2:22AM for Windows

Watch dreams go by in this free game

2:22AM is a free artistic video game wherein you can watch a surreal TV show late at night. Developed by Alice Lai—also known as umbrella-isle—this short game shows a series of different television broadcasts in the style of VHS recordings. Some are interactive and give off a deliberate dreamscape vibe, especially with the game’s simple instructions: play at night and play alone. However, the game can be a bit disappointing with its lack of direction.

Surrealism is here

2:22AM is the type of game that you need to experience and follow its instructions to get the full experience. The game plays out like a public access TV show that plays after midnight when you should be already sleeping. Instead of a linear story, you witness small vignettes of different scenarios. They often don’t make sense but are meant to make you feel that you’re going through dreams and nightmares.

From quietly cooking eggs to exploring a dark and misty forest, the shows don’t have any cohesiveness when you see the title cards flashing. You never really forget that you’re supposed to be watching a VHS tape, as the scene will often switch back to recordings that you can’t interact with. You can only use your mouse to pan the camera and click around, and your W, A, S, and D keys to walk.

If you do play this alone at night, the atmosphere can be just right—despite it simply playing out as a walking simulator. However, other than the dreamy sense of unease at times, this game doesn’t have much going for it. It presents itself as more of an artistic display than an actual game, so players who aren’t fond of any lack of interactivity won’t find this as appealing.

Need to manually immerse yourself

All in all, 2:22AM is short but has a good reason for it. It’s much more recommended to be played under the right conditions and mindset in order to get the maximum effect of its atmosphere. However, it’s not guaranteed to appeal to most players, especially with its lack of interactive content. Nevertheless, for dream-like games, this is a good recommendation.