Game: The Dreams in the Peacock House
Genre: Adventure, Indie
System: Steam (Windows) (also available on itch.io)
Developer | Publisher: Harlequin Diver
Controller Support: None
Price: US $2.99 | UK £2.65 | EU € 3,15
Release Date: June 10, 2026
Review code provided with many thanks to Harlequin Diver.
The Dreams in the Peacock House is a surreal text adventure game from indie developer Harlequin Diver. It’s strange and has deep horror elements that make it something of a thriller game.
You Wake Up In An Unfamiliar Place…
The Dreams in the Peacock House is a haunting tale. It may not have jump scares or gore, but it still manages to give you the creeps throughout its weird and wonderful runtime. While I wouldn’t call it a cozy game, it’s great for adults who want a little bit of horror without the gross or the violent.
You wake to a text adventure in a spooky house. You are alone here, but you keep finding notes from someone talking about their sadness. After exploring the house, you begin to find eyes that open up new worlds that hold secrets to your past and your missing memories. While about half of The Dreams in the Peacock House is a text adventure, the other half takes place in cutscenes and a 3D maze. There are also puzzles to solve that move you deeper into the mystery of the Peacock House.
The Weirdest Game of 2026
I love weird games. I have gotten the honor of playing a whole bunch of great ones for LG, including Karambola, Lucy Dreaming, and Papetura. And I have to say that The Dreams in the Peacock House is probably as weird as, if not weirder than, the strangest ones I’ve ever played. It’s surreal to the extreme, with parts of memories being mimicked on TV by moths and a search for hidden golden, glowing eyeballs.
It’s beautiful, original, and unique in a way that most people who like narrative games can enjoy. It tells the story of human trauma and weakness that is universal to all of us, but in this delightfully hypnagogic packaging. It has an interesting story that does feature some choices, even though the ending remains the same regardless of what you choose to do.
While The Dreams in the Peacock House is short, has well-worn mechanics, and a simple story, it handles all of it very well. It’s only about a one-to-two-hour game, but you are locked in the whole time. The music, the art, the story, the visuals, the interactions… Everything in it blends perfectly together to make a beautiful, dream-like experience.
The Cons of The Dreams in the Peacock House
I did not experience any issues during my playthrough of The Dreams in the Peacock House. As I stated above, the story was great, the gameplay elements were well done, and even the music was stellar. I enjoyed every minute of this strange little game.
My only real complaint was that the text could use another pass by an editor; there were a few grammatical mistakes that would most likely be a fairly easy fix. However, none of the errors was so distracting that it took me out of the game or made things too difficult to understand. Overall, it was a very well-polished experience; it was so nice, in fact, that ended up playing it twice to unlock some of the secrets.
Conclusion
I enjoyed every moment with The Dreams in the Peacock House. While it’s a pretty weird game, I would still feel good about recommending it to almost anyone. It does have a little bit of cursing and a few off-color jokes that would make me hesitate to give it to kids, but teens and adults could definitely find joy in The Dreams in the Peacock House.
I probably will do one more playthrough in an attempt to find the last of the hidden things I missed the first go around. And I’m really excited for that opportunity to boot The Dreams in the Peacock House up again.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up:Â
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