Mr. Sleepy Man is one of the strangest and most charming games I’ve ever played. Though at its core, it’s primarily a quirky 3D platformer, the variety of crazy twists and goofy characters makes this unlike anything else. The tone won’t be for everyone, but it’ll absolutely be a bullseye for people as weird as me.
As someone whose brain was shaped throughout its developmental years by the more wild internet of the early 2000s, the key art for Mr. Sleepy Man immediately caught my attention. The characters were bizarre, and something about the art and colors gave off a blend of comedy and unnerving surrealism. As someone who loves comedy and is constantly unsettled, it seemed right up my alley, and that ended up being even more true than I thought.
I initially thought Mr. Sleepy Man was a fairly straightforward 3D platformer, but there’s a lot more to it than that. This is especially surprising given that the platforming itself is pretty exceptional, often reminding me of Super Mario Sunshine in how fluid and smooth it feels. There are lots of moves that let you slide, glide, and dive at increased speeds, without ever feeling clunky or difficult to control. I can’t think of a game that felt so enjoyable to bounce around in since 2017’s A Hat in Time, so kudos to developer Devin Santi for getting just how important it is to make movement satisfying and fluid in this sort of game.
Mr. Sleepy Man makes movement exceptionally fun.
The main tools at the titular hero’s disposal are his blankie and a pillow, both of which you’ll find pretty quickly after starting. The blankie lets you glide through the air, while the pillow is used for combat and sliding. Each one grants you greater vertical and horizontal mobility, respectively, and both can be used in conjunction with your many already existing movement options to really zip around. It takes some timing and practice to pull off some maneuvers, but experimenting with all the manners of movement in the game is so fun that you won’t mind learning the ropes and tightening your movements as you play.
As for what I meant about there being more to Mr. Sleepy Man than platforming, I was truly surprised at just how crazy the game gets. Some sections are tight, timing-focused speedruns, while others have you sneaking through enemy-dense areas, learning guitar songs in the same way you’d learn songs in early 3D Zelda games, or even navigating through a medium-mashing playable music video that covers a side character’s tragic memories. I stopped expecting that I’d be able to anticipate what would happen next, and I’m glad I did, because I would have never been correct anyways.
There’s a boss fight with a hammer-wielding mouse that seems really into a pizza mascot. You can soak yourself in cream corn in order to slip out of the grasp of what I can only describe as cartoony sleep paralysis demons. It’s a consistently weird game that never feels random for the sake of it or lame, even when it’s immensely hard to understand pretty much anything that’s going on around you. I can’t say I fully grasp everything the surprisingly intricate narrative evokes, but I know there’s a lot of personal feeling put into it, and it works out well.
There’s even a Majora’s Mask-esque time system linked to sleeping and causing chaos, which I barely knew anything about until I had wandered around for a couple of hours in the main hub. Nonlinearity is one of Mr. Sleepy Man’s finest assets, as I always felt like I was discovering peculiar new things whilst learning more about the setting or progressing in some way. That being said, the absurd logic and story will make it hard for those who are looking for a more straightforward platformer to figure out what they’re doing if they aren’t equipped with a walkthrough. Despite the similarities, this really isn’t a Mario title, so if you hope progression was similar between the two titles, you’ll be in for a rough time.
I love the visual style of Mr. Sleepy Man, which really evokes a surreal feeling, like the one you can feel but not describe after dreaming. Character designs vary wildly, and the colors are primarily a little darker and more muted. A lot of the characters are honestly fairly ugly and unpleasant to look at, which I love and think fits the game’s world perfectly, but it absolutely won’t appeal to everybody’s sensibilities.
Good
The Final Word
Mr. Sleepy Man is a game that will appeal to absolute weirdos – myself included – through and through. It’s a blast to run around, and platform in, and the creatively bizarre world and characters are unlike anything I’ve played before. It can certainly be a bit confusing if you try to play it like a regular platformer, but if you’re willing to wade in the weird, this is one game you won’t forget for a good while.
