The Dream Herbalist

Artist Statement:

In this assignment, I wanted to explore two of my favourite things to obsess over: plants and dreams. I love hearing about other people’s dreams, especially the good ones, and I am a certified nature lover, so I decided to combine these interests to create The Dream Herbalist. I chose these themes because for me they evoke warm, fuzzy feelings, which is the tone I wanted my game to convey.

The Dream Herbalist is an interactive game with a map-based layout where players must gather the exact three ingredients needed for their desired dream potion to ensure a peaceful night’s sleep, free from nightmares. For the map layout, I drew inspiration from With Those We Love Alive by Porpentine, creating a central hub from which the player branches out to different locations before returning. I found this structure exciting to work with, as it allowed both me and the player to visualise the text as a dynamic space.

The game explores the theme of dreams and the subconscious, highlighting how our choices in waking life impact our dreams—and vice versa. The main conflict supports this thematic argument as it centres on the character’s ongoing nightmares, which have affected their waking hours. The actions taken to create dream potions serve to soothe their troubled subconscious. The setting, an isolated cottage with a beautiful greenhouse next to a forest, enhances the dreamlike quality of the narrative.

The Dream Herbalist aligns with Greg Costikyan’s definition of a game, as it has clear rules and a defined goal. The game prioritises decision-making by making players choose which dream potion to create and then working towards that objective. The structure allows for a lot of interaction, as players click around the space to discover each ingredient. However, the enjoyment of the game doesn’t come from competition, but from the immersive experience of engaging with the story.

During playtesting, I tried out two different methods. For one session, I had a friend play without any context, diving straight into the game while I observed silently, as Nat Mesnard suggested. With another friend, I explained the game beforehand and offered guidance as needed. Both approaches were useful for refining the game, but the first method, where I quietly observed my friend, particularly helped show me the areas of the story that needed clarification. Playtesting also helped me identify and resolve a couple of bugs that happened when you picked up certain items.