Welcome to the very first article I've decided to write for this website! I suppose this makes this one particularly special, since as of writing this one, I have no clue if I'll actually write another article after this. Well lets see how that turns out.

Anyhow, Yume Nikki is a game I've been thinking about a lot lately. It's always been one that's held a special place for me, but recently I stumbled upon a really great video on the game on Youtube, resulting in me finding a number of other great videos on the game, leading to my own reinvigorated interest in the game.

As coincidence would so have it, I also found these videos around the time I decided I wanted to write my own personal website and write some articles about various things I like. So here we are. I'm writing an article about a game I really love and have been thinking about a lot lately.


For those lucky few of you who don't know about Yume Nikki, you're in for a treat. It is probably the most famous game ever made in the RPGMaker engine, but also a game that uses the engine in a rather unorthodox way. Instead of a conventional roleplaying game with an epic storyline and turn-based battles, it is instead a game where you simply walk around and explore. There is no dialogue at all. Everything you see within the game is up to your own interpretation. The games creator, Kikiyama, claims the game is about nothing and that you just walk around and look at things.

If you don't know anything about Yume Nikki, I'd personally recommend you play the game completely blind for yourself, as it is the best way to experience it. It's also completely free and on Steam, so it's very easy to get your hands on the game. However, perhaps you'd like to know a little bit more about the game before dipping your toes in, in which case, please do read on.

In Yume Nikki you take control of Madotsuki (meaning "windowed"), a girl who refuses to leave her appartment room. You are simply dropped into the above scene and left to your own devices.

Since Madotsuki refuses to leave her room, the only place you can go is the balcony. You're met with a few ventilators and a gloomy sky. There is nothing to do out here on the balcony.

You may be wondering what there even is to do in this game. Isn't it supposed to be about wandering and exploring? Well, you see, Yume Nikki means "Dream Diary". As such, the only worlds that can be explored are those within Madotsukis own dreams. You enter this dream world by sleeping in the bed in her room.

Within the dream you first find yourself on the balcony again. It is identical to the one in the real world, expect the dream version has a less dreary sky. Not entirely inviting or cheerful, but certainly brighter than the real one.

The rest of the dream world will not be as mundane as this however. Once you return to the room, you're able to leave it through its only door, something you cannot do in the real world.
Doing so will take you to...

The Nexus is your first taste of what the dream worlds of Yume Nikki hold. It is a sort of void with abstract illustrations making up the floor. The only thing in the Nexus are 10 doors, each leading to a different dream world, as well as an 11th door, leading back to the dream world bedroom. From here, you can freely explore Madotsukis dreams to your own leisure and at your own pace.
The game does have a goal, which is to find 24 "Effects" hidden within the dream worlds and bringing them back to the Nexus in order to access the games ending. Sometimes you'll also need an Effect to access new areas, however, generally you are unrestricted in your exploration.

In this article, I want to talk about my own personal favorite worlds of Yume Nikki. So if you want to explore the game yourself, it's probably best to stop reading here. Otherwise, please read on.

The Docks are composed of wooden, railed walkways suspended over pitch-black waters. A few lanters can be seen sticking out of the water as well. They're arranged in a bizarre, almost maze-like fashion, not leading anywhere in particular, nor connecting to any land. They do however feature some staircases that lead to other dream worlds.

What I particularly enjoy about this location is how quiet and serene everything is. While the Docks certainly are on the spooky side, they also give me a pleasant feeling of calmness. I am drawn to the dark and forlorn, more often than not. The Docks seem like a good place to introspect as you wander them.

Another thing I enjoy about this location is that it features two of my favorite creatures found in the game! The red tendril with the two oddly-placed eyes is called "Mizume", while the snake is simply known as the "Sea Snake".

Here is probably a good point to mention that there are very few hostile characters in Yume Nikki. Most of them, like these two, are docile and serve mostly a decorative purpose, as the player is unable to interact with them. They are simply dream entities for you to discover on your journey. Many worlds also use these creatures fairly sporadically, giving the game a very lonely feeling. But at the same time it feels like a great reward to discover a denizen of Madotsukis dreams.

Another favorite of mine are the sewers. There's always been something about the mere idea of sewers that intrigued me. Like a whole 'nother world, hidden below our streets. I always liked the idea of actually exploring a real sewer... but I realize it's a stupid idea. The buildup of gasses in sewers could kill you. Still, they're just so intriguing and mysterious... at least I can live this fantasy in video games. Video games love sewers as a location for the player to explore.

Yume Nikki is no exception there. One area of the dream world is a sewer system! The first part of it is an exterior locale, with a moat of grimy green sewage bordering a complex of urban buildings. Could they be apartments? I have no idea. They're also fenced in, so maybe it's a waste management facility.
Also of note is that you can see a strange, silhouetted figure with a hole where it's face should be traversing the sludge. This NPC is known as a "Pirori", who are found in several different dream locations. As far as you wander within the dream worlds, you're likely to bump into one of these guys from time to time.

As you advance through the area, you eventually come to an indoor area, filled with grimy basins, the occasional sink and many pipes along the walls. It has a real sense of mystery to it, but that really goes for the entire game, as the only context provided for you is what you can see with your own eyes.

A bit further in yet, you'll come across a larger pool in the middle of the sewage canal. There's a few cool things here. First off, you can find the "Faceless Ghost" effect here, which makes Madotsuki faceless and lets her do an animation where her head pops off and spins around.
The other cool thing is the pool itself. In most cases, it will be empty. However, there is a chance that upon entering this area, there will be either a shadow lurking underneath the water, or there could be either a Pirori in the water, or you might see the "Submarine Fish", shown in the screenshot! When I played this game to grab the screenshots, the Submarine Fish actully appeared on my very first visit! Talk about lucky, finding one of my favorite dream entities so quickly!

Also note the little square hole in the wall. There are multiple of these in the sewers and interacting with them will make a bizarre doodle pop up. I opted not to show it off when grabbing screenshots, since I didn't want to expose every little detail about the game. Go discover it for yourself!!

A very small area found at the end of a dark forest. It's a single screen with a realistic-looking traincar. It's not on any rails as far as you can see, nor is there a front wagon to pull it. What do you even call those? I always just called it the "train", but the train, by definition, is all the pieces together. Like a colonial organism.

Once you enter the train, you can see scenery rush by outside the car and hear the train moving along the tracks. I suppose that's quite possible within a dream. Waiting in the train for a bit will take you to a new location. Also depending on which direction you're going, there will be different NPCs in the traincar. They're simply known as the "Train Passengers". I kinda regret not taking a screenshot of the other two passengers you can find here, as I like their designs more than the one in the screenshot. Oh well, more things for you to discover, dear reader!

After taking the train, you'll arrive at Witch's Island, a wooded area by the waterside. It's populated by the "Nopperabou Witches" NPCs, which are faceless, humanoid figures that resemble witches. Using a specific effect around them reveals they have a hole where their face should be, similar to the Pirori. Make of that what you will. That's what the game is about anyhow, finding your own logic in this strange dream world.

Another feature of Witch's Island is a long bridge across the waters. As you cross it, you'll find various odd, twisted formations sticking out of the water. The game's always good at throwing something interesting at you at nearly every turn.

Finally, you arrive on what you could actually describe as "Witch's Island". Suppose the other areas are more like "Witch's Waterside" and "Witch's Bridge". Regardless, the most noteworthy thing here is the little spooky tree, that, when interacted with, will yield the Witch effect, turning Madotsuki into a cute lil' witch!

There's also a low chance that a little sea serpent-like entity known as "Tasei's Kid" will appear in the lake. It's my favorite of all dream entities within Yume Nikki! I don't have a particular reason why I'm drawn to it, I guess I just find it cute.

Calling this a "mall" seems like a bit of a stretch. There's no show windows or anything you can buy here at all! It's all blue walls with pyramid-like texturing on them. And a lot of it! It's a pretty large area, but you're only able to move along narrow paths. The isometric view also makes it a bit awkward to move up and down, as Yume Nikki is built in an old version of RPGMaker, which only allows four directions of movement.

What makes the Mall interesting to me as a location is that it's also one of the more lively locations. You'll encounter a few NPCs known as the "Mall Shoppers" throughout the Mall. They're colorful shapes resembling humans. Unfortunately I didn't think to screenshot them. You can see a bit of one poking out behind the walls above, but that's it. More for you to discover on your own!

Besides the Mall Shoppers, there's also two rooms you can visit, each containing a few interesting characters.

The first room features a reception desk, a sofa and two surreal posters. Manning the reception desk is a crazed "Toriningen". Particularly noteworthy is that Toriningen (in particular crazed variants, with pink manic eyes) are the only enemies found in the game! Normally, these bird gals will chase you down and, if the catch you, teleport you to an inescapable location. The only way to get out of that bind is to pinch your cheek to wake yourself up.
The crazed Toriningen at the desk is an exception of this, however. It is the only of its kind thats friendly. Interacting with her will let you change your menu theme. How nice of her.

The guy sitting on the couch is known as "E-Man"... because his face looks like an "e". He's just hanging out. He also occasionally sneezes. Maybe he caught a cold?

Venturing through the doorway of the previous room leads you to a smaller room, featuring only a painting, a sofa and a flute dropped on the floor. Sitting on the sofa is an NPC known as "O-Man", who seems to be a similar being to E-Man. His thing is that he sings a little song, only heard in this very specific location of the game. Interacting with the flute on the floor will also yield the Flute Effect, allowing Madotsuki to play a few notes on a flute.

Another room, separate from the previous ones, can be found in the Mall. This one yet again has a sofa, strange art on the wall and, bizarrely, a large, circular pool with what seems to be blood in it. The room is inhabited by an entity known as "Tokuto-kun", who seems to be a living bucket filled with blood. For some reason, I distinctly remember some people calling this NPC "Bloodbucket-kun" at some point... but while looking up stuff on this game, I never came across this. I suppose some people probably just come up with their own names for the dream entities. Anyhow, interacting with Tokuto-kun causes him to tip over, spilling blood on the floor. What a rascal.

We're still not done with the Mall, as there's one more point of interest here! Going up the escalator will let you access the Mall Rooftop! This area is often considered a very special area to many fans of Yume Nikki. The area itself is inaccessible a lot of the time, due to a traffic cone in front of the elevator leading to it, only becoming accessible 1/4th of the time you enter the area from another specific world.

Once there, you're greeted by a pretty plain rooftop, some ventilation and a black cat sitting upon the entrance. What makes this area truly special however, is that if you use the Witch Effect here, you'll be able to trigger one of the games "Events", some of the most memorable pieces of the game. I won't spoil the Event itself here, as its worth experiencing for yourself!

This area is accessed from one of the games 10 starting areas, the Number World. It's still considered part of the Number World, but it's this sub-area that really captures my imagination. It's a stairway floating in a void of strange imagery, similar to those seen in the Nexus. For some reason I find pathways amidst a void very appealing. They're neat!!

Most noteworthy is, of course, the large ghost-like or perhaps jelly-like entity found by the stairs. This is KyuuKyuu-kun, one of the most famous dream entities of Yume Nikki. While his face may look pretty indimidating, he's completely harmless. He just stands there, rubbing the guardrail of the stairs. There's no way to interact with him, but his presence is one that made an impression on many fans.

Continuing on up the stairs and along the path leads you to a door identical to the one in Madotsuki's room. Entering it triggers another Event, but I'll leave you to experience it for yourself.

Another one of Yume Nikki's most famous locations is the FC World, or "Famicom World". Not only does it sport a completely unique 8-bit NES-inspired art style, so does every entity within it, including Madotsuki and even the menu screen! Another unique feature of it is that it's split into 3 sections, each accessible via a different part of the dream world.

The FC World is, of course, a nod to old NES games. This area of the FC World is known as the "FC House" and is reminiscent of the Famicom game MOTHER, using very similar graphics and colors. The interior of the house is a large maze of rooms and stairways. Hidden deep within those is one of the 24 Effects.

The next part of the FC World is quite a departure from the more modern-day looks of the FC House, taking the form of gloomy rock formations and ruins. This area is known as "FC World A".
You'll encounter many NPCs known as "Lizardmen", who will say a string of five random numbers when interacted with.

Another difference this area has from the FC House is that it features an "overworld map" sort of area, as you'd come to expect from many old RPGs on the NES. I really like the purple waters in this location. There's a serenity in the gloom of this area.

Venturing further into FC World A you'll come across some underground ruins. Ordinarily they're very dark and difficult to navigate, but if you use the Lamp Effect, you can see just fine in the dark! The walls are composed of odd murals and you occasionally find what appears to be a moai head.

The final area of the FC World is known as "FC World B". Like a few previous areas, this one also features the Pirori we've encountered earlier.

You can find some odd statues here surrounding an entity known as "Buyo Buyo", which appears to be something akin to a blue hand with an eye on it. It will give you an Effect when interacted with.
This area always seemed very lonely to me, with Buyo Buyo isolated from everything else in the FC World. Perhaps its rewarding you with its Effect for giving it some company.

Probably my very favorite location in the entire game, the Wilderness is one of the largest areas in Yume Nikki, composed primarily of a desert speckled with curly plantlife. There's something very charming about deserts to me, especially if they feature vegetation. Many people seem to consider deserts merely dunes of sand and nothing else, but they're a very diverse and fascinating biome that comes in all manner of forms.
Either way, there's numerous things to see here and it connects to a few points of interest.

First is this area littered with stone cubes that appear to have frowning faces on them. The cube in the middle triggers an Event!

Wander for enough, and you might come across a fenced in area with a number of huts in it.

Entering this area leads you to the Barracks Settlement, a fenced in area in the middle of the Wilderness. In a way it feels a bit like a safe haven in the middle of a hostile environment. But it also makes you wonder why its fenced in at all, as there are no dangers whatsoever in the Wilderness.

There's a few of the barracks you can enter, leading to other worlds or small rooms. The settlement is also inhabited by a number of Pirori. Interacting with them has a chance to send you to FC World B!

The Wilderness is vast and if you wander enough, you might come across one of my favorite little areas of the game; the Toriningen Party!!
Here we see three Toriningen having what looks to be a picnic out in the desert, accompanied by a radio playing music. Unfortunately for you, it's impossible to participate in the party, as the vegetation is in the way and there's no way around it. You can only watch them have a good time. Many people speculate this is meant to represent how Madotsuki feels excluded by her peers, possibly a reason why she refuses to leave her room. But I digress, this article isn't about theories and speculations behind the game, but rather to merely highlight some areas I like. And the Toriningen Party is a highlight among my favorite area!

Venturing further into the Wilderness you'll come across a looping area known as the "Infinite Wilderness". Here, you can find another Effect, but also this little shack!

Inside the shack it's really dark, so having the Lamp Effect is once more useful. The interior is filled with odd looking metal cubes and small square holes holding hot springs. There is a single entity here named "Onsen-san", another favorite of mine. They're endlessly drinking water from the hot spring with their long proboscis.

After finding your way out of the Infinite Wilderness, you'll come across a gap in a fence and beyond that a path onwards. On the way, you'll encounter another favorite entity of mine, the "Batsu"! They're creatures that are mimicing the plantlife of the Wilderness, but have a single red eye and sway around a little. They're just adorable. I love 'em.

Moving along, you'll come across a large staircase known as the "Stairway to the Sky". There's a chance that, as you ascend them, you'll encounter the "Falling Men" Event! As you go up, you'll see small figure falling and tumbling in the distance. When you stop, they also just tumble in place. Yume Nikki truly manages to capture the bizarre nature of dreams.

Once you climb the staircase all the way to the top, you'll arrive at...

The Sky Garden is a peaceful park during the nighttime, quite in contrast to the Wilderness' daytime setting. I suppose it took quite a while to traverse the Wilderness, so it's dark now. There's benches you can rest on and another entity, the Organoid. It's a bit unique in that if you try to run into it, it will teleport a short distance. Guess its just trying to enjoy the gardens undistrubed.

Heading to the east part of the gardens leads to a cliffside overlooking a nighttime city with a brick building that will take you even deeper into the dreamworld... but also there's three humanoid NPCs standing by the edge of the cliff. These are the Maussan Bros, who are all staring out into the distance. There's a reason for this; if you wait for long enough, you might see an UFO in the sky! I suppose these three were also waiting to see that.

We're nearing the end of this article, so the next few world are all in connected in succession. Suppose it's a bit like going on a little venture together.
The first leg of this venture is the Staircase of Hands! The only way to access this area is to sleep in one of the 5 beds found throughout the dream world. As Madotsuki falls asleep, one of them will be chosen at random to be able to transport you here. Heading up the stairs simply takes you back to the bed you came from... but follow them down and you'll arrive at...

Also known as the "Warehouse", the Underground World is a dark underground area made of concrete walls. There's an elevator that'll take you to the Mall, but we've already checked that out. You'll also come across a great raging fire coming out of one of the corridors. You'll need either the Umbrella or Snow Woman Effect to put it out. Advancing from there leads you to the storage room, pictured above. Its densely packed with shelves containing who-knows-what.

It also contains an entity known as the "Poop Hair Mouth Monster", one of three "Mount Monster" creatures in the game, of which each yield a different Effect that changes Madotsuki's hair. This one turns her hair into poop. Kinda nasty, but it also lets you spawn little flies, so a price worth paying for the gift of diptomancy.

There's also a door in the back that leads to...

Bizarrely, this door leads into the interior of a spaceship! Was it hidden underneath here the whole time? Seems odd, considering the ship itself is in space when you explore it. Anything's possible within a dream, I suppose.

The main area of the spaceship has a table with two chairs and a massive keyboard in front of a large window. It almost appears as if the keyboard was the ships controls. You can interact with it and it'll play a tune.

Aboard this ship is only one single entity, as well as one of the most famous characters of Yume Nikki: Seccom Masada-sensei. As the only person on the ship, it seems he is its captain. But it also seems he's a musician, as he's always standing by the keyboard. Perhaps he's both? Maybe musicians are also pilots where he's from. Interacting with him causes him to make a sound. He doesn't do anything else.
Despite this, he is massively popular among fans of the game and has SO much fanart. I suppose the spaceship is one of the most striking areas in the game and he's heavily associated with it. Also probably helps that he's humanoid. I've noticed the most well-known entities of Yume Nikki are all humanoid. It's always a bit disheartening when either fans or a series as a whole treats only the humanoid characters as noteworthy, while the more oddly-shaped ones are mere set dressing... alas, this is not the place to rant about my frustrations with media, but to take in some fantastical locations.

The furthest area in the spaceship is a bedroom, presumably Masada's. I mean, who else's could it be? You can enter the bed and, if you wait 15 seconds, you have a chance to trigger an Event!

The Event in question causes the spaceship to crash! Red lights will flash and Masada will be moving around restlessly. After a bit a cutscene (practically the only one in the entire game) will depict the spaceship crashlanding on...

Once the Event is over, you can once more exit the spaceship and set foot on Mars! You also get a little glimpse of what the spaceship's exterior looks like. I guess it's just a white orb?
Mars itself is, as you'd expect, a bunch of red rocks. The environment is also made from real photos rather than being custom-made pixel art, giving Mars a truly distinct feeling from anything else in the game.

On Mars, you can only head left. Eventually you'll scale a mountain and end up on a mountaintop with a little hole in it. In this area, if you use the Cat Effect, you have a chance to summon an UFO, just like the ones you could see in the Sky Garden! You can even summon a whole bunch, as I've done in the above screenshot! Guess aliens really like Mars.

The only way to progress from here is by using the Midget Effect (I'm aware of the connotations of that word, but that is the official name for it) to shrink down in size and fit into the hole.

Underneath the surface of Mars lurks a long staircase in the darkness that leads downwards. At the bottom of the staircase is a dark room with a bunch of scrap piled up with a red glow coming from within. It appears to be a broken down train of some kind. What's that doing on Mars??

At the front of the train is a large dream entity known as "Mars-san". It's a bulbous blue creature ending in a single foot with a large red eye that is crying. Is it morning the wrecked train? It's a lonely sight. A single strange alien lamenting something not of its world.

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And that's it for my favorite areas in Yume Nikki. This is the first time I've ever written an article like this just for fun, so I hope you enjoyed it. If you had a favorite area or creature from this game, please leave a comment! I'd love to hear what your favorites are!