History VideoGame / NeverendingNightmares

''[[http://neverendingnightmares.com/ Neverending Nightmares]]'' is an indie PsychologicalHorror video game developed by American game development studio [[http://www.infinitapgames.com/ Infinitap Games]]. It was released for the [[Platform/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], [[Platform/MacOS Mac]], UsefulNotes/{{Linux}}, and Platform/{{Ouya}} in 2014, with ports to Platform/PS4 and Platform/PSVita following in 2016, and an [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS]] version releasing in 2017.

''[[http://neverendingnightmares.com/ Neverending Nightmares]]'' is an indie PsychologicalHorror video game developed by American game development studio [[http://www.infinitapgames.com/ Infinitap Games]]. It was released for the [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], [[UsefulNotes/MacOS Mac]], UsefulNotes/{{Linux}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Ouya}} in 2014, with ports to UsefulNotes/PS4 and UsefulNotes/PSVita following in 2016, and an [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS]] version releasing in 2017.

The game's aesthetic, based on the late 19th century Anglophone world, is notable for its deceptively complex Creator/EdwardGorey-inspired hand-drawn art style, with dynamic cross-hatched shadows and [[SplashOfColor splashes of color]] for interactive objects, as well as [[{{Gorn}} many]] [[ViolenceIsDisturbing scenes of]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath brutal, unrelentingly]] [[{{Squick}} gory violence.]]

* YourWorstNightmare: [[spoiler:Gabby, pulling double shift as both the DistressedDamsel ''and'' the BigBad. Either way, whenever she shows up, she's never helpful.]]

* AgonyOfTheFeet: In the asylum, some corridors have shards of broken glass lying on the floor. Since Thomas is always barefoot, stepping on them hurts him; it doesn't ''kill'', but the noise attracts enemies who are close enough. [[spoiler: Near the end of Insanity, you need to do this on purpose at one point, to lure a lunatic far from your path.]]

* AllJustADream: ...OR IS IT!? [[spoiler: It probably is. None of the endings hint that the dreams continue after the final awakening]]. That aside, it's actually a game mechanic: Thomas wakes up in a bed to move from one section to the next, and the bedrooms in general act as checkpoints.

* AbandonedHospital: [[spoiler: The setting of the Destroyed Dreams path.]]

** Wayward Dreamer: [[spoiler: Thomas is actually a young boy, and is deathly worried about his young sister, Gabrielle. It's implied she may be ill, or even in a coma. He checks up on her, and then goes back to bed.]]
** Broken Dreams: [[spoiler: Thomas is prone to self-harm, and attempts suicide. After conquering his desire to kill himself (manifested in Nightmare Thomas), he wakes up to the cries of Gabrielle, who is overjoyed that he's okay.]]
** Final Descent: [[spoiler: Thomas wakes up, and reads a letter from his wife. As it turns out, Gabrielle isn't his sister--she's his wife. The older and younger versions of the ghost girls are different people entirely: the older one is Gabrielle, and the young girl he's been seeing was his daughter, Gabby. Gabby died earlier in the game, and Thomas never moved on from it. Eventually, Gabrielle leaves him, begging Thomas to move on with his life as he sits in his study and sobs. The game does imply that he will move on.]]

* BrotherSisterIncest: One path leads to this, but it's actually averted. [[spoiler: Gabrielle explains to Thomas that he never had a sister, and they're actually married. Whether or not it is actually true is up to interpretation.]]

** One of the rooms in the first level is a kitchen containing a bloodied meat grinder. [[spoiler: Thomas uses it to mutilate his hand at the end of "Together at Last."]]

* CreepyDoll: Plenty to be seen. [[spoiler: Also included are ones that can disembowel you in the Wayward Dreamer path.]]

* DeathOfAChild: [[spoiler: Child versions of both Gabby and Thomas die frequently (the latter more so on the Wayward Dreamer path).]]

* DrivenToSuicide: One scene has Thomas finding [[spoiler: Gabby dead, and he proceeds to stab himself in grief. One path implies that he really did attempt to kill himself.]]

* HellIsThatNoise: The odd hissing noise that sounds just before [[spoiler: Evil!Thomas]] attacks you in the hospital.

* MovingBeyondBereavement: In "The Final Descent" path, [[spoiler: it's ultimately revealed that the entire dream journey has been Thomas attempting to move on from the death of his daughter, with all the imagery witnessed over the course of the nightmare being in some way related to the sense of guilt, loss and horror he feels. In the real world, his wife has actually left him, her final letter begging him to move on from the grief and go on living. Though the game ends with him crying over the letter, it's implied that he will eventually be able to recover from the tragedy.]]

* PlotRelevantAgeUp: [[spoiler: Inverted. One path leads to the player taking control of a younger Thomas. However, it is possible to divert to another path which brings him back to being older.]]

* SelfInflictedHell: It's not a question of ''if'' Thomas hates himself, but ''why''. [[spoiler: The Final Descent ending reveals one reason why, but the other two endings don't]].
* ShoutOut:

* SlasherSmile: [[spoiler: Worn by Evil!Thomas, Evil!Gabby and even some of the dolls...]]

* StoryBranching: One of two paths either has [[spoiler: Gabrielle actually be his wife (not his sister) or Gabrielle really be his sister.]]

* TheReveal: In Final Descent, [[spoiler: Thomas finds out that not only is Gabrielle not his sister, but she's also his wife, AND he's been driven mad by the death of his daughter, also named Gabrielle. There are also inclinations that Thomas accidentally killed her, and while his wife has tried to move on, Thomas has not, and is destroying himself from the guilt of it all.]]
* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: One of the questions driving the plot is whether Thomas is exploring his dreams or his psychotic hallucinations. [[spoiler: They're his dreams.]]

* WombLevel: Very briefly at the end of the [[spoiler: Final Descent]] path.

* WorstAid: The "medicine" in Insanity. [[spoiler: "Purified lead tablets"? "Cocaine extract in alcohol"? "Arsenic capsules"!?]] TruthInTelevision, actually--all three were prescription drugs of the age, used in mental hospitals. BedlamHouse was a real thing, after all.

The game was inspired by creator Matt Gilgenbach's experiences with [[SuperOCD obsessive compulsive disorder]] and [[UsefulNotes/{{Depression}} depression]], which were exacerbated by the financial failure of his previous game, [[VideoGame/RetroGrade Retro/Grade]].

* SuperOCD: Defied. The main character feels paranoid and self-conscious, and he encounters random, recurring scenes of a disturbing nature. What he does ''not'' do is obsess over order or compulsively perform rituals, the symptoms most commonly associated with OCD. Could very well be the most accurate portrayal of OCD in a video game, even with the [[RuleOfFun liberties taken]] with gameplay and story in mind.

* BedlamHouse: [[spoiler:One of the environments, complete with violently insane patients wandering the halls and [[WorstAid horrific old-timey medicine lining the shelves]].]] Somewhat justified in that the game ''does'' take place at the turn of the 20th century, but it ''is'' also a nightmare...

** Wayward Dreamer's setting consists of [[spoiler: mix-and-match rooms and corridors from the manor, the asylum, and the forest, while furniture from the asylum occasionally appears in the manor, and vice versa. The only enemies (killer dolls) are specific to this level, though.]]
** Final Descent. [[spoiler:Its setting is made of seemingly randomly linked level parts lifted straight from the manor, the forest[=/=]cemetery, and the asylum, each of them including its own specific enemies (giant babies, violent lunatics, and Gabby dragging a sword).]]
** Averted in Destroyed Dreams, which is set in a unique place ([[spoiler:an abandoned hospital that looks very different from the asylum in Insanity]]) with a totally new enemy ([[spoiler:a murderous Thomas doppelganger wielding an axe]]).

* ArmlessBiped: [[spoiler:Due to always wearing [[InstitutionalApparel straitjackets]], the patients in the asylum are effectively this.]]
* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Thoroughly, thoroughly inverted.

* AlliterativeTitle: "'''N'''everending '''N'''ightmares" and "'''D'''evasted '''D'''reams".

A loose follow-up to the game, titled ''Devastated Dreams'', had a demo released in 2015, but [[DevelopmentHell no further releases or updates on its development were done since then]]. What's been published about its plot so far is that it revolves around a woman named Angel who suffers from the same nightmares Thomas did, in addition to figuring out the AmbiguousSituation over whether or not she's pregnant. In contrast to the first game, ''Devastated Dreams'' takes place in a more modern setting and is largely inspired by Myth/PhilippineMythology.

A loose follow-up to the game, titled ''Devastated Dreams'', had a demo released in 2015, but [[DevelopmentHell no further releases or updates on its development were done since then]]. What's been published about its plot so far is that it revolves around a woman named Angel who suffers from the same nightmares Thomas did, in addition to dealing with the AmbiguousSituation over whether or not she's pregnant. In contrast to the first game, ''Devastated Dreams'' takes place in a more modern setting and is largely inspired by Myth/PhilippineMythology.

''[[http://neverendingnightmares.com/ Neverending Nightmares]]'' is an indie PsychologicalHorror video game developed by American game studio [[http://www.infinitapgames.com/ Infinitap Games]]. It was released for the [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], [[UsefulNotes/MacOS Mac]], UsefulNotes/{{Linux}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Ouya}} in 2014, with ports to UsefulNotes/PS4 and UsefulNotes/PSVita following in 2016, and an [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS]] version releasing in 2017.

''[[http://neverendingnightmares.com/ Neverending Nightmares]]'' is an indie PsychologicalHorror video game developed by American development studio [[http://www.infinitapgames.com/ Infinitap Games]]. It was released for the [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], [[UsefulNotes/MacOS Mac]], UsefulNotes/{{Linux}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Ouya}} in 2014, with ports to UsefulNotes/PS4 and UsefulNotes/PSVita following in 2016, and an [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS]] version releasing in 2017.

* GriefInducedSplit: The "Final Descent" ending reveals that [[spoiler:Thomas's daughter Gabby had died earlier in the game, which Thomas hasn't been able to move on from. This eventually causes his wife, Gabrielle, to leave him.]]

* GriefInducedSplit: The "Final Descent" ending reveals that [[spoiler:Thomas's daughter Gabby had died earlier in the game, which Thomas has not been able to move on from. This eventually causes his wife, Gabrielle, to leave him.]]

''[[http://neverendingnightmares.com/ Neverending Nightmares]]'' is an indie PsychologicalHorror video game developed by American studio [[http://www.infinitapgames.com/ Infinitap Games]] and released for the [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], [[UsefulNotes/MacOS Mac]], UsefulNotes/{{Linux}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Ouya}} in 2014, with ports to UsefulNotes/PS4 and UsefulNotes/PSVita following in 2016, and an [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS]] version releasing in 2017.