TRAILBLAZER AWARD DREAMS

Turns out they can come true, after all. Media Molecule’s astonishing toolkit is a giant leap for this small studio, elevating its ‘play, create, share’ ethos to unprecedented new levels. Little wonder, then, that it’s taken an entire console generation to come to fruition, arriving at the end of the PS4 era to deliver a vision that promises to last throughout PS5’s lifetime, too. And, who knows, perhaps even beyond that – this incredible piece of software has the potential to transcend hardware cycles, spearheading a new generation of creators across a huge range of disciplines.

Dreams works its magic by gamifying the creative process. It offers fun, tangible rewards for each player to personalise their cosy Homespace, alongside the less obvious ones we learn via osmosis: through each playfully conceived lesson, we gain greater insight and understanding of how interactive art comes to be. In the quixotic Art’s Dream, it presents a dazzling two-hour showreel of what those tools can do. Some of it might at first seem elusive to recreate – and yet just enough feels within reach of those with the patience and will to put their ideas into practice.

We shouldn’t forget the assistance it gives, either: Dreams resists blank canvas syndrome by actively encouraging collaboration, freely offering access to the work of your fellow dreamers to inspire, borrow or remix. And in keeping with its publisher’s own mission statement, it’s for the players, too: its thoughtfully curated front end lets you find something in just about every genre you can think of.

It is, then, both a pioneering platform and a global artists’ collective, welcoming budding designers, sculptors and musicians to realise and grow their talents together. And it undoubtedly has a bright future ahead, because it taps into something timeless and universal. Through play and creation, it encourages us to ignite that spark of imagination that lives within us – so that we might all one day share our Dreams with the world.