Finally, our first game on Steam has shipped! 

And it has been a very gratifying experience. Interactive Dreams was born last year, back in August (actually, it was born much much earlier than that, but that’s another story for another day), when we launched a game called “The Bridge”, on itch.io. Interactive Dreams, however, is supposed to continue on what I had been building up to that point. In a sense, this game studio has been trying to go out into the world many times before. In April 2024, “The Wandering”, a game I wrote and designed as my undergraduate thesis project, was nominated at the AMAZE Awards. I wish I had already launched this brand unto the world back then, but I had other obligations to attend to first.

Now, however, things are different, and, today, March 14th, 2025, marks the first time we independently release a game on the Steam platform! I guess it’s not that big of a deal now-a-days, but it still carries some kind of symbolical value.

What’s this game about anyway?

As it says on the Steam and itch.io descriptions, it’s a short narrative experience about looking for your car inside various parking lots while you talk to a therapist about your anxiety and creative block. It’s a very personal game, one to which I finished writing the script back in December 2023 (could’ve slipped a bit into January 2024—I was on vacation). I had wanted to develop this game after “The Bridge”, as a series of short games set to release last year, however, it was delayed, as well as the rest of our upcoming experiences (stay tuned for more!). So even though I’ve been trying my best to promote this game the most I can with the resources I have at my disposal as of right now, it’s just the first step in a two year long plan. We are very satisfied with what we were able to create, and we’re excited there are people who have resonated with the premise. It’s kinda surreal, kinda honest-to-heart. And that’s the philosophy we’re carrying into the rest of our game proposals.

Why create this game?

This story, as it quite literally says on the game’s front page, is based on real dreams. It’s not simply a catchy phrase. I’ve actually dreamt about parking lots. There was one time in particular I had a very significant dream that took place in a three-story parking lot (kinda featured in the game) that sparked the whole idea for this project. As time went by, I thought about making a game based around looking for your car using car keys. At first it was going to be an arcade experience, but I’m not usually into making games without a story, so when it finally dawned on me how I could tie everything up, I started working on the documentation.

Throughout my adult life, I’ve also experienced times when I dread getting lost inside parking lots. Malls are getting bigger each year (like mountains beyond mountains, and there’s no end in sight!), and there are times when I genuinely think about not finding my way out of them. Maybe in shopping malls it’s kind of exaggerated, but there was one time after a concert, in the GNP Seguros Stadium in Mexico City where I wandered around for maybe an hour because I couldn’t find my car. Due to my anxiety I started picturing all kinds of scenarios. Yes, I know they might sound kind of overblown, which I admit, they are. But at the end of the day, the “finding your car” mechanic and the “parking lots” level design idea are just the backdrop for everything else.

The core sits at the conversation between the Dreamer character and the Therapist. This game doesn’t pretend to be a substitute for therapy, obviously, it’s just a reflection of thoughts I’ve had along the way of not only creating the project, but as an expression of a state of mind I was in some months ago (maybe I’m still am, from time to time). The Dreamer character is based upon myself, though it’s written openly enough so anyone can project upon them, as was the case with some of the —very— nice people who offered to playtest the game. The Therapist character is based upon my last therapist, to which I haven’t spoken to in quite a while, but he was my closest reference to point. Though, of course, this game takes place inside a dream, so it’s never clear if he is actually another character or just another voice inside your head.

I took many liberties with the therapist’s dialogues, of course. There are many things which I know SHOULDN’T be said by any therapist. Still, many dialogues are my head’s representations of things I know he would’ve said, should I have confronted him with those issues. At the end of the day, it’s just fiction.

Challenges along the way

So this game also marks the first time I work with a —kinda— big-ish team for a project at what is now known as Interactive Dreams. Katia, the studio’s producer, joined as we were prepping up to tackle this project, and she was A LOT of help. Without her, maybe this game wouldn’t have shipped the way it did, so many thanks to her! This also marks my second collaboration with Mario, the programmer, who marked a lot of standards for the GitHub repository, which actually saved one of the levels (Dream #26) when it appeared it wasn’t going to be uploadable due to data size. Miggi was the game’s main 3d modeler and texture-creator (with help from Danny), who produced the game’s beautiful art, which has been applauded by many of my close friends. She is currently finishing up her professional practices at her school by working with us. André and Sebas were two programmers who also lended a bit of help with some of the game’s systems. Last but not least, “DC”, a talented graphic artist, assisted A LOT of tasks. From creating the 3d blocking out of my level designs, to implementing the 3d models and then helping with creating other graphical assets, he is a very hard-working individual.

The biggest problem with the game’s production was thinking it would be done faster, when none of the involved had the project as a full-time thing, or even as their priority (at least during the first months). The game’s production lasted around 4-5 months (taking into account the launch period). If it had been developed as a full-time thing, MAYBE, I calculate, 2-3 months tops would’ve been the ideal. Of course, game development is NEVER ideal. So we just have to learn from it and move on.

What’s next?

We’re developing three to five games right now. Two of them are highly focused on dialogue. They are almost done (sort of!), and have been in a sort of limbo since last year. We hope to finish the remaining art and animations to just ship them already. The third one is a jam game (that may or may not release), the fourth one would form part of a zine project, and a fifth one would be a demo for something bigger.

These are just what’s in the previsible future. We are very eager to keep on creating games, meet exciting new people, take advantage of any opportunity we can seize, and keep on creating art and inviting people to join us on our dream.

— Luis León, Director at Interactive Dreams