarre and somewhat twisted setting is what helps to make Back to Bed such a unique, and rather enjoyable puzzle game. I can’t say I’ve ever been fond of these types of games, but I kept playing without realising.
The puzzles start out extremely easy, with the announcer usually giving you a singular hint. “Apples are hats”, or “Watch out for the clock”. They might sound odd, and the voice certainly is; but they’re all you need to figure out what to do.
Bob can only turn clock-wise, a form of OCD accompanying his narcolepsy, which is the basis of the puzzle game. You have to try and manoeuvre him back to the safety of his dream bed. To do this you guide him, obstruct his path to prevent him from falling into the abyss, and by turning his direction by making him bump into apples.
This all needs to be done without waking the poor fellow, as he might just have a mental break judging by his bizarre subconscious.
Here and there are strange stairs that allow Subob to move onto walls, change dimensional directions, and jump platforms. All for the sake of finding over sized apples with which to help poor Bob. Portals also play a role, taking the form of mirrors with quicksilver. Some are used simply to acquire some apples and fish, while others are a vital part of the maze through which you need to guide Bob.
The game’s art style, music, and puzzles all blend together to form an extremely enjoyable experience. Even for someone like myself that has never truly enjoyed puzzles games.
You’ll easily find yourself spending a few minutes here and there playing Back to Bed; or even lose a few hours without realising it.
Bedtime Digital Games really have a great game here, and it’s a must buy for puzzle fans, let alone someone that wants to give a unique Indie game a try.
