Bob wake up, ya dingus!
Back to Bed is a surrealistic puzzle game that was already given several honors before it even began it's kickstarter.
Developed by a group of students from the Danish National Academy of Digital Interactive Entertainment in only six weeks, it got a lot of attention when it showed up at IGF 2013 in the student showcase. After a successful kickstarter campaign in early 2013, the game is finally finished and is available on Steam, iOS and Android - and this is my review of the PC version of the game.
The game is very simple to grasp. Bob is dropped into a world inspired by Salvadore Dali and MC Escher, and sleepwalks towards obstacles, cliffsides and monsters. Taking the role of a strange jackal creature who is a subconscious manifestation of Bob aptly named Subob, it is up to you to guide him through the dream world and back into the safety of his bed.
There isn't really much of any sort of story beyond that Bob is a narcoleptic and you need to help him.
The game's mechanics and controls are very simple, although on PC, they are optimized for controllers and using a mouse and keyboard leaves a lot to be desired. Bob walks straight forward slowly until he falls to his death and then quickly respawns, or until he hits a solid object which makes him turn to his right. Your two tools are the apple, which is a obstacle you can place in Bob's path to make him turn where you need him to. And the fish, a plank that allows Bob and yourself to cross gaps and reach other sections of the map.
The challenge comes from figuring out how to get Bob from point A to Point B avoiding pits and monsters. Every level is short and straightforward, with a full playthrough of the 30 levels on normal difficulty clocking in at about an hour. Replayability is bolstered by the inclusion of 'Nightmare' versions of the same levels, which essentially add one or several keys to the map that Bob must first pick up to unlock the end of the stage. It's not a whole lot tougher, but it does force you to think of alternate solutions to the stages you have already beaten, as you cannot play any stages on 'Nightmare' without first completing the game on 'Normal'.
What I really like about the game is it's simplicity. It's straightforward puzzle design allows you zoom out and work out in your head the moves you need to accomplish to complete the puzzle.
The first world in the game is easily solvable with one or two adjustments to the map. The second world adds more steps, requiring you to have Bob make multiple turns using tool provided instead of just environmental obstacles. The level design is solid and never seems to throw anything at you that you can't figure out with some tinkering around, and with the fast forward function and unlimited deaths of Bob which don't actually reset the level allow you to do just that.
Oddly, there are a few fail states that do cause you to have to restart the level you are on. If Bob is taken down by deadly obstacles other than pitfalls, such as enemy creatures or other hazards, you get a failure screen and have to reload. This interrupts your ability to suss out what needs to be accomplished in the level by trial and error by completely resetting your character and all objects in the map. It's a weird inconsistency that's pretty annoying and upsets the kind of groove you get into tackling the levels, but doesn't happen often enough to ruin the experience.
Back to Bed is a short and good looking puzzle game that isn't very difficult, but has a very pleasing visual style and is satisfying to solve.