Dare to Dream - on PD 666
       (Mouse-controlled Windows adventure for PC)

             Reviewed by Julian Gregory

This is the first Windows graphic adventure I have come across. I
have to own up and say that Windows is not my favourite operating
system. I am old-fashioned enough to be able to use DOS.  The game
should run on most PCs. It requires at least a 286, VGA graphics,
Windows 3.x, a mouse and 1M of RAM.

Installation is, however, simple enough, even for me. Use the
Read.me file accompanying the program. Dare to Dream is the first
part of a trilogy, but the only bit which is shareware.  The order
form says that it costs $30 to buy all three parts.  Let me say at
this point that if you enjoy any shareware and use it for more
than about a week you really should register with either the
authors or sometimes they have UK agents you can use.

In the first part of Dare to Dream you play Tyler Norris, a ten
year-old boy who has experienced various adolescent problems
recently; school and his paper round being just two.  Dare to
Dream is set as Tyler falls asleep and begins to dream.  And, boy,
does he have some strange dreams. It is your task to find out
where he is and how he can wake up again.

When loaded the screen is divided into various sections. The main
part, obviously, shows the locations, the rest consists of various
icons for Saving, Restoring, checking your inventory etc. Being
experienced adventurers you will all know what I mean.

The game is all controlled by the mouse. When moving the mouse
pointer over the screen it will change to a magnifying-glass as it
moves over anything of interest. I find this to be rather
restricting in that, if the cursor doesn't change, you know that
object is irrelevant to the game.

Anyway, how does the game play? The Read-me file is essential
reading as it gives details of the first few moves and also how to
solve the first puzzle. We now come to my main complaint about
Dare to Dream. The puzzles are rather illogical to say the least.
Just why would you think to use a dead fish to open a door???
The game has two modes of play, easy and harder. The easy route
gives you some items which you need to acquire yourself in the
harder way. I have to say that I played it using the easy method,
partly because I need to get some way through so that I could
write this review.

Having played, I think, most of part 1, I have to say that I
surprised myself in that I started to enjoy Dare to Dream the more
I played it. It is the type of game where you can wander around
not really knowing what to do and then something clicks and the
buzz from making the next bit of progress surprised enough this
old, experienced adventurer. Not necessary a good adventurer, but
certainly an old one.

I feel that this is a game which is worth trying out. At shareware
prices you haven't got too much to lose.
                              - o -