Thanks to Ratalaika Games for the code for this game!

Dreaming Sarah is a fun, side-scrolling adventure game with a medical concept of its heroine, Sarah, being in a coma. The game is essentially Sarah’s dream while she is a coma, although from having a knowledge of medicine from being in a family with a strong scientific background, I am aware that REM activity often doesn’t occur in comas. Nonetheless, with that aside, that doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of the game one bit.

Mechanincs of gameplay are quite simple. Dreaming Sarah is a side-scroller, so you can go back to previous screens if you miss something. Sarah can jump, swim and talk. The control stick moves her and Y lets you speak to other characters in the dream, as well as also move certain objects, such as an elevator switch and windmills. The first level is a forest area with a body of water Sarah can jump into and this is the first puzzle of the game. This first puzzle is a rectangular-like device with something lighted up that you are supposed to open to go deeper into the level and it’s not clear what to do. I finally looked up a let’s play and discovered I could actually go back to the first screen and turn to the right (which did not occur to me naturally) and in doing so, I was able to progress and find the umbrella, which allows you to go forward. I then realized the rest of the level was in a right to left mechanism; as opposed to the typical left-to-right some other side scrollers use.

Gameplay is simple as the story progresses- you basically fetch items and put them in certain locations, or use them to do actions, like gliding with the umbrella. After descending the elevator, you find a hat. Further on in this level, you meet a man who gives you seeds, and afterwards, you find the boy who is missing his hat. You give it to him and he says ‘now my parents won’t be mad at me.’ I finally figured out the puzzle of the rectangle, and it is only opened by coming up to three certain flowers in the level and only by twisting each of them in different ways. Quite clever, and not a mechanism I would have thought of. Completing this puzzle allows you to descend into later areas of the game and other more interesting levels. The game basically is a series of small puzzles that lead to more puzzles which progresses the story.

The soundtrack is appropriate for a chill setting but it isn’t really anything to write home about. There is a continual track that plays and the sound effects that go along are appropriate.

The moral score of Finding Sarah is not perfect, but it’s pretty clean. I did include a warning for the theme of the game being based on her being in a coma. While being in a coma has no moral significance, this is a disturbing theme for some and I have included a warning accordingly. There is no blood or significant violence or gore. Foul language is not used, and there isn’t even any crude language or joking. There is zero nudity or sexual content. There is a character meditating who says ‘I am one with the universe', so I deducted some points in the occult category. The cultural and moral area does not have issues either. All in all, this is good, squeaky clean fun.

To summarize, Finding Sarah is a lot of fun, even if it is a little confusing at first. Outside of a single New Age reference, it should be fairly clean for most players.  I can recommend it from both a gameplay and a morality perspective.