Tycho's Puzzle Dreams...

azith28

I read his post today and am releived to hear that apparently im not the only one that have these things. I'm curious how widespread the phenomenon is.

The last time i had them was while playing Picross 3d. I recall a night or two where i could not sleep. My brain kept imaging Picross puzzles over and over again. I tried to relax but for some reason my mind could not. It was simple logical stuff but my brain just wouldnt shut up about it and let me sleep.

Any amature Psych doctors wanna ponder what causes it?

SniperGuy

I notice that if I play a certain game for a few hours before bed I usually dream related to it. Probably just some sort of extension of that. Like when I play puzzle quest and then can't see anything but those shapes, or peggle, or minecraft, etc.

Echo

I once had a dream where Batman was trapped in a four-dimensional Peggle puzzle.

I also had a raging fever at the time. Wheeeeeee.

Tofystedeth

When I was in highschool, when I'd go to my friend's house, I'd sometimes fire up Tetris on his SNES and play long stretches. Afterwards, I could close my eyes and still play Tetris. I even lost a couple times. Yes. I lost playing Tetris in my head.

Psycho Internet Hawk

I know I've been playing a repetitive game too much when I start dreaming about it. Layton had the same effect on me. LoL has been making me see life bars as I start drifting away to sleep, no joke.

YamiNoSenshi

I've had related dreams after playing too much FFX, Jedi Academy, and Dead Rising 2. That last one was the best.

Speed Racer

Tetris and Rock Band both do something to me

where if I play a lot of them before bed I can't close my eyes without imagining the game board

like just a constant stream of falling blocks/note gems

Madpanda

The first time i really remember this kicking in was back when I played DDR and Stepmania a lot. Arrow patterns in sleep was... interesting.

Had it happen after WoW marathons, usually around vacation/expansion time.

Even TV marathons will do it sometimes, though not as specific as games, but the general feeling of a show. Watching the first 2 seasons of True Blood in rapid succession did not have a positive effect on my dreams.

Druk

It was Tetris Attack for me.

Man, that was a bad month or two of dreams.

y2jake215

same, wouldn't have actual dreams but i would just see the screen when i closed my eyes - for me it was after hours of geometry wars, those bright colors just got burned in

Winky

Psycho Internet Hawk wrote: »

I know I've been playing a repetitive game too much when I start dreaming about it. Layton had the same effect on me. LoL has been making me see life bars as I start drifting away to sleep, no joke.

I can mirror the sentiment of seeing life bars when I close my eyes after playing a lot of LoL.

But in general my fever dreams tend to be of this puzzle type. They're completely nonsensical but at the same time they seem logical and systematic, and my brain slaves away solving them in some abstract world incessantly. It's a little tortuous after a while.

Orochi_Rockman

A friend of mine and I played Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo for hours one night and I remember having a dream about falling colored blocks.

juice for jesus

There was a Nova episode about sleep research, and one of the ideas they covered was that the purpose of sleep and dreams is to process what you've learned the previous day. One experiment used to demonstrate this was people playing a game, then sleeping, and measuring their ability to play the game with and without having slept in between sessions. Sleeping was correlated with improved ability. So, dreaming about games (or anything you did during the day, really) fits in with that idea.

ElJeffe

I've had many dreams involving Rock Band notes streaming across my vision.

Psycho Internet Hawk

juice for jesus wrote: »

There was a Nova episode about sleep research, and one of the ideas they covered was that the purpose of sleep and dreams is to process what you've learned the previous day. One experiment used to demonstrate this was people playing a game, then sleeping, and measuring their ability to play the game with and without having slept in between sessions. Sleeping was correlated with improved ability. So, dreaming about games (or anything you did during the day, really) fits in with that idea.

Well, that makes sense. It's been proven that you retain information better (say, when studying) when it's in smaller increments over several days rather than one huge info dump.

Jintor

Minecraft dreams are awesome.

Newtron

I think the worst game related dream I ever had involved me being pounced by a hunter and then vomited on by a boomer while the hunter was still trying to wail on me.

Tophu

When I used to play DDR for long stretches, I would close my eyes and see nothing but colorful arrow moving upward.

That would last for some time, too.

The Wolfman

SniperGuy wrote: »

I notice that if I play a certain game for a few hours before bed I usually dream related to it. Probably just some sort of extension of that. Like when I play puzzle quest and then can't see anything but those shapes, or peggle, or minecraft, etc.

This is exactly what happens for me. It's usually random if and when it happens, but typically if I ever go marathon man with a game, I'll probably dream about it in some fashion the following night. And if it's a pure puzzle game like Tetris or something, I'm screwed. I may be technically unconscious, but my mind is going a hundred miles a minute, and it ends up being a horrible night's sleep with me waking up exhausted.

I wish I understood the mechanics behind sleeping, dreams, and restfulness more. Every bad night's sleep has always been plagued with frantic dreams. Not nightmares, but the kind that feel like your brain is on speed and won't shut the hell up. And on the flip side, virtually every single time I have ever significantly overslept in my life, it's always been when I had a real vivid dream. Like in The Matrix when Morpheus talks about having a dream that is so real? That level of dream.

Nuzak

the "tetris effect" is often used as support that dreams' purpose is to consolidate the day's experiences, kinda like defragging the brain

i mean to a certain extent much of the effect is just going to be the hypnotic effect of glowing symbols in your face for a long period of time.

Speed Racer

not really the same thing, but when Braid came out I would often play until I got tired, then go to sleep, then shoot bolt-upright twenty minutes later after the solution to the puzzle I had been struggling with finally hit me

polajum

I have really repetitious dreams when I'm sick. Not really puzzles, though.

I did spend about ten hours home sick leveling crafting in EQII once. That led to some torturous dreams.

_J_

When I played Puzzle Quest I would often have Puzzle Quest dreams.

Ryadic

After playing Lumines for hours upon hours I would close my eyes before bed and continue to think about playing it and such. Can't recall ever having a dream about doing this, though.

Now I do it about League of Legends.

Variable

in high school I reportedly said "throwing mastery" over and over in my sleep. this was a night a friend slept over during my diablo ii obsession phase.

he never played the game so he wouldn't have known the phrase unless I really said it.

_J_

Ryadic wrote: »

After playing Lumines for hours upon hours I would close my eyes before bed and continue to think about playing it and such. Can't recall ever having a dream about doing this, though.

Now I do it about League of Legends.

Lumines was a fantastic game.

Ryadic

_J_ wrote: »

Ryadic wrote: »

After playing Lumines for hours upon hours I would close my eyes before bed and continue to think about playing it and such. Can't recall ever having a dream about doing this, though.

Now I do it about League of Legends.

Lumines IS a fantastic game.

What the hell is wrong with you?

Ego

I used to play a lot of RTS, like... spare time, all day, every day. When I'd go to sleep, I'd dream about microing battles in RTS, over and over. If I spend all day playing them now, the same thing happens.

Seems like this sort of thing is pretty common, kinda neat .

Variable

on top of the throwing mastery thing, back when I was very into d2 (and even a couple of times when I've been heavy into WoW) I've dreamed about builds I wanted to do and characters I wanted to make. basically the thoughts I'd have sitting at my desk except I was asleep.

I've also seen tetris stuff when closing my eyes but it was a visual thing, never on the same level as dreaming about builds.

The Anonymous

I don't think I've ever had a game-related dream. Ever. Hell, I don't even have dreams that often, and usually it ends up causing deja vu a few weeks/months later.

Does this make me a freak?

Just_Bri_Thanks

Tofystedeth wrote: »

When I was in highschool, when I'd go to my friend's house, I'd sometimes fire up Tetris on his SNES and play long stretches. Afterwards, I could close my eyes and still play Tetris. I even lost a couple times. Yes. I lost playing Tetris in my head.

http://sidekickgirl.comicgenesis.com/d/20070520.html

Cherrn

Tonight I dreamt I was on a busride with James Earl Jones as a driver, but he was kind of surly.

I then got into another bus where Morgan Freeman was the driver, and I told him that was kind of crazy, as I had just been on one with James Earl Jones earlier. His response?

"Well, then maybe he should play SPIDER-MAN!"

And then a chorus of "Araña-man, Araña-man, Araña-man!" started, whilst elephants and guinea pigs in costumes started appearing on the floor.

It's not game related, but I want to know the meaning.

Gandalf_the_Crazed

I do this too. Lots of very abstract puzzles going on, unsolved, for hours and hours in my head when I have a fever.

As Tycho says, these are not fun dreams to have.

azith28

The thing that really makes them miserable experiences for me... See normally I dont remember my dreams. When i have this problem I seriously cannot tell if I'm actually dreaming it or if my brain just wont stop reviewing it. When i feel like either i really am just closing my eyes and seeing the puzzles or I'm falling asleep and having a very vivid dream that im unsuccessfully trying to go to sleep and cannot because my brain wont relax...and it seems to last for hours. I'll get up walk around my house, maybe watch some tv, try to go back to bed, and the problem happens again. and I always remember it in the morning.