Typically I’m a fan of your shoot ‘em up, blow stuff up and beat ‘em down type of game. So, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the opportunity to play something this out of my wheelhouse.
However, when offered a pre-release preview of this upcoming puzzler by LOOT Interactive it struck a chord of curiosity in me. I think the apples and hats from the trailer reminded me of one of my favorite crime movies, The Thomas Crown Affair. Whatever it was, it was enough to make me take a break from slowly walking away from explosions and, I’m really glad I did.
The game is called Back to Bed and true to it’s name, I typically found myself playing sometime between “lets after party” and “I want breakfast” (because that’s how my clock works). Red eyed and half awake I set off into this world inspired by the surreal artwork of renowned modern artists like M.C. Escher, Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte. In layman’s terms, it’s freaking trippy. 
We play the role of Subob. A dog-like manifestation of sleepwalker Bob’s subconscious. Our mission is to guide him through increasingly challenging dream-like levels with the goal of getting Bob, Back to Bed.
The game starts with a quick tutorial. The controls and overall concept are simple. Use the left stick and a single action button to interact with the environment. Remember, Bob only turns clockwise. Then just avoid the alarm clocks that fight, dogs that bite, floors with appetites and falling to your death, all of which vaguely reminds me of sneaking back into my parents house after a night out with the boys…
Do all of that as quickly as possible and you win. Sounds easy enough, right?
The game is ever evolving, growing more difficult. Constantly pushing you to think outside of the already inside-out box. This keeps the player engaged throughout the play experience and constantly pushing forward to see whats next. While artistically inspired cut scenes attempt to create a story and move it forward. The game also makes use of the touch pad, light bar and built-in speaker on Sony’s DualShock 4 controller helping create a more immersive experience.
Back to Bed will launch on the PS4, PS3 and PS Vita on August 25th, 2015. The title has been remastered for PlayStation, now running at a smooth 1080p/60fps. This is a Cross Buy/Cross Save title and will include a Dynamic Theme. I highly recommend this insomniacs love-affair to anyone, puzzle player or not. I give Back to Bed an 8.5 out of 10.
https://youtu.be/Ut1MjgC2Zm0
