I’ll admit that I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I first picked up The House Dreams Along with Them. I enjoy the opportunity to test my skills of logic and deduction every now and again, but as a whole, I wouldn’t say puzzle games are a genre that I spend a lot of time with. I liked the look of it, though, especially considering it was made by a solo developer – something I always find impressive.
Before I get into the review itself, I want to give a little bit of context. The House Dreams Along with Them is a first-person puzzle adventure game developed by Jeffrey Nordin. It shares the Caranthos Mori continuity with two of Nordin’s other works: The Logomancer (video game) and The Aspect of Separation (novel). I don’t believe you need to have any knowledge of those before going into the game – I certainly didn’t. I think they take place in the same universe rather than being directly tied together in the same way as a sequel or prequel.
The House Dreams Along with Them is available on Steam from November 10th.
Presentation
Visually speaking, The House Dreams Along with Them looks pretty damn good in an almost photorealistic kind of way. It’s obvious that a lot of thought and effort has been put into creating both the real world and the dream world – the dream world especially. There are things like shifting textures, lava on the floor, and floating eyes that are just meant to look out of place, and I thought that was pretty cool. This is also where the game takes on a bit of a horror vibe. It’s not scary so much as unsettling, and it does a great job of creating an uneasy atmosphere. The music contributes to this too.
Story
The House Dreams Along with Them begins, unsurprisingly, in a house. The playable character has been dreaming of the same house every night. There’s a brief tutorial set here, with a small puzzle to help you get the hang of the controls. The tutorial holds your hand through this, going so far as to give you the solution to the puzzle so you don’t have to worry about getting stuck so early in the game.
Years later, he finds the house in real life. It’s pretty empty. There are a few pieces of furniture, all covered in rust, and each one plays an important role. Every piece connects to a specific room and its corresponding puzzle, which you must solve to restore the room to its original state.The goal is to solve the mystery of the house by restoring all of the rooms, all while getting closer to the reification of night.
So, back to those rust-covered objects. You’ll find several throughout the house. There’s a bed, a spade, a side table, and more. If you crouch on the object, close your eyes, and breathe, you’ll fall asleep and enter the dream version of the room you’re in. It’ll tell you roughly how long the dream will last, or more specifically, how long it will take to solve the puzzle, but this is just an estimate. Once you successfully solve the puzzle, you bring the dream version of the room into reality.
There’s some lore woven throughout in dribs and drabs, but the focus is definitely on the puzzles. I do wish the story was a bit more obvious throughout, though.
Gameplay
Styled after games like Myst and The Witness, The House Dreams Along with Them is very much an interactive game. You can’t pick up everything, but there’s quite a lot you can play around with, and that’s key because you never know what might hold the solution to the puzzle you’re solving.
I definitely appreciated the variety of puzzles in this game. Sure, there were some similar elements – keypads popped up a lot – but the puzzles themselves were all very different, and they ranged in difficulty.
Two that particularly stood out to me were the music room and the video game level. They stood out both because they were some of the hardest, in my opinion, and because they were really unique. I won’t go into too much detail because I don’t want to spoil anything, but the latter drops you into a video game RPG, which was pretty cool.
If you’re struggling with a puzzle, you can hyperventilate to wake yourself up, which I found particularly useful whenever I hit a wall. I think struggling with a puzzle you just can’t solve quickly takes the enjoyment out of the game, especially when it stops you from progressing. That’s why I appreciated being able to move on and try something else rather than tearing my hair out over the same puzzle for hours on end.
A deduction system records your observations as you explore each room, alongside intuitions that remain hidden unless you choose to reveal them. I didn’t always find these hints that helpful, though, and there were a few puzzles that I really struggled with. I’ll admit that’s probably a skill issue on my part, but I can’t imagine being the only person to struggle.
Final Thoughts
The House Dreams Along with Them is an atmospheric puzzle adventure with undertones of horror and mystery. It’s a game that encourages you to think logically and outside the box, and to examine your surroundings to make sure you have all the information you need to solve the puzzles.
From a solo developer, it’s a very solid offering. The graphics are good, and there’s a nice variety of puzzles to keep things from getting boring, even if I did struggle with some of the more abstract ones. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of puzzle games.
Developer: Jeffrey Nordin
Publisher: Caranthos Mori Games
Platforms: PC
Release Date: 10th November 2026
Gaming Respawn’s copy of The House Dreams Along with Them was provided by the publisher.
