“Night night….don’t let the monsters bite!”
Dream Catchers is a co-operative game for 2 to 4 players. Players take on the role of dream catchers who visit children in their sleep to collect sweet dreams, remove nightmares to help them sleep through the night and to keep those monsters, hiding under the bed well away.
The game is currently available via Kickstarter (ends 28th April ’18)
Below the BGM summary you will also find a photo review which can be found on my Instagram account @boardgamemeeple
BGM summary: Ok, let’s get straight to the point, Dream Catchers was an instant hit in our household! On first sight of the box and components the kids were fascinated by the artwork, looking for the stories that they knew or describing the nightmare the poor child was going through… they seemed to like that part…a lot!
While Dream Catchers is a co-op game and is on the lighter side of my normal gaming taste I too fell in love with the theme and simple gameplay. Who wouldn’t want to help the child sleep through the night?
The gameplay is a blend of taking actions, hand management, card matching and grid movement. You take turns, working together to match your power cards to the dream card icons to either catch them or banish them from the game. Each player has a unique ability to help the group which you use along side your power cards to match the card icons to ones on the dream cards. Every few rounds though a monster appears under the bed which requires a few more cards to banish and this keeps things balanced nicely. Get more than three monsters or allow the child to have too many nightmares and the game is over.
From an artwork perspective the game looks wonderful with its colourful drawings of dreams and monster art. I have to say that the art style really makes you feel like you are in a dreamscape.
The rule book needs a little work but the publisher is going to address that before the first print run. The good news is that once understood the rules are quick to teach and easily remembered.
I asked one of my children to say a few words about Dream Catchers, this is what she had to say:
“it’s a great, great game for all the family! I love that you have to make the children happy in their sleep.”
Keira, aged 9.
Dream Catchers gets the BoardGameMeeple ?? of approval. While it might be a simple game at its heart the fact that it got my children instantly engaged is important. The game play is real smooth and throughout the games we played everyone worked together to ensure those dreams and monsters didn’t wake up the child. We all love the artwork and the components! Well done!
Useful links: Kickstarter Page
Note: Play Nation Studios sent me an excellent prototype copy to play and review. Nothing was charged for this review.