Bag of Dreams News

Hey Dreamers!

We're incredibly excited to share that Bag of Dreams is part of this year’s Steam Next Fest! The demo has been live for a while, and thanks to your feedback and support, the game has grown into what it is today. Let’s dive in what we got in store for you!

The Demo we’ve prepared for you includes:

1. 2 playable characters, including the Sandman and the unlockable character Mara
   
2. 3 playable decks: the Basic Deck, plus the unlockable Pet Deck and Swift Deck
   
3. 4 unlockable difficulty levels, offering increasing challenge and replayability
   

[h2] 🏃‍♂️SPEEDRUN CHALLENGE 💨[/h2]

We’re challenging you to set the fastest time in Lucidity 1 as the Sandman in our Speedrun Mode!
The top runner will take home a PRO X2 Superstrike from Logitech, generously sponsored by
ESA Speedrunning Events! ✨

[h3]How to compete?[/h3]
1. Complete your run in Speedrun Mode.
2. Open Show Stats at the end of your run and take a screenshot.
3. Join our Discord and upload your screenshot in the speedrun-submission channel.
4. Submissions closing on March 8th!

Ready to prove you’re the fastest Sandman?🧙‍♂️

[h2]🌟Improvement[/h2]
Tutorial Overhaul: While not too big for those who have been playing already, it does hopefully make onboarding a bit better! Instead of a forced tutorial and unorganized How To Play screens there will now be a scenario-based tutorial system, currently existing out of 5 chapters!

1. Fragments & Synergies
2. Nightmares & Stability
3. Shopping Time
4. Bond Pets & Sanctuaries
5. Swifty Thresholds.

Even if you've already played the game, feel free to give them a try and drop your feedback!

[h2]What's next for Bag of Dreams?[/h2]
Well, for starters, we have improved the translations and we'll be reintroducing multiple languages in the near future: as a demo patch! Even then, we're always looking for feedback, so feel free to send over whatever you find!

Besides that, we still got a huge list of feedback to go through, most of which will be added to the full game. Only parts that seem highly important for the demo we might consider adding as a demo patch, but development on the full game has to go on as well! 💖

And just so you know: Kepsert been cooking so hard, he received a phone call and they asked him if he want to be the next host of Masterchef! Looking forward to sharing more soon! Oh no, Avis has finished all the required art and I can ensure you: IT'S AMAZING!!

Enjoy the Bag of Dreams Demo! Feedback is always welcome, as community input has been an important part of shaping the game so far.💜

And also, if you loved playing Bag of Dreams, please consider leaving a Steam review! ✨

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4224580/Bag_of_Dreams_Demo/

Lots of things are coming up!

For starters, I want to apologize for this major change: I've temporarily disabled the localization in Bag of Dreams. After some discussion we've concluded that the localization is simply not up to par with the quality I want to uphold in this game. We'll be looking to reimplement a better version of the localization in the future. 🫶

Now the good part: Many of you were feeling overwhelmed by all the different fragments and in need of a glossary/encyclopedia kind of screen where you could overview all that's in the game! Initially this was on the roadmap for full release, but I've decided to add this to the demo to improve the demo experience! But also, you now get to discover your cards one by one, and read them at your own pace! 🤓

Next to that, a bunch of people from the ESA speedrunner community have been really into the game, speedrunning it internally. As someone who usually builds platformers with built-in speedrun timers, figured I could reuse some speedrun code to add a speedrun timer into Bag of Dreams as well!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4224580/Bag_of_Dreams_Demo
[h2]🌱Quality Of Life[/h2]

Encyclopedia: Now has an encyclopedia button on the home page. This encyclopedia will have all fragments currently in the game, the nightmares, but also the core memories and keywords. HOWEVER, they will not be immediately visible..

Memories: Fragments are initially memories that appear in your dreams. When you run into them the first time... you might've forgotten about them! You can now click a fragment to remember it, which allows players to learn about the different fragments one at a time, at their own pace.

Speedrun Mode: This is an experimental mode. It's simple: click the Speedrun button on the home page, click on "Start", and you'll be dropped into a Sandman, Basic deck, Lucidity 1 run with a timer. The timer pauses during loading.

Stats: A full stats screen will be added in the future, but for now, at the end of a game, it'll show you the stats you've achieved during a specific run (including final speedrun time if applicable!) If there are additional stats you'd like to see... let me know in the steam discussions or on our discord!

Run Restarts: Settings menu will have a new button to restart runs. It'll restart the run using the settings of the current run!

Confirmation Dialog Boxes: When removing a fragment (first time only), going back to main menu, or restarting a run, you'll now get a dialog popup asking you to confirm, first!

Projected Nightmare Fuel: There's now a little indicator that'll show you have much Nightmare Fuel you'd be getting ending the dream right then!

Dopamine: Added some more shader-built effects throughout the game, but I won't spoil where. Give the game a go and find out for yourself!

[h2]⚖️Balance Changes[/h2]

[h3]Basic Bag:[/h3]
Afterglow:
- Dust: 4 -> 6
- Essence: 2 -> 1
- Dust Cost: 15 -> 14

Chandelier:
- Stability: 5 -> 4

Essence Shrine:
- Stability: 6 -> 5

[h3]Pets Bag:[/h3]
Anchoring Leash:
- Dust: 3 -> 2

Chime off Clarity:
- Dust: 4 -> 3

Dragon Queen:
- Base Bond: 1 -> 2

Fairy Mouse:
- Base Bond: 1 -> 0
- Effect's Early Threshold: 9 -> 10
- Effect's Essence Bonus: 3 -> 2

Mooncat:
- Effect's Base Percentage Boost: 15 -> 20
- Effect's Multiplier Now Rounds Up

Moonhowl Beacon:
- Effect's Stability Multiplier: 2 -> 3

Oracle Goose:
- Base Bond: 1 -> 2

Pawprint Archive:
- Stability: -4 -> -2

Pet Sanctuary:
- Stability: 15 -> 12

Treasure Pike:
- Base Bond: 1 -> 2

[h3]Swift Bag:[/h3]
Dream Drifter:
- Effect's Early Essence Bonus: 4 -> 3

Limit Breaker:
- Dust: 2 -> 2
- Stability: 5 -> 4
- Effect's Late Threshold: 4 -> 6
- Dust Cost: 15 -> 13

Second Wind:
- Stability: 4 -> 3
- Dust Cost: 10 -> 11

World Record:
- Stability: 15 -> 12

[h3]Nightmares:[/h3]
Injury:
- Effect's Fragment Amount: 3 -> 2
- The -7 for 3 fragments, if successfully triggering rush wasn't too bad... until you had 3 Injury fragments in the dream at the same time. Oof

Past Friends:
- Effect's Fragment Amount: 4 -> 3

[h2]🐛Bugs Squashed[/h2]
- Chandelier effect now properly counts the amount of Soft Pillows left or right of it. Two soft pillows, give 2 times the bonus!
- Soft Pillows effect now properly counts the amount of Chandeliers above or below it. So here too, you can get double the bonus!
- When a Terrors spawned a nightmare, this could potentially drop the stability to 0, as intended. The fragment placed triggering the new nightmare spawn would then raise the stability again, causing a softlock. SQUASHED! (Fingers crossed)
- Removed a bug where TERROR SPAWN spawns could sometimes trigger a double life lost.
- Fixed a bug where secondary themes/decks no longer showed up on certain fragments.
- Giraffe Wizard no longer echoes effects that won't do anything, such as passives.
- Fixed a bug where a Quick Draft triggering multiple times would stack up the lowered stability and apply it all to the first fragment drawn.
- Swift Victory now properly named to "World Record".

I've got a long list of feedback to implement, and a new tutorial system I'm hoping to get in prior to Steam Nextfest (which would definitely be the last demo patch even though I've been saying that for a while lmao), but for now, I'll be headed off to participate in a charity event for the upcoming week and a half.

I hope my friends at Two Trick Pony will take good care of you all and see you soon!💜

Thank you for all the feedback given so far! 💜

I'm working hard to get the common points of feedback and improvement ideas playtested and implemented and I'm having a great time! I feel like with every patch I create, the gameplay experience gets even better! With that said, if you agree (or even if you disagree), go over to our steam demo page and leave us a review... NOW (Push us in that algorithm hehe)! ✨

Some localization changes, Hyperlink finally has its own effect (which directly makes Nanobots stronger too.. so I've nerfed that a little!) and the new nightmares I've been promising! Let me know what you think, or whether you'd prefer the old nightmares, all your feedback is appreciated!

The new nightmares are meant to counteract the snowballing that's been happening early game, because all nightmares essentially just said "Cause big negative number" and if you didn't draw the right cards to deal with them... too bad. With these new nightmares, you might find yourself playing around the nightmares in different ways. 👀

This update includes:

• New Nightmares
  
• Balance changes across all decks
  
• Localization fixes
  
• A brand-new effect for Hyperlink (with Nanobots adjustments to match)
  

As always, let me know what you think! All feedback is appreciated!

[h3]🆕 New Nightmares[/h3]
These new nightmares are designed to counter early-game snowballing. Previously, most nightmares simply caused “big negative numbers,” and if you didn’t draw the right cards… well, too bad.

Now, nightmares encourage different ways of playing around them, instead of brute-forcing removal.

⚠️ Note: These changes significantly affect overall Stability balance. Things feel good based on my own playstyle and internal testing at Two Trick Pony, but this is still a work in progress, your input is extremely valuable!

[h3]😈Terrors[/h3]
NEW Passive Effect:
- Unless negated, every 3 fragments placed spawns a Terror Spawn on a random adjacent space.
(This can also be countered by surrounding the nightmare with fragments!)
- Stability: -20 → -9
- Dust: 1 → 2

Terror Spawn (NEW)
- Dust: 1
- Essence: 1
- Stability: -10
- Effect: None

[h3]💔Past Friends[/h3]
NEW Passive Effect:
- Every Pets Deck fragment placed in its row permanently gets -2 Stability.
- Sacrifices itself after 4 fragments are placed.
- Dust: 1 → 0
- Essence: 1 → 2
- Stability: -20 → -10

[h3]🤕Injury[/h3]
NEW Passive Effect:
- For the next 3 placements, each Rush effect successfully triggered causes -7 Stability.
- Dust: 0 → 2
- Essence: 0 → 1
- Stability: -20 → -8

[h3]⚖️ Balance Changes[/h3]
Basic Deck Afterglow
- Stability: 8 → 5
- Nightmare Stability Reduction: 35% → 25%

Bag of Dust
- Stability: 6 → 4

Campfire
- Stability: 8 → 6

Chandelier
- Essence: 3 → 2
- Stability: 6 → 5
- Effect Essence Bonus: 1 → 2

Dreamcatcher
- Stability: 3 → 1

Dustshroom
- Stability: 5 → 4

Inception
- Dust: 2 → 3
- Essence: 0 → 1
- Stability: 5 → 6

Soft Pillows
- Dust: 4 → 3
- Stability: 4 → 3
- Effect Dust Bonus: 2 → 3

Pets Deck
Anchoring Leash
- Stability: 2 → 0

Chime of Clarity
- Essence: 3 → 2
- Stability: 5 → 0
- Dust Cost: 11 → 10
- Effect's Stability Per Bond Pet: 2 -> 3

Chrono Trickster
- Stability: -3 → -2

Cozy Bed
- Stability: 11 → 6

Dog Whistle
- Dust: 3 → 4
- Stability: 3 → 2

Dragon Queen
- Stability: 10 → 7

Dream Hound:
- Stability: 4 -> 0

Fairy Mouse
- Dust: 3 → 2
- Stability: 5 → 3

Happy Treats
- Dust: 2 → 3
- Stability: -4 → 0

Heavenly Snacks
- Dust: 3 → 2
- Stability: 4 → 2

Homenest
- Stability: 0 → 2

Howl of Reunion
- Stability: -8 → -7

Mooncat
- Stability: 4 -> 3
- Effect's Base Percentage Boost: 10% -> 15%
- Effect's Max Percentage Boost: 40% -> 60%

Mooncollar
- Stability: 0 → 2

Moonhowl Beacon
- Stability: 2 → 0

Mystic Duck
- Stability: 2 → -4
- Base Bond Value: 1 → 2

Oracle Goose
- Dust: 2 → 3
- Stability: 5 → 4

Pawprint Archive
- Income: 20% → 25%

Starglow Bone
- Stability: 2 → 3

Suncollar
- Stability: 0 → 2

Treasure Pike
- Stability: 9 → 6

Turtle King
- Dust: 3 -> 1
- Essence: 3 -> 4
- Stability: 0 -> 2

Swift Deck
Dream Drifter
- Dust: 2 → 3
- Dust Cost: 8 → 10

Dust Burst
- Dust: 4 → 3
- Dust Cost: 9 → 10

Essence Gate
- Stability: 6 → 5
- Dust Cost: 10 → 11

Fairy Drift
- Stability: 0 → -2
- Dust Cost: 12 → 13

Hyperlink NEW Effect:
- Rush - If at least 2 Hyperlinks are adjacently chained, heal 1 Stability for each Hyperlink in the chain.
- Stability: 4 → 2

Limit Breaker
- Essence: 1 → 2
- Stability: 11 → 5

Nanobots
- Dust: 2 → 1
- Essence: 2 → 1
- Dust Cost: 10 → 13
- Stability: 6 → 3

Null Spark
- Dust Cost: 11 → 12

Quick Draft
- Essence: 0 → 1
- Stability: -4 → -3
- Dust Cost: 9 → 11

Rush Bloom
- Stability: 6 → 4
- Dust Cost: 10 → 11

Second Wind
- Stability: 5 → 4

Swiftstorm Engine
- Dust: 5 → 4
- Stability: -6 → -3
- Dust Cost: 14 → 13

Talent Scout
- Dust: 4 → 3
- Essence: 2 → 4
- Stability: 5 → 2
- Dust Cost: 10 → 13

Taylor
- Dust: 2 → 3
- Dust Cost: 17 → 16

Time Machine
- Dust Cost: 14 → 15
- Stability: 2 → 0

[h3]🐛 Bug Fixes[/h3]

• The character unlock requirement now actually uses its localization key.
  
• Fixed an issue in the Nanobots feedback localization.
  
• Fixed an incorrect card name for Swiftstorm Engine.
  
• Fixed a bug where the stability icon didn't show when stability on a fragment was changed.
  
• Fixed an issue where Second Wind was showing an incorrect feedback pop-up.
  

[h3]✨ Improvements[/h3]

• Afterglow now shows a proper feedback pop-up when activated.
  
• More clarity to the Core Memory (win condition) cards. They're now shiny... and it literally has a header that says "WIN CONDITION!" (until further notice!)
  
• Nightmare negation now has a priority queue so those sneaky Null Sparks don't negate that nightmare the Turtle King worked hard for, pulling it towards him!
  
• Made it so that numbers and the relevant sprites stick together, so they never get split by a new line.
  

Please share your thoughts in the Steam Discussions or join us on Discord!



Thanks for playing and keep dreaming! 🌙✨

Took some time off the full game progress to work on some demo changes that have been requested quite a lot!

Just a small patch with some simple tweaks, more clarity, localization, and card design changes will come up along the way either in the demo or in the full game, so stay tuned!

And don't forget to leave your feedback, I'm on it!I

Do also want to specifically point out the mentions of the game being very snowbally if you end up drawing too many nightmares early. I'm currently working on a new implementation of nightmares that'll come with a possibility to counterplay the nightmares in ways different than just negating or stabilizing them.

They'll also have new effects rather than simply "add negative number", basically. Looking forward to share more in the future!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4224580/Bag_of_Dreams_Demo
[h3]Balance Changes[/h3]
Bond Pets: Some changes have been made to shift focus from some of the very much played cards towards some of the lesser picked cards. The collars specifically are also intended to be a big part of the Bond Pets bonding mechanic, which these changes hopefully incentivize!

[h3]General:[/h3]

• Changed the price scaling of Bond Pets from 7 -> 8
  
• Changed base price of Bond Pets from 5 -> 7
  

[h3]Pet Deck Changes[/h3]
Anchoring Leash:
- Dust Price: 11 -> 12

Chime of Clarity:
- Dust: 2 -> 4
- Stability: 6 -> 5
- Dust Price: 10 -> 11

Cozy Bed:
- Essence: 2 -> 1
- Dust Price: 10 -> 11

Chrono Trickster:
- Dust Price: 10 -> 11

Dog Whistle:
- Dust: 4 -> 3
- Dust Price: 8 -> 10

Homenest:
- Dust: 2 -> 3
- Stability 2 -> 3

Howl of Reunion:
- Stability: -10 -> -8
- Dust Price: 12 -> 14

Moon Collar:
- Essence: 2 -> 3
- Dust Price: 10 -> 8

Sun Collar:
- Dust: 3 -> 4
- Dust Price: 10 -> 8

[h3]Swift Deck Changes[/h3]
Fairy Drift:
- Dust Price: 9 -> 12

Swiftstorm Engine:
- Dust Price: 12 -> 14

Talent Scout:
- Essence: 1 -> 2

Time Machine:
- Dust Price: 11 -> 14

Taylor:
- Dust Price: 13 -> 17

[h3]Bugs:[/h3]

• Fixed a bug where Happy Treats would soft-lock the game.
  
• Fixed a bug where the correct card names sometimes wouldn't be shown in the localized feedback.
  
• Changed the colour of the keyword "Late" to the intended colour.
  
• Fixed a bug where the game wouldn't game over after passing the max amount of nights.
  
• Fixed an incorrect feedback popup on Pet Sanctuary.
  
• Fixed an issue where Oracle Goose would highlight the incorrect Dream Spaces.
  

[h3]Improvements:[/h3]

• Improved deck colours to have a more distinctive difference between the different themes.
  
• Fragments that have already had their effect triggered, or negating max nightmares, or nightmares that are negated, will now slightly fade out as an indication.
  

As usual I'll keep my eyes on incoming feedback / heavy unbalanced fragments/setups and update the demo during its lifetime while full game development continues!

Wishlist our game and join our Discord community!

This update was all about accessibility, clarity and reducing friction for players around the world.

As developers, we spend a lot of time thinking about how systems are explained. Fragments, tutorials, UI prompts, button labels. It became very clear that no matter how well something is designed, it’s always better when it’s experienced in your native language. Understanding mechanics, onboarding smoothly and feeling comfortable in the UI makes a huge difference to how the game feels to play… and yeah, it’s just so much better, right? 😉

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4224580/Bag_of_Dreams_Demo
We've added 16 new languages to Bag of Dreams! ✨

Newly supported languages:

• English
  
• Turkish
  
• Portuguese + Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• Spanish + Spanish (Latin American)
  
• Dutch
  
• German
  
• French
  
• Italian
  
• Polish
  
• Japanese
  
• Chinese
  
• Korean
  
• Thai
  
• Vietnamese
  
• Russian
  

This is a big step for us, but it’s not the final one. If you spot any issues, inconsistencies, or awkward phrasing, please let us know as soon as possible. Localization is an ongoing process and your feedback genuinely helps us improve it.

Thank you for taking the time to play Bag of Dreams 💜