It’s the pit of summer, which means humid weeks of midday naps, each ending with my brain feeling reset. A clear dream can be taken apart. You can record its sequence and images with some certainty, separate its meanings. The frayed pieces, the scattered fragments of the dream, are much more difficult to piece together. They escape you, floating in a dark void like blinking eyes hidden in the veil of a starry sky.
In Dreams in the peacock’s housemaybe you’re still sleeping. Perhaps you have many eyes to see through the darkness around you. You could be Argus, Hera’s mythological bodyguard, whose many eyes made him difficult to overwhelm. Perhaps you will retrace his steps. Maybe you’re just a butterfly. This short but decadent text adventure hides many secrets, including the exact type of game you’re playing.
Waking up in a small room, you are presented with a mirror, a door and a hammer. Doing the obvious thing (breaking them all into pieces) reveals a larger, darker estate, set in a quiet bog like a centuries-old hunting lodge. Throughout, you’ll come across discarded journals, apparently written by Argus in a fit of hatred.
Here is my masterpiece What you’re really looking for are the Eyes of Argus, which will give you access to the mysterious Sanctum Sanctorum, just a short walk from the mansion. Solve puzzles to find each eye, but secure them at the risk of a very viciously lucid dream.
The dream reveals that there is more to this textual adventure than what the keyboard can offer. You are placed in a maze of bright colors EGA and glitchy wispy monsters. Go to a dead end and confront the minotaur, who will sit you down to watch a sitcom rendition of Argus’ memories. From there Peacock House can go in all kinds of directions, from a tarot reading to A Child Pix style painting simulationa turn-based RPG battle against your most toxic traits.
The puzzles are never too difficult, and like most text adventures, you’ll find yourself rephrasing an action here and there. But the teased, dreamlike logic and presentation of Peacock House are a mid-summer treat. A twilight space where real and unreal mix. Plus, the game said my portrait of Gumby was gallery worthy.