Dreeps Review

Dreeps is a victim of its own charm. This largely hands-off “alarm playing game” will undoubtedly leave you stabbing the screen with your finger while crying, “Oh my God, oh my God - why aren’t you a full-fledged adventure? Why?”

Dreeps is meant to be a role-playing game that literally plays itself while you go on about your day. It stars a little robot boy that walks through various settings during your waking hours. While you’re working, jogging, and eating sandwiches, your robot pal is wandering the woods, fighting monsters, talking to the people he meets, and gaining experience points.

In time, the robot boy runs out of stamina. Ideally you’re supposed to put him to bed before you tuck in for the night. Then you both wake up with the game’s alarm. You resume your desk job, and robot boy resumes fighting and traveling. Spoiler: you have the raw deal in this relationship.

It’s largely hands-off but there are small moments of interactivity, like setting your alarm or tapping the robot boy to get him back into action after a rough fight. Still, Dreeps‘ “Look but don’t touch” design is its greatest weakness, because it shows off a world that should exist.

The robot boy himself is adorable. The world he walks through is populated by robots and techno-vermin. He travels through ruins, woods, and dragon-shaped buildings. You can’t directly partake of any of it. You can’t even hear the conversations he has with his creator, or the characters he meets on the road. Oh gosh. Why? Can’t we at least customize the robot boy’s attire? Please?

For now, Dreeps is the world’s most charming digital alarm clock. With more and more passive apps like David O’Reilly’s MTN hitting the mainstream, it’s understandable why we’re expected to be mere observers in this little robot boy’s life. It hardly seems fair, though. We deserve to meet him, and he deserves to meet us.

Maybe someday.