Yume Nikki is a game made back in 2004 by an anonymous game developper known as Kikiyama.
Even as an Indie game, Yume Nikki managed to leave a lasting impact in the videogame landscape,
Acclaimed modern indie games still pay tribute to Yume Nikki to this day., like Omori and OneShot.

Despite being decently famous, Yume Nikki is an odd game in many ways.
It was developped on RPG maker 2003, an engine that is mainly used to make roleplaying games.
Even though it was made on an engine that accounts for battles, Yume Nikki is a game that doesnt feature any.
Instead the core gameplay loop revolves around exploration of the in game dream worlds with the classic topdown RPG camera angle.

In this game, the only task that the player is given, is to gather "effects" scattered within the dream worlds you within in game.
These effects, once all collected, give you access to the one and only ending, which ends up raising more questions than it answers.
Though, this objective is nothing but a pretense to make players explore the in game world.

The worlds and effects of Yume Nikki really are the only noteworthy aspects of its game design As the game lacks any other distinguishing feature.
Thankfully, They are anything but boring, mostly because they serve the purpose of creating a nonsensical world design.

Like this sounds dumb, and playing it would probably feel dumb for readers here, but to me this gives the game its trademark surreal tone.

Exploration in Yume Nikki is mostly tied down to a few things you have little to no control over, such as RNG, Which effects you have found, and your knowledge of the game.
The game is littered with interactions that only yield certain outcomes if you get lucky enough, if you have the right effects equipped, or if you even know they are here in the first place.
Now you may be asking yourself "How is this fun, this sounds very frustrating, why would anyone enjoy playing something like that ?"

I personally think this bizarre game design philosophy works best on blind playthroughs, where you don't know what works and how it works.
It makes the game feel like a cat and mouse game where you have to figure out what you can do, in order to manage to go farther and farther each expedition.
This cat and mouse game feels like its own reward, because you get rewarded by different worlds with different aesthetics as you go along.
It is comparable to a rogue like where the game you play varies depending on how your "run" goes

All in all, I would reccomend this game as it is a really short game you can probably finish in less than a week, if you use the wiki towards the end of your playthrough.
After all the game sadly didnt get many versions, and theres no reason to think any more content will ever be added in any future updates

Yume 2kki is a Yume Nikki fan game, which has more than a 100 contributors, that made to the game ranging from music to worlds
It is a game that has released in 2007 and it is still in developpment to this day, unlike Yume Nikki
Now you're probably thinking this game, having so many authors, is a mess. I am not blaming you for thinking that because it is indeed a mess.

I stated earlier that part of what I liked about Yume Nikki's atmosphere is its surreal atmosphere.
In this game, this is elevated to new levels, partly due to the sheer amount of contributors. Not only is the game far removed from game design norms, but it is also incoherent with itself.

When it comes to gameplay Yume 2kki took the groundwork laid by its inspiration, and improved in order to make the gameplay loop more rewarding.
As an example, Yume 2kki rewards you often with things to personalise your game upon world exploration and inspection.
Like in Yume Nikki, you can find effects, But in this game you can also find menu styles, computer backgrounds, and more, just by finding worlds, and interacting with certain items.
If you play this game on YNOProject (Something i'll expand on later) you'll also unlock badges for specific actions.
These additions makes worlds feel less empty and more interactive, and incentivises the player to keep exploring them, despite the game's absurd lengh.

While I feel ambiguous about Yume Nikki, Yume 2kki is a game that I played a lot of in my free time, and still do.
The world just feels more varied, lively and complete as a whole. You can never really predict where you'll end up without using the wiki
This game takes the best parts of Yume Nikki and takes it to never seen before heights.

The only flaw I could find is that some things are really well hidden, to the point where you would wonder how you're even supposed to find them.
Some places are only accessible by doing very odd sequences of actions, which can make you miss a lot of things in a blind playthroughs .
Some zones require that you clip out of bounds, Others expect you to sit and touch nothing on your computer for a random lapsus of time, and finally, some places expect you to change active windows to access them.
Now, I found my fair share of really, really wierd paths on my own, but I would have missed a ton of other things had I played blind.
Needless to say, if you wish to enjoy this game to the fullest, playing it with a wiki tab opened next to it is a necessity.

Now this game is good, but there is one thing that enhances it to the point where I could really find myself playing it daily. YNOProject
So, what does YNOProject do to enhance this game ?
Firstly it allows you to see other players on your screen if they are next to you
Secondly, it allows you to access a chat where people can exchange advice or just chat.
Lastly, the website allows you to seamlessly access maps, or wiki pages for the many worlds you find yourself in

I found that the in game chat, along with the slow paced exploration of this game really just pairs really well.
People also happen to be really nice and helpful, they often help newbies and people who ask for help in chat
A lot of them have helped me find obscure places in my own playthrough.