How Long To Beat Average Time: 1 Hour

My Time to Beat: 2 Hours

My cat woke me up earlier than I wanted this morning, so I decided to get started on my backlog challenge. There’s something to be said about playing a game about keeping a man asleep while not being able to get back to sleep myself. But I’m not clever enough to find it. So once the cat was fed and watered, I took a journey into some one else’s dreams.

Back to Bed tells the story of Bob. Bob has narcolepsy and Bob has a tendency to sleep walk on the roofs of buildings.  I didn’t play as Bob, I played some sort of green dog with a persons face. As Bob’s spirit animal, it’s apparently my job to make sure Bob is returned to his bed without him falling to his death or waking him up.

The game starts out simple enough, as a puzzle game should. Bob walks in a straight line until he runs into something, then he turns clockwise and walks in a straight line again. You can move apples around for Bob to walk in to. Usually one or two of these can be found in each level. Sometimes there are portals that Bob will walk through and end up on the other side of the map. Other levels have “enemies” like dogs and alarm clocks which must be avoided or Bob will wake up.  In the second chapter, there are fish that can be moved around to act as bridges.

The Fish…

…is actually a bridge

I’m not sure which cam first the PC or the mobile version, but Back to Bed recommends to play with a controller. Luckily the PS4 controller works with the game and the controls are really smooth.

Back to Bed has 2 story chapters each consisting of 15 levels. Once complete, 2 additional “Nightmare” chapters are unlocked which add an extra challenge.

There wasn’t one way to complete each level either. Sometimes puzzle games frustrate me because there is only one answer and if you miss a detail its not solved. This game had as much to do with timing as it did with the positioning of objects to guide Bob across. It lead to some pretty tense moments of shifting apples around frantically to stop Bob from falling off.

At first the Escher inspired levels, the weird robotic voice, and the subtly strange background music were unsettling. By the time I was five or so levels in I began to enjoy the whole surreal setting.  It adds to the challenge, not everything is as it seems. After the first chapter, I didn’t want to stop until I completed the game.

I forgot how relaxing and fun simple puzzle games can be. A good puzzle game should introduce you to the concepts and then mix them up to give the player a challenge. Back to Bed does a fine job of doing. I felt pretty accomplished when I finally found the solution to a level I’d been stuck on for a while. It was a nice change of pace from what I usually play.

Well it’s still early, and I think I myself will go Back to Bed…