Dreamcutter - Platformer Porn Game Review

ADULT GAME REVIEW: DreamCutter by Ten PennyFingers

There are a few big genres you can expect from adult games, and while side-scrolling platformers aren’t as frequent as visual novels and RPGs they’re definitely bringing up third place. Dreamcutter is one of these, but it’s unique to me in its simplicity - While most adult side-scrolling platformers will mix the experience with beat-em-ups or even shooters, Dreamcutter is purely a side-scrolling platformer and it uses this focus to make that experience a very polished one even in such an early stage of development.

Dreamcutter follows Haley (Dreamcutter is a female protagonist game), a college girl who finds herself thrown into a bizarre dreamscape filled with monsters and her own fantasies. It’s an interesting premise, and the way the game leads into it is immediately intriguing and fun - Starting with a short nightmare sequence to build questions and a sense of helplessness before thrusting you and Haley back into the real world, even if only for a short period of time. I enjoyed this opening quite a bit as a quick intro to the concept and characters, but admittedly found myself slightly disappointed that this is the only time you see the real world as of the game’s current build.

The platforming feels simple but very smooth

The gameplay of the game is tight and fluid, and I get the feeling it’ll only get better and more varied as development continues. Even without upgrades you have a basic attack and can also throw your scythe: this can be used either as an attack, or you can lodge it into walls to bounce off the handle and get to higher grounds. It’s incredibly satisfying to play with, bar the very odd hit detection on your scythe actually getting stuck in the wall; I still can’t figure out if it was just some kind of hitbox bug or if it has an unseen timer between dislodging and getting stuck again. It doesn’t hamper things too much at least, and using it to skip harder jumping puzzles or find secrets never fails to amuse. Combined with the environmental tools to interact with - Like swinging moons, grind rails and bounce pads, the platforming feels simple but very smooth.

Tightly paired with the platforming is the combat, where enemies are seen less as immediate adversaries and more as obstacles just like the rest of the spikes and pitfalls in the dreamscape. Bone throwing skeletons will disrupt you on grind rails, bats will harass you while you ride moving platforms, and there’s one particularly mean part in the first world that almost killed me single handedly where an enemy waits right by a ledge you need to bounce on your scythe to reach. It’s one of the cruelest jokes the main levels play on you, and I couldn’t even bring myself to be mad at it.

It’s probably strange that I’ve got this far into a review of what is definitely an adult game without actually mentioning the quality of the porn - Another way Dreamcutter greatly differs from other porn games like it is that it deviates greatly from the usual ‘Get an H-scene upon defeat’ model that most others follow. Instead you get your scenes by beating the worlds, as well as by buying keys to the levels in the ‘Dream Depths’ (basically the hardest challenges the game will throw at you) It’s a fascinating approach, and while Dreamcutter’s method does severely limit the amount of sex scenes it has, what’s there is admittedly more varied than a lot of games I’ve played. Out of the four current sex scenes available, there’s girl-on-boy, solo masturbation, and two different perspectives on one girl-on-girl scene that’s particularly juicy with the way its presented. If you come into Dreamcutter expecting to immediately get your rocks off you might leave disappointed, but what’s there is DEFINITELY high quality and diverse.

The girl-on-girl scene is between the two main characters - The previously mentioned Haley and her ‘best friend’ Lucia. It’s short but sweet; equal parts intimate and incredibly arousing, contextualized as a fantasy Haley has in the dream world (as all the current sex scenes are) that speaks a lot about her relationship to Lucia, who she spent the first two worlds trying to save. The decision to have two different unlockable perspectives on the same scene is brilliant, and gives me high hopes that Dreamcutter will be using its dream world concept to excellent use. If it were just Haley with faceless people it might come off as porn for porn’s sake, but even the boy-on-girl scene with an unseen guy is narrated with such a sense of longing and mystique that I found myself - Someone who honestly usually prefers girl-on-girl - incredibly intrigued.

Premium boner fuel

While looking at the comments on Dreamcutter, I found a reply from the dev Ten PennyFingers (who so far has been very open to both criticism and praise, and all together seems pretty sweet and amicable) stating that “Premium boner fuel *is* what I was going for, after all…” which struck me as interesting, because while Dreamcutter - Both in general design and sex scenes - is definitely an arousing experience, it felt more like the porn was there to serve the plot and characters more than it was intended as just boner fuel - Though it IS premium boner fuel. The first sex scene even has some animation, and while basic it adds a lot to the scene to see Haley’s breasts bounce while she rides cowgirl.

Overall, Dreamcutter is incredibly promising thus far and what’s available in this early access version may be completed in about an hour, it’s simply excellent. I definitely advise people to keep an eye on this one - Even without the sex scenes, it’s just a very well-put together and fun platformer.

DREAMCUTTER IS DEVELOPED BY