How a video game can invade your dreams
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Date: 2023-12-10
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Comments and reviews: 30
-haphazardlark1502
I can-t believe I misssd this video when it came out. I-ve been playing Tetris for a little bit before bed every night and it-s helped my insomnia. I have awful spacial skills and my mind usually races but it engages a part of my brain I don-t use much and quiets it down. I fell asleep mid game last night. I haven-t seen falling blocks in thst liminal space, but they have made cameos in dreams.
But this got me thinking. When k played sims obsessively (any game I play I-m obsessive about for a while) I would envision my status bars, awake or asleep. It was actually unpleasant and I had to stop. Ark survival evolved was a delight but in my dreams I kept having dinosaur attacks because of how that immersive oh no run run run thing ingrained in my mind.
World of Warcraft, I played to a deeply unhealthy amount, and even though I barely touch it anymore, when a dream is going south or even just getting a little weird, I-ll find myself hitting my stealth button on imaginary keyboards, or shapeshifting like my Druid. I roleplayed more than I actually played the game, and often my dreams will incorporate that too- I-ll break character. Go hold up, ooc real quick, let-s clarify what-s going on here. And the antagonists break character too. It doesn-t always work but it-s remarkably good at diffusing stress dreams that threaten to turn into nightmares.
I also knit. A lot. Or I did before I blew out my arms overdoing it. (Are you sensing s pattern) as I fell asleep I drifted into a world of moving fibers between my fingers, creating patterns, sometimes even clear enough that the more difficult and advanced stitches were showing up.
And when I worked as a dog bather for a few years, working absurd hours, in that space before I fell asleep, what I -saw- (it-s an imperfect way of describing it since it was more of s multi sense thing) was the texture of fur. All kinds of different coats from different breeds. The texture of it under my fingers and the way it moved with the water flowing over it.
Brains are wild, man.
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I can-t believe I misssd this video when it came out. I-ve been playing Tetris for a little bit before bed every night and it-s helped my insomnia. I have awful spacial skills and my mind usually races but it engages a part of my brain I don-t use much and quiets it down. I fell asleep mid game last night. I haven-t seen falling blocks in thst liminal space, but they have made cameos in dreams.
But this got me thinking. When k played sims obsessively (any game I play I-m obsessive about for a while) I would envision my status bars, awake or asleep. It was actually unpleasant and I had to stop. Ark survival evolved was a delight but in my dreams I kept having dinosaur attacks because of how that immersive oh no run run run thing ingrained in my mind.
World of Warcraft, I played to a deeply unhealthy amount, and even though I barely touch it anymore, when a dream is going south or even just getting a little weird, I-ll find myself hitting my stealth button on imaginary keyboards, or shapeshifting like my Druid. I roleplayed more than I actually played the game, and often my dreams will incorporate that too- I-ll break character. Go hold up, ooc real quick, let-s clarify what-s going on here. And the antagonists break character too. It doesn-t always work but it-s remarkably good at diffusing stress dreams that threaten to turn into nightmares.
I also knit. A lot. Or I did before I blew out my arms overdoing it. (Are you sensing s pattern) as I fell asleep I drifted into a world of moving fibers between my fingers, creating patterns, sometimes even clear enough that the more difficult and advanced stitches were showing up.
And when I worked as a dog bather for a few years, working absurd hours, in that space before I fell asleep, what I -saw- (it-s an imperfect way of describing it since it was more of s multi sense thing) was the texture of fur. All kinds of different coats from different breeds. The texture of it under my fingers and the way it moved with the water flowing over it.
Brains are wild, man.
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-shanjcosplay7376
Weirdly enough, I get Tetris Effect with Star Wars. It-s weird to think about/explain, but it-s basically a lot of floating through various maps in Star Wars games (KOTOR and SWTOR mostly, and some areas seen on screen. They vary based on what I-ve done that day (played/worked/etc, and there-s some correlation to my mental state as well. I-m normally a lucid dreamer, and I also have spent a lot of time looking at maps and cross sections. I think the weirdest experience I-ve had though was after a day playing Elite Dangerous, where in my mind I just sat in my ship and delivered cargo while I slept. I felt like I could feel the gravity changes, and I woke up a tad nauseous.
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Weirdly enough, I get Tetris Effect with Star Wars. It-s weird to think about/explain, but it-s basically a lot of floating through various maps in Star Wars games (KOTOR and SWTOR mostly, and some areas seen on screen. They vary based on what I-ve done that day (played/worked/etc, and there-s some correlation to my mental state as well. I-m normally a lucid dreamer, and I also have spent a lot of time looking at maps and cross sections. I think the weirdest experience I-ve had though was after a day playing Elite Dangerous, where in my mind I just sat in my ship and delivered cargo while I slept. I felt like I could feel the gravity changes, and I woke up a tad nauseous.
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-KEROPUNK
First playthrough of Dark Souls I was stuck on Gravelord Nito, and I was playing for hours before I quit and went to bed. In my dreams I was still playing Dark Souls and made a holy weapon and beat Nito. When I woke up I immediately booted the game up and tried my strategy I had learned in my dreams and beat Nito with ease. Dreams are basically survival mechanisms. They allow us to simulate our environment so we gain experiences without actually doing anything. We don't do a lot of hunting/gathering these days so our dreams simulate other sort of problems our brains are trying to solve, like how to get that good good T-Spin ya know what im sayyiinnnnnnnnnnnn
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First playthrough of Dark Souls I was stuck on Gravelord Nito, and I was playing for hours before I quit and went to bed. In my dreams I was still playing Dark Souls and made a holy weapon and beat Nito. When I woke up I immediately booted the game up and tried my strategy I had learned in my dreams and beat Nito with ease. Dreams are basically survival mechanisms. They allow us to simulate our environment so we gain experiences without actually doing anything. We don't do a lot of hunting/gathering these days so our dreams simulate other sort of problems our brains are trying to solve, like how to get that good good T-Spin ya know what im sayyiinnnnnnnnnnnn
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-chung0217
I remember going for a cycle after spending three whole days inside playing Diablo non-stop. While I was on the road, I saw two cars, one red on the left of my vision, and one blue on the right of my vision. They caused my brain to recall the health and mana orbs on the sides of the screen in the game in a highly disorienting way. It dazed me, taking me out of reality for a split second, and I began to swerve before regaining control, but I nearly fell over. It was pretty dramatic.
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I remember going for a cycle after spending three whole days inside playing Diablo non-stop. While I was on the road, I saw two cars, one red on the left of my vision, and one blue on the right of my vision. They caused my brain to recall the health and mana orbs on the sides of the screen in the game in a highly disorienting way. It dazed me, taking me out of reality for a split second, and I began to swerve before regaining control, but I nearly fell over. It was pretty dramatic.
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-bilalt. 6849
I had a dream where my ears started to bleed then the blood flooded my classroom my whole class drowned i became a ghost then my school drowned in ears blood then they all became zombies that a are just one ears then the world began to transform into a last of us type dream my body was immune somehow but i got killed by my friend group of ears then i was reborn and i was that djingis khan dude or how he is spelled
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I had a dream where my ears started to bleed then the blood flooded my classroom my whole class drowned i became a ghost then my school drowned in ears blood then they all became zombies that a are just one ears then the world began to transform into a last of us type dream my body was immune somehow but i got killed by my friend group of ears then i was reborn and i was that djingis khan dude or how he is spelled
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-giggleloop13
So has anyone else had the Tetris Effect with other games? I used to always get it with Dr Mario (which is understandable, because it's a bit of a similar type of game, but also World 1. 1 of Super Mario Bros. When I was anxious or couldn't sleep, I would close my eyes and picture myself playing through World 1. 1 and it would quiet my brain enough to sleep.
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So has anyone else had the Tetris Effect with other games? I used to always get it with Dr Mario (which is understandable, because it's a bit of a similar type of game, but also World 1. 1 of Super Mario Bros. When I was anxious or couldn't sleep, I would close my eyes and picture myself playing through World 1. 1 and it would quiet my brain enough to sleep.
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-mailliw94
it's not just video games that make it happen. sometimes I straight up think or dream in Lego connections, if that makes sense. even thismorning as I was waking up, shifting my pillow around seemed formulaic and placed on an isometric grid like when playing minecraft. (or in my case Dragon Quest Builders) I'm so glad that phenomenon isn't just me.
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it's not just video games that make it happen. sometimes I straight up think or dream in Lego connections, if that makes sense. even thismorning as I was waking up, shifting my pillow around seemed formulaic and placed on an isometric grid like when playing minecraft. (or in my case Dragon Quest Builders) I'm so glad that phenomenon isn't just me.
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-swallowfox237
I dont get tetris effect, like tetris isnt hard if youre not playing against someone else. It just feels like this game was made for seriously casual players (and I dont say that lightly because I consider myself a casual player but I just dont get tetris effect) or its more of a 'visual experience' than a game
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I dont get tetris effect, like tetris isnt hard if youre not playing against someone else. It just feels like this game was made for seriously casual players (and I dont say that lightly because I consider myself a casual player but I just dont get tetris effect) or its more of a 'visual experience' than a game
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-whatzittuuyah7640
I once fell asleep while playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, and as I was slipping into that dream state I vividly dreamt that I was playing Yoshi's Island on the GBA. So vividly, in fact, that it took me _months_ to figure out which game I had actually been playing and which one was the dream.
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I once fell asleep while playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, and as I was slipping into that dream state I vividly dreamt that I was playing Yoshi's Island on the GBA. So vividly, in fact, that it took me _months_ to figure out which game I had actually been playing and which one was the dream.
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-johnlemon252
I'd like to petition to rename the -Tetris Effect- to the -Being a Cashier Effect. - Just to avoid confusing it with the game, naturally.
Seriously though, I have literally come home from work and fallen asleep only to dream about scanning items. There is no respite.
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I'd like to petition to rename the -Tetris Effect- to the -Being a Cashier Effect. - Just to avoid confusing it with the game, naturally.
Seriously though, I have literally come home from work and fallen asleep only to dream about scanning items. There is no respite.
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-rubyparker5831
I mean this is neat and all but it's a little bit frightening to me as someone with really detrimental adhd that video games literally plan how to engross players for as long as possible it's already so hard to switch off and do other things I don't like that at all.
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I mean this is neat and all but it's a little bit frightening to me as someone with really detrimental adhd that video games literally plan how to engross players for as long as possible it's already so hard to switch off and do other things I don't like that at all.
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-dr4gondude339
I have had plenty of time where I've been playing a game for hours and when I close my eyes I see elements from that game. The only time I've dreamed a game is when I was playing minecraft all the time. I had minecraft dreams.
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I have had plenty of time where I've been playing a game for hours and when I close my eyes I see elements from that game. The only time I've dreamed a game is when I was playing minecraft all the time. I had minecraft dreams.
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-catriona5268
I played Minecraft every day for several months and eventually it entered my dreams. The world around me would be made of Minecraft blocks. At that point I realised that I was probably playing too much and just about stopped xD
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I played Minecraft every day for several months and eventually it entered my dreams. The world around me would be made of Minecraft blocks. At that point I realised that I was probably playing too much and just about stopped xD
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polygon
Real time strategy games, like Age of Mythology, completely invade my dreams during the periods I play them. One time when I was a kid I even developed a strategy in the dream that I used to win a level in real life the next day.
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Real time strategy games, like Age of Mythology, completely invade my dreams during the periods I play them. One time when I was a kid I even developed a strategy in the dream that I used to win a level in real life the next day.
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-EmilySnicket14
I had dreams of the Windows 95 capture the flag game Hover! years after I had even played it. It's amazing how video game maps can incorporate into your long term memory almost as if they are real places you have been to.
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I had dreams of the Windows 95 capture the flag game Hover! years after I had even played it. It's amazing how video game maps can incorporate into your long term memory almost as if they are real places you have been to.
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-giggleloop13
Somehow even though I love Tetris, I had managed to not see one second about this game until I watched this video. And then I immediately drove to the store & bought it. Thanks Clayton! Thanks Polygon! -
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Somehow even though I love Tetris, I had managed to not see one second about this game until I watched this video. And then I immediately drove to the store & bought it. Thanks Clayton! Thanks Polygon! -
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-BrentBlueAllen
Being new to the PS4 after a long history of PC gaming, the sensation of my controller pulsing to the beat of the music was a super effective and welcome addition to the Tetris experience for me.
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Being new to the PS4 after a long history of PC gaming, the sensation of my controller pulsing to the beat of the music was a super effective and welcome addition to the Tetris experience for me.
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-Fanaro
These harvard professors should have played Go (baduk or weiqi) instead. The impact and visions are much stronger. I could easily see stones while daydreaming, with no sounds or funky images to the game.
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These harvard professors should have played Go (baduk or weiqi) instead. The impact and visions are much stronger. I could easily see stones while daydreaming, with no sounds or funky images to the game.
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polygon
After playing Borderlands three days straight I only had dreams about war and shootings. It was like experiencing Vietnam flashbacks and was kinda creepy. You know, blood and limbs flying here and there
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After playing Borderlands three days straight I only had dreams about war and shootings. It was like experiencing Vietnam flashbacks and was kinda creepy. You know, blood and limbs flying here and there
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-chrizchanang
No lie. I used to play a lot of Tetris when I was younger. When I was a kid, I had recurring dreams of the game but the blocks were massive and I was at the bottom of them as they descended.
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No lie. I used to play a lot of Tetris when I was younger. When I was a kid, I had recurring dreams of the game but the blocks were massive and I was at the bottom of them as they descended.
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-lizalternate
i've got this effect for solitaire, of all things. i can't stop playing solitaire, and all my nightmares have been replaced by sorting cards over each other. i guess it's a good thing haha
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i've got this effect for solitaire, of all things. i can't stop playing solitaire, and all my nightmares have been replaced by sorting cards over each other. i guess it's a good thing haha
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-Daggeira
Lol. I sing basically all the time and have for twelve years, but I've only sung in my dreams on 3 occasions. I've had a TONNE of video game dreams though; even when I haven't gamed in months.
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Lol. I sing basically all the time and have for twelve years, but I've only sung in my dreams on 3 occasions. I've had a TONNE of video game dreams though; even when I haven't gamed in months.
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-alexiskerst7747
I played through Portal & Portal 2 for the first time in a single sitting one Saturday and when I finally got up I hallucinated portals on my walls for a period of time. It was great
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I played through Portal & Portal 2 for the first time in a single sitting one Saturday and when I finally got up I hallucinated portals on my walls for a period of time. It was great
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-ash5547
when i first got puyo puyo i dreamed about tetris for ages! also when i was obsessed with breath of the wild, i would be out in public and see odd things and think -is that a korok seed? -
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when i first got puyo puyo i dreamed about tetris for ages! also when i was obsessed with breath of the wild, i would be out in public and see odd things and think -is that a korok seed? -
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polygon
When I was deep in smash bros and elden ring I would see super accurate recreations of the games, not what I had done that day necessarily but what I was planning on doing, shit was wack
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When I was deep in smash bros and elden ring I would see super accurate recreations of the games, not what I had done that day necessarily but what I was planning on doing, shit was wack
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-woas_hellzone
i get this with fire emblem's chapter maps, but also when fully awake and zoning out
it also happens with any other simplistically styled video games im currently obsessed with
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i get this with fire emblem's chapter maps, but also when fully awake and zoning out
it also happens with any other simplistically styled video games im currently obsessed with
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polygon
not to be that snotty guy but i'm genuinely curious how the amnesiacs told anyone what they saw in the hypnagogic state. did they pull themselves out of it immediately?
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not to be that snotty guy but i'm genuinely curious how the amnesiacs told anyone what they saw in the hypnagogic state. did they pull themselves out of it immediately?
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-countbrackmoor
There was a point in my life where I was playing a lot of chess and the Tetris effect was happening like crazy. I would dream about moves constantly
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There was a point in my life where I was playing a lot of chess and the Tetris effect was happening like crazy. I would dream about moves constantly
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-mfsooko
Hey guys, not sure if anyone has commented on this yet, but that MRI at about 2: 40 has a massive lesion on it. Hopefully that got checked out.
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Hey guys, not sure if anyone has commented on this yet, but that MRI at about 2: 40 has a massive lesion on it. Hopefully that got checked out.
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polygon
I absolutely drilled through loz twilight princess and throughout my gaming day in and day out i dreamed only of twilight princess.
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I absolutely drilled through loz twilight princess and throughout my gaming day in and day out i dreamed only of twilight princess.
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