Winter is the best time to snuggle into warm, soft blankets and doze off. Capture that same feeling on game night with these ethereal, dreamlike games. But be careful, not all of them are sweet dreams. Grab your dream team for a gaming session with one (or all) of these four tile and card game picks. You can even play in your coziest pajamas. We won’t judge.
Dreamwell
Can you find your lost friends in the Dreamwell? This competitive tile and card game has players rotating tiles, moving their pawns, and drawing cards to reach their wayward friends. Tiles are placed in a 4×4 grid to make up the realm of the Dreamwell. Each two-sided tile shows a path for the players to take.
Players turn tiles to make their way to the creature and terrain matching one of the cards in their hand to “find” their friend. When the two pawns make it to the matching tiles, the ability on that friend card can be played and points are scored. The pastel, otherwordly art on the tiles and cards give Dreamwell an unusual, dreamlike feeling that will stand out in your game collection.
2-4 Players, Ages 14+
Pleasant Dreams
Pleasant Dreams is a one to two player card game, usually played in less than ten minutes, in which players risk increasingly horrifying nightmares as they slumber. The detailed cards feature both soothing and unsettling artwork representing dream fragments and nightmares.
Each tarot-like card has a number value for wakefulness; if a player reaches 5, they awaken (likely in a cold sweat) and lose the game. On each turn, players can draw up to five cards. Wakefulness points are calculated in the reverse order that they’re drawn, starting with the last card placed on the table. In a two-player game, dream fragments can be flipped to turn into nightmares and placed back into the pile so that your opponent draws them on their turn. Will you escape the nightmare?
1-2 Players, Ages 14+
Project Dreamscape
Players complete to be the ultimate dreamer in this set collection card game. Players collect cards from a shared Dreamscape deck and choose one of the two dream abilities shown on the card. Collect and chain matching dream abilities in your hand to score points and win the game.
On each turn, a player first decides whether or not to take a facedown Z card from the deck. These cards are used as currency to purchase cards from the face-up Dreamscape, but can later subtract from your score when the dream is over. Cards are picked and replaced in the Dreamscape as play continues. When there are no more cards to fill the Dreamscape, the game ends and scores are calculated based on the chains of matching dreams in your hand. While Project Dreamscape sounds simple and sweet on the surface, its surprisingly deep gameplay makes it a good candidate for your game collection.
1-4 Players, Ages 10+
When I Dream
One player is the dreamer and the others are enigmatic spirits in this imaginative party game. The dreamer dons a sleep mask and the other players, who take on the secret roles of fairies, imps, and tricksters, guide the player through his or her dream.
Spirits have just two minutes to draw cards depicting different dream pieces and describe them to the dreamer by saying just one word. Dreamers get just one chance to guess the dream. Guess as many as you can during the two minutes to wrack up points, but watch out for mischievous imps: they want you to say the wrong thing! When I Dream is an offbeat, hilarious party game for you and your friends to play any time of the year.
4-10 Players, Ages 8+
Have you ever dreamed about playing board games? Tell us about it in the comments.
Featured Image: Action Phase Games
Other Images: Action Phase Games, Aerjen Games, Undine Studios, and Drawlab Entertainment
