Diedream
A downloadable game
Embark on a quest in that liminal place between waking and sleeping.
Diedream is a one-page (front and back) solo TTRPG that you play in your head.
Within two sides of A5 is an elegant game system that allows a player to go on adventures in the comfort of their bed with nothing more than their brain and their fingers.
Alfred's work pokes at the edges of human consciousness
— Will Jobst, Good Luck Press
Designed to be played before falling asleep, the game uses a diceless randomiser and easy-to-remember oracles to take the player on unexpected journeys. It is equal parts game, bedtime ritual and creative procedure.
Diedream was submitted as part of the One-Page RPG Jam 2023.
Physical edition
Physical copies are available on my store.
Free adventure module
Wild of Eye is a one-page starting adventure for Diedream. It's available to download on its own page.
Adventure module template
Fancy making your own module? In the downloads there's an InDesign template and a copy of the Diedream logo.
You are welcome to publish modules for Diedream (with or without this template). The following text should be included somewhere visible in the publication and on the product page:
[Product name] is an independent production by [Author or Publisher] adapted from Diedream and is not affiliated with Alfred Valley. Diedream is copyright Alfred Valley.
Translations
Diedream has so far been translated into Polish, Spanish and Italian (available in the downloads).
The Polish version was translated by Maciej Matuszewski (Twitter) of the K20 Podcast.
The Spanish version was translated by Quidec Pacheco (Twitter) of ReRoll with help from Maldito Máster.
The Italian version was translated by Alex Gavatta.
The Brazilian Portuguese version was translated by Marcelo Abdalla.
Ratings & Comments
If you have enjoyed this game, please consider leaving a rating and a comment. I'd love to hear about the adventures you have gone on.
Due to the way itch.io handles comments (it’s a bit broken), if you want to leave one please consider posting it with your rating AND also separately on the page itself.
That way, other users who come to this page will be able to see it. Thanks!
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- German versionDec 31, 2023
- Brazilian Portuguese translationDec 10, 2023
- Italian versionNov 19, 2023
- Spanish and Polish versionsSep 20, 2023
Comments
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I've played this dozens of times already. It has become a sort of ritual, something that guides me over into sleep. Thank you so much for this Alfred!
It inspired me to make my own module "memoria animalis".
I just released it: https://sleepy-badger-games.itch.io/memoria-animalis
Thank you for making the template available. What a great help!
I hope "memoria animalis" is in the spirit of your original design.
Thanks for the inspiration!
That’s awesome, thank you for sharing with me! Really glad you enjoy it.
Pretty cool, I combined it with the Key-Lock-style adventure from https://thenwdm.itch.io/alone-together-1 and have a lot of fun.
Just a side remark that the root of the sum of the 2-digit numbers is the same as just summing all the digits (and taking the root). I think it is still unpredictable enough for me that way but it makes it a bit easier to calculate to my mind.
A-ha! I had not clocked that. Certainly will be a lot easier for some folks to calculate. Thank you for your comment.
Brilliant! Congratulations, Alfred :) I've played it yesterday night and it was an interesting experience.
Thank you!
this bangs
❤️
[repost of my review] Great shit, all the benfits and flexability of oracle-only solo play, except now, all in your head, anywhere, any time. I know it's labelled with the "just before sleeep thing", but this is a perfect car ride(not driving lol), waiting in line, walking, at the beach, eating out and your family is annoying, or yes, before bed game, where it will likely influence your dreams, I assume. The die system is genius, and the oracle and all that is truly fully memorizable. You always have it on you. I guess my question is, what are the limits of a fast action focused setting before it becomes clunky? Could you play something like a more adventury Quake with it? I've yet to try pushing that. But for general adventuring, this is stellar beyond measure.
Amazing review, thanks for sharing!
Hey Alfred! Have you checked out DayDreamer/DayDreamUniversal? It’s very similar to this! In Daydreamer/DDU you create “tags” for you PC and those act as your “rolls”
“Games You Can Play In Your Head By Yourself” is also worth a look.
Thanks for your comment! Yes, I’m familiar with those (and I love my GYCPIYHBY book!), but for whatever reason they don’t completely click with me.
I really loved this idea. I liked it so much I made my own version of it. Thank you for the inspiration!
Awesome, thanks for letting me know. LMNL reminds me a bit of BABS. Interesting stuff!
The game is amazing. Is it ok if I'd translate it into Polish so you can add PL file here as well?
If you don't have it already, I'd be glad to translate it into Spanish also :D
…and yes!
Yes!
amazing! any way of contacting you outside of itch? so we can discuss this? :)
If you drop me a line here we can discuss over email https://www.hausofvalley.com/contact. Cheers!
done!
Hey! We really enjoyed Diedream. We made a module (it's in spanish, but we're translating this weekend). Great work.
Edit: Translation is done. Enjoy!
https://reroll.itch.io/oxxosanado
Awesome, that was quick! Looking forward to checking it out.
super-insteresting shit! stunningly creative, indisputably the winner of the One-Page RPG Jam. great, great work!
Cheers!
As usual, a trip into the Valley of Alfred leaves my brain whirling.
Diedream -- like Lay on Hands before it -- is exciting and strange and inspiring.
Hi Alfred,
I think i understand the concept of Tie-5, but the Harm-and-hand picture confuses me. Can you give some explanations, please? Thank you!
John
So with yes/no questions, a 5: Tie indicates something inconclusive about the question or outlook, and worsens your character’s situation somehow.
Harm is a separate, abstracted thing. (Also it’s possibly hard to see the words in this section). Essentially if bad stuff happens to your character and it makes sense in context, you can decide they suffer a point harm. Or you can ask a yes/no question to decide if they suffer harm.
If they get to 5 points of harm, they perish. Your fingers on one hand are a good way to keep track of this.
Thank you so much!
I tried yesterday and had a very interesting and horror adventure! I will introduce your game to others.
Love to hear it, thanks for me letting me know!
the most innovative and weird designer in ttrpgs today strikes again
🙃
Alfred's always making things that make my brain buzz. This really interesting stuff, lite and functional. I hope there's a jam for it, I fully intend to write a module for this.
Is there any way to get a printer-friendly version without the yellow background? It'd be nice to print ON yellow paper and keep a copy beside the bed for reference.
Of course! That should now be available.
This is awesome! I just tried this out - the mental die rolling method is genius.
I was in an earthern cave. I don't remember how I got there. There was an exit to my north and one far above me, but the north exit was blocked by rubble. I clear a bit of it only to notice a green gas seeping out from the room. I rush in, and find it's emanating from a broken tank. While trying to find something to cover the hole, a large porcupine-like creature wiggles out, with its long ant-eater mouth spewing the gas.
Definitely continuing this tonight as I fall asleep! Alfred Valley knocks it out of the park again.
This is awesome. I love where it took you.