Oneironaut is an RPG you play in your dreams

I think Oneironaut could get a little freaky.

Oneironaut is a game, described as a roleplaying game, from Not a Giraffe Studio. You are one of Ahiag’s army, a warrior fighting against the mad influence of Yuruapri, to save the dream world.

Your actual dreams determine what happens in the game. This is an RPG you literally play in your sleep.

If you don’t know how to lucid dream, then Oneironaut might be the ways and means by which you learn to. Playing requires a pocket-sized notebook, a pencil and a digital watch (likely your cellphone). You might also want headphones.

You need the watch/smartphone because you need to take note of the time you settle down to sleep. Adding some numbers of the time together, in different orders, determine which sleep domain you’re trying to get to (the Oneiric Domain) and what you’re trying to achieve there (The Gnosis).

So, er, for example, your mission might be to get to ‘The Tentacular Moors’ to ‘make a new dream friend’.

The game rules teach the importance of picking a Oneiric Symbol. If you have see Inception, the film by Christopher Nolan, you’ll know what’s coming. The Oneiric Symbol is your spinning top that never stops, or a cat with wings, or a floating glass with a yellow rose, something specific that when you see it reminds you that you’re still dreaming.

You also have to pick a metamorphosis, something to change into, and I went to Laueuera, the river stingray. The game is based on Amazonian myths.

When you wake in the morning, jot down what you can remember in your dream diary. Particular successes; like dreaming and remembering it, assist Ahiag and other failures like failing to master your Gnosis, drags the war back in favour of Yurupair. This is recorded in a little sliding chart you print out and mess up with your pencil.

The game also suggests you go to sleep listening to this track of ‘binaural beats and isochronic tones’ (I’m not sure what/if that means). It’s 8 hours long, though Not a Giraffe has picked a starting point 80 minutes in, and it has been played nearly 20 million times.

Overall?

Oneironaut is an interesting concept. Its nearly 20 pages for $2, well written, innovative and good value.

As I began this quick review with, though, I think it can get a little freaky. It’s essential to get a good night’s sleep and sometimes that means getting rid of the stress. I can imagine times when Oneironaut is counterproductive.

I’m not suggesting Oneironaut is a medical aid but if the game helps you sleep then surely it’s a good thing?

I won’t be adopting Oneironaut into my nightly rituals.