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Guide: Dreams on PlayStation 4

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Dreams on the PlayStation 4 is a new title from the people who made LittleBigPlanet and Tearaway Unfolded. It takes that high-quality creative spark and writes it large in video game maker form.

A Scene Created in Dreams

It's a little hard to describe what Dreams is. It's a video game you can play out of the box. It's a tool to sculpt objects. It's a music maker. It's a movie creation tool. It's all these things coming together making video-games.

What's really clever about it is how simple it is to use, how quickly you can create something, and how you could spend a lifetime learning and developing your creative skills with it.

As you can see in this video (below) we got to go and speak to some of the Media Molecule and community creators at the Dreams launch event. As you can see it really is very easy to get started with a little patience and perseverance.

Using just the PlayStation 4 controller you can create games as simple as noughts and crosses or as complex as the latest adventure game. You can then share your creations with other Dreams users. More than that, though, you can also share elements or pull it things other people have shared to be part of your game.

For families with children interested in understanding what it takes to create a game Dreams is perfect. Not only does it open the door on video game development, but shows how diverse a set of skills are required to make an amazing game.

Dreams is rated PEGI 12, because "it features realistic violence of a minor nature towards human characters and use of offensive language". This relates to the sample game content included with the tool. It includes some swearing and realistic violence of a minor nature, that does not result in any obvious harm or injury.

The VSC also notes that "The game features online playing capability which may involve real-time interaction with other players and access to user-generated content." This is important for parents to understand.

Any User Generated Content in video games falls outside the rating criteria. The best way to play Dreams, therefore, is in shared family spaces if children are younger. You can explore the communities creations together. Find a creator you like and see what they have made -- a bit like subscribing to your favourite YouTube creator.

However you set it up, though, Dreams is an amazing opportunity to unlock your family's creative potential. You can make something together, or perhaps team up with friends to collaborate on a bigger project. Games, music, art, sculpture, videos and animations, the limit to Dreams is only your imagination.

You can turn off the User Generated Content side of Dreams by specifying the Restricted setting in the PlayStation Family Settings for your child's user account.

Avatar for Andrew Robertson
Andrew Robertson
Andy Robertson is the editor of AskAboutGames and has written for national press and broadcast about video games and families for over 15 years. He has just published the Taming Gaming book with its Family Video Game Database.