Unraveling the Dream: Thoughts on As I Began to Dream | PAX East 2025

Why am I here? Where am I going? These are questions I had while traversing through As I Began to Dream which features a little girl named Lily who is desperately looking for her parents. I wasn’t supposed to have the answers right away or know my path as it so often goes when dealing with traumas and past experiences. I just wanted to harness Lily’s strength and help her through this new mysterious journey of worlds. 

As I Began to Dream is a 2D puzzle platformer with completely hand-drawn illustrations that made me feel like I was transported into a dreamy magical world. Despite the absence of text and voice acting in the cutscenes, the mood was effectively conveyed through music and the artwork’s color palettes, requiring me to actively piece together the unfolding events. Between the cutscenes and the artstyle of each world I was transported and immersed into the serenity of my surroundings. While I was helping Lily through her past experiences, I could argue that this game could be considered a cozy game based on the art and music itself. Being able to jump on flowers for a boost or be completely surrounded by colorful hues of blues and purples definitely gave off that cozy vibe. 

I enjoyed this demo for well over 45 minutes which is actually a long time when you’re on the PAX show floor. The creative puzzle mechanics were completely addictive. I loved having to engage my brain to figure out both the path forward and uncovering hidden secrets. I enjoyed the creativity in the mechanics because it reminded me of those picture slider puzzles. Moving the pieces in the correct place and swapping them around to create the picture. In this case, it was to lead Lily forward and I was only able to do so because of Lily’s strength to harness her magic powers. I can make assumptions that this was the developer’s way of showing that she can be strong and push her way through the trauma she was dealing with. 

My time with the As I Began to Dream demo was a captivating experience. While my initial questions of Lily’s whereabouts and where she was heading seemed to mirror the disorienting nature of navigating trauma, I believe that the game’s dreamy hand-drawn aesthetic and expressive music fostered a surprising sense of serenity. I was challenged with discovering the correct path for Lily through the engaging puzzle mechanics, but felt this also hinted at Lily’s inner strength to confront her past and keep moving forward. I am eager to see how Lily’s story unfolds and her unique way of overcoming adversity in the full release. 

Wishlist As I Began to Dream by Strayflux on Steam. Demo is also currently available at the time of this preview.