This oddball game about a psychic infant is already winning awards

There are some video games that just feel impossible to follow up. That was the case with 2021’s Before Your Eyes, an incredibly unique indie that players controlled by blinking thanks to eye-tracking technology. It’s a thematically ingenious game that turns “blink and you’ll miss it” into a gameplay mechanic. It’s a perfect idea — almost too perfect. How can you possibly match something so tightly crafted?

The developers at Nice Dream knew more than anyone what a challenge that would be. Rather than telling the same story twice, the studio knew it would have to both be more creative and perhaps a bit less high concept. The end result of that thinking is something both familiar, but also entirely out of left field: Goodnight Universe. While it evolves Nice Dream’s face-tracking tech, the story leans more into screwball comedy as it puts players in control of a psychic infant at the center of a sci-fi mystery. That change seems to be working out; the project already won its first award at this year’s Tribeca Fest, beating out anticipated indies like Skate Story and Neva.

I can already see why. I got a hands-on (or head-on, more accurately) look at Goodnight Universe at Tribeca Fest, showing off how much its face-tracking control scheme has evolved. Though it may not be the perfect visual metaphor that Before Your Eyes is, Nice Dream draws some surprising links between parenthood and game design here that could make for another emotional hit.

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Spiritual sequels

Before Your Eyes was a long project for Nice Dream. Despite being a movie-length game, it took the studio seven years to make. While that success motivated the team heading into its follow-up, it was also a bit of a burden. Trying to fit a very specific control scheme custom built for one game into