Quick Links
The ENA Team has brought to us the first chapter of an absolute gem of an indie game inENA: Dream BBQ,based on the animations, characters, and stories created by Joel G.
As a fan of Joel G’s animations that pay homage to CDI multimedia games and deep web conspiracies, it is extremely satisfying to see his vision being portrayed in the medium it was always flirting with.
10 Indie Games That Aged Like Fine Wine
I feel old, having played Cave Story for my entire life.
Along with the free release of Dream BBQ, you’re able to also purchaseThe Supporter Editionof the game for some extra goodies.
Being put in the shoes of the hilarious tow-faced character ENA will take you on a wild ride where it is completelyimpossible to predictwhat is going to happen next and leaves a huge amount of room for interpretation in the larger narrative.
This guide will serve you step-by-step as you start your journey across the deep web and must pass a giant bridge in Chapter 1: Lonely Door.
Beginning the Game
The game opens with an abandoned town-market row which endlessly repeats in all directions. The bright red sky above you fills with the looming shadow of a giant person swimming through the air.
As you move forward, you’ll soon notice that there is no escape to be found when treading the same ground in a straight line.Keep moving forward and diagonal through the street rowsuntil you see the hanging lanterns glowing.
Head straight for the lanterns, and you will see a blue bed planted in the middle of the street.Interact with it to lay down and stare into the sky, then it will transport you to the next area.
You will then find yourself in a casino-like arcade room. Head straight then up and around the staircase where an automatic cutscene between ENA and Froggy will trigger.
Turns out that you have a mission to get toThe Boss. The boss of who or what exactly, no one knows. The only trouble is, there’s a literal sea of blood between you and him as Froggy will tell you that he’s over at the giant mountain seen in the distance.
But wait!Before you tackle this challenge, you must first save your lungs from all this smoke that’s causing problems here.Froggy will give you your very first task,HELP NEEDED,which requires you to find the Receptionist.
12 Best Indie Detective Games
Solve mysteries from the comfort of your couch!
Entering the Lonely Door
Head back down the staircase you came from, and there will be a new opening on the rightfor you to go through. Ignore the blood leaking through the closed counter beside the entrance, that’s surely someone else’s problem.
The Receptionist doesn’t appear to be too happy to see you. ENA will put her foot down, and you will be granted access to use one of theBlue Doorsback up on the surface.
These Blue Doors will function as different levels or chapters in the future. My first playthrough of Lonely Door took about 1 hour and 30 mins, but depending on the tasks you pursue, it can be completedin more or less time.
Froggy will give you a call on your way back and tell you to hunt down those doors and exploit theirGenies, which becomes one of the late-game goals of the chapter you are about to embark on.
Go back up top, and you can speak with any of the characters you find there.
The human character with long hair and coral glasses can be spoken to here, where she will give you afax code.It can be used for a small Easter-egg after meeting theTaski Maidenlater in the game.
The blue-green smoke pouring from the sky will illuminate where you need to go, like a stage light from the heavens. Enter theLonely Doorto reach the first open area of the game.
Finding the Bridge
Froggy will call you up again after entering and tell you to find any traces of genies that could be the source of the smoke. ENA will glitch momentarily in the conversation and replace the word genie with bathroom.
Interact with the fancy stained-glass window to reveal the area ahead. It looks like your destination is a large floating island above the desert.
10 Amazing Indie Game Soundtracks
Whether you are looking for chiptunes, synth, or something utterly unexpected, indie games have you covered for music.
Go through the now-open doorway on your left, and you’ll find yourself outside in the open desert.From here there are many tasks you can get from speaking with characters scattered all over the level.
If you take the central path towards the floating island, you will be blocked from crossing the bridge byHoarder Alex,who has a lot of baggage, both physical and mental, to take care of. He’ll get so worked up that he’ll pass out and require you torevive himin order to continue your conversation with him.
Hilariously, you can actually wait out the prompt to revive him and, after several minutes, he will indeed die in front of you, allowing you to pass over the bridge while skipping an entire series of tasks.
He’ll tell you that someone is stalking him and point out a purple humanoid staring at you both from a distance.Alex will only let you pass if you deal with the person watching him.
One way to proceed involves solving a completely different task which we’ve covered separately for the characterShoryo,where you mustcollect all his petsin order to earn somechocolates.
Crossing the Bridge
You’ll need to speak with another character on the other side of the desert who resembles a purple capsule machine.
Speak with him and ENA will have a breakdown of sorts in a very dramatic cutscene that isglossed over completelyin the usual fashion. No time for personal problems when the job is at stake.
He has a shop here where you can purchasemayonnaisewhich you need in order to cross the bridge.Give him 10 chocolates as payment and you’ll secure the mayonnaise.
From here, head over to the building that looks like it is falling apart where the purple humanoid is hanging around, platform your way up the crumbling and nonexistent steps to reach the next floor, and interact with the purple guy.
You’ll be prompted with the optionBlock eyes with mayonnaise, which will put the mayonnaise jar on his head like a helmet blocking his vision. I guess that works?
Return to Hoarder Alex, and he will laugh at you for thinking he would let you go after all this. A cutscene ensues where the purple humanoid remains motionless back at the crumbling building with red flashing eyes glaring through the mayonnaise jar.
Alex will panic and run away before being lasered from a distance and exploding in a rigid ragdoll animation. Hooray!
Across the bridge you’ll be able to continue your journey to find genies, stop the smoke, and maybe find a bathroom while you’re there.
10 Indie Games That You Can Finish In Under 5 Hours
Indie games offer fantastic experiences, especially the ones that can be beaten in a few short hours.
