Please Wake Up
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
“Please Wake Up” is a metafictional memory horror game that will hack your brain. The game uses psychological techniques and illusions to present many horrifying truths about the nature of memory, perception, and reality.
It has simple and accessible, yet engaging, gameplay that will make you fear your own mind. The game also has an extremely experimental narrative that will leave you questioning the nature of your reality.
Expect the full game, which has FIVE LEVELS, to take ~2 hours to complete. The game will constantly be getting updates with feedback I get. When you download a new version of the game, your progress will still be saved across the different versions!
Play the demo if you just want a quick taste of the gameplay! It takes on average ~20-30 minutes to complete, although you are not necessarily expected to finish the demo (it's pretty difficult relative to the game).
*WARNING*
THE FULL GAME USES OPTICAL ILLUSIONS THAT CAN HAVE MINOR VISUAL EFFECTS LASTING FOR UP TO 3 MONTHS.
VIEW THE ILLUSIONS AT YOUR OWN RISK.
THE DEVELOPER IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY NEGATIVE OR DAMAGING EFFECTS THAT CAN OCCUR AS A RESULT OF THIS GAME.
WE RECOMMEND PROVIDING THIS WARNING FOR ANYONE ELSE WHO MAY BE VIEWING.
USE OF THESE ILLUSIONS CAN BE TURNED OFF IN THE SETTINGS.
The below text is if you have any concerns after playing the full game.
MINOR SPOILERS
If after playing the game you're worried about your perception of color, the effect should go away after viewing the test image (the title screen) for a few minutes each day for a few days. You can find more information about it here.
If after playing the game you're questioning your memories, here are the facts. The Monopoly Man indeed never had a monocle and Curious George does not have a tail. These types of shared false memories is sometimes referred to as the Mandela Effect.
If after playing the game you're interested in the research presented, there's a "References" page in the Credits that you can see. Most of the science and stories presented are true.
If after playing the game you're worried that your reality is just a hallucination, I'm afraid I can't do much to help you there.
Want to find out more? Wishlist the game on Steam and follow on Twitter!
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Full Game Released!Jan 30, 2021
- A Lot of Updates!Oct 25, 2020
- Some New UpdatesOct 24, 2020
- Minor Update!Oct 24, 2020
- Beta Testing the Full Game on Itch!Oct 22, 2020
- Beta Testing on Steam!Oct 21, 2020
- Making Progress!Oct 12, 2020
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
I know this is coming rather late, but Steam isn't letting me review on there so here goes:
I don't understand why some people are so rude, trying to hold an indie dev to insane AAA type standards. I think, despite some problems I had with it that have simple work arounds, that the game was TOP NOTCH.
I don't know whether I bought it or had it gifted. I just wanted an indie game to play that looked engaging for stream. I watched the video in the steam store and thought "OH, a spot the differences game, I LOVE these." I love the atmosphere, the pace, and the radio segments. Holy cow do they make it interesting and immersive. You don't have much time to follow along what they're saying and that's both good and bad. Good because it makes the game harder. Bad because I want to know what they're saying. And the ending. It was so good. Thank you. I hope you make more, 10/10 I will buy it and play it!
Check out the video for everything you need to know about this game.
A very interesting game that tests your mind to the limit , there are interesting stories if you pay attention while playing, suggesting that your mind can have fabricated memories and there are "real cases" proving this theory.
In this video there is only the first part of the adventure and a small taste of what is to come, so far this game is very interesting and very engaging, more parts will follow on my Youtube channel.
I had me soo intrigued and my fullest attention. I'll just leave it at that hahaha the conversation was super interesting, but at the same time the situation was eerie considering the circumstances. I'm curious, is there really more to the game? Or is it all one big setup? Lol I feel like I'm being messed with!
Great work!
Hey!! Thank you for letting us know about your game!! It was a lot of fun and we had a blast playing it! Here's the vid if you want to check it out ^-^
Awesome! Thanks for playing!
Hi. Quite a nice game. Will the full version be commercial or free?
To be sure, it's just the first stage where you have to spot the differences? Is this stage already beatable? Had a couple of tries (5 or so) and I'm quite sure I didn't make any false choices. However, the jumpscare-kiddo keeps appearing. Is this a bug? Or did I make mistakes without me noticing?
Good job, I like this.
It will be on Steam!
The first stage is beatable, make sure you look around rapidly! I'm not aware of such a bug, but I do know that many players make mistakes without noticing.
If you're playing the demo, then it will be difficult to beat (things change very rapidly). The actual game is much easier.
psiho
At this point I'm 100 percent certain I didn't finish the demo properly, but overall I thought this was a really cool, fresh take on horror games! I may have to try my hand at the full version! Great work!
Hello everyone First let me tell you all Happy Halloween, Thought Id change things up a bit and make a scary video which I did so I hope you enjoy if we get the video 5 likes I will do a part to (note) this video and many more after this are the start of the new content I plan on doing so I hope you enjoy.
Thanks for playing!
NP Fam Game is scary yet fun at the same time I love it.
I don't scare easily but last night I couldn't finish the game I was becoming paranoid. Very good game would recommend!!
Thanks for the recommendation, haha! I will make the game easier so that it's less frustrating I think.
Thanks for playing!
I got through chapter 2 and a little of 3 I confused myself on 3 which isn't hard to do
Awesome! Yeah, level 3 is supposed to be a bit of a mind-bender. I think from this video it seems like I should tune down the frequency of those interruptions. Thanks for playing and recording!
Hi there, I am DragonExplosion and I am a youtuber. Please leave a like and subscribe at my channel.
When I started playing the game, I kinda disliked the first part where you need to answer questions for the cognitive test because I did not know who was Courage Monkey XDDDDD or the question about the monopoly man. I took quite a long time to get past that part unfortunately so maybe you can make it more relevant to the genral public XDDDD.
The gameplay and mechanics of how it worked is something I loved a lot, its like playing spot the difference. However, some things you might consider changing is the colour scheme of the lines that appear on the screen to deter the player from finding the differences as its kinda blinding or might lead to seizures.
The storyline is great as well, I would love to learn more about the story. I haven't completed the game yet, I am on the fourth level right now. I kinda missed out a recording on the third level so my video only contains 2 levels. I think another thing to mention is that it is difficult to play the game for prolonged periods due to constant turning to look around, making players feel a little dizzy. This problem is kinda tough to solve but its fine if it is not possible to be solved as it is part of the game mechanic.
I would love to see the child that appears at the end to be an original character and has an original design as well. It would make the game more appealing and interesting as well if the child had a story to it also.
Overall, the game is interesting and scary. Many of my friends got scared while playing it.
I wish you good luck in your future endeavours and thank you for inviting me to play your game :).
Oh wow thanks for all the feedback! I definitely agree about the part in the beginning! I'll just make the answers not kick you back, haha. I agree about the issue with the effect, but that's actually a core part of the game!
Hmm. I see what you're saying about the dizziness. Ideally I would like the player to be able to beat the game in one sitting in ~2 hours. Do you think right now it's too hard to do that (because of difficulty or dizziness)?
The story is definitely a little bit too subtle right now. The child is actually mentioned at the end of levels 1 and 2 as the child who got kidnapped! He matches the description, but it does make sense that it's hard to tell given that nobody is going to focus on the jump scare, haha. Later in the game, the dialogue should hopefully make it a little bit more clear.
Regarding the game being too hard, I think that a regular person would not be able to beat each level on the first try and it is going to take multiple tries for sure to beat each level unless you have extremely good memory. The dizziness does affect the player in trying to complete the game as they will be kinda disoriented. I have been playing the game in time intervals so I am not very sure whether other players feel the same as me.
I am happy that you already have planned out how things will go for the boy and the core part of the game. So do tell me if you have a massive update to the game. I will try to play it when I am free. Thank you :).
really good game. Please check out my play through below x
Thanks so much for playing! Love the ending edit of the jump scare, haha.
wonderful game and wonderful storytelling very well done i can't wait to see more
Thanks so much for playing! Hopefully people would like to see more of it!
So far they do so I will be playing more :)
Played until I got it wrong which didn't take long cos my memory is shite! But it's not my cup of tea.
Thanks for playing! I definitely agree the game isn't everybody's cup of tea, haha.
I definitely plan on making a full game video but I wanted to make a video on the demo to give people a taste of the game. I LOVE IT! Definitely one of the most interesting games i've played on here. Especially because i'm a psychology major, the concept greatly relates to my studies. Thanks once again for reaching out to me to play this game! Can't wait to work on making a video of the full thing!
I loved your playthrough of the demo! I'm so glad you liked it! I definitely think that this would be particularly interesting for psychology majors, haha. (Also, quick tip: Pay attention to the texture of the floor and walls). Would love to see a full playthrough! I'm currently in the process of tuning the difficulty based on feedback.
It was fun and challenging but didn't Finish it. Still looking for the ending. Great game!
Ah, yeah in this version of the game it wasn't exactly clear that when you get back to the title screen after finishing a level, if you hit "Continue" it should move you onto the next level. I've also made the easier to finish, so if you give it another shot you should be able to make it to the ending!
Outstanding! While this game might not suit everyone, I personally think its great! The game has a very creepy vibe, fun and casual mechanics, and a ton of great, eye-opening information! Great Job Dev! Thank you for letting me know about your game!
Thanks so much! I definitely agree that it's not for everyone. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Nice game, a real mind bender 👍 Played both Full & Demo didn't finish it..
Thanks so much for playing! There are five levels in the main game, but I've made it easier to beat the levels so you can reach them!
better without the jump
thanks for playing! yeah the jump is definitely not the focus of the game, but is meant to just add to the uncertainty/tension.
This is a pretty neat idea. My memory is kind of crap but I think I did pretty good. Didn't finish it though.
Awesome! Thanks so much for playing! You definitely did pretty well and you provided a lot of great feedback (such as the wheelchair gaps being an issue). You were very close to winning.
If you hit "retry", the initial configurations of the objects don't change, though if you hit "New Game," they do. I'll try to make this more clear!
oh that definitely would have been a lot easier :)
I'll have to give it another shot.
Thanks for watching!
I was worried about this as my memory is genuinely horrendous but thankfully my brain didn't fail me too hard! This was a great concept, thanks for getting in touch and suggesting it!
thanks so much for the feedback! Great point about being able to see the jump scare approaching. I'll take that into account!
i love the idea of the game and the grahics were great and ran great and super clear even on my crappy little windows 10 pc. love the game, i'll be supporting future work for sure!
Awesome! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I was worried that it might not run too well on lower-end computers -- it's great to know that it worked well for you!
Great little concept there! Looking forward to seeing what you do with it if you decide to extend on it! 😃 definitely started to make me feel uneasy as time went on! Great job! 😁
I played this game on the latest episode of my 'Quick Scares' series on my YouTube Channel! Check it out below! 😃👻
Thanks for playing! You did way better than anyone I've seen before, haha. And thanks for the feedback/ideas!
Nice concept. I had fun playing it.
Thanks for playing! Glad you liked the idea.
Great Concept and good scare for just a demo.
Thanks for playing! And also thanks for the feedback you've provided -- I've made some changes and mentioned your help in the latest dev log update.
cool, I will have to check it out.
the changes are relatively small, so it's not yet worth a revisit. Will let you know if there is any important changes!
I will probably try it just for myself.
i love the idea of the game! very cool way to make a memory game haha, sadly i did not get to win :(
Glad you liked it and thanks so much for reviewing it! Balancing the game has been pretty difficult, but I plan to have an easier tutorial level when I release the full game.