The following article was co-written by Ed Varnell and David Lasby.
While taking a break in the media room, our Editor-In-Chief told me about a game I should definitely check out. A platforming N64-like game? Cartoony and expressive? Weird but satisfying? I must find it out! He wasn’t wrong, and when I got my hands on this game, I truly had some 1998 joy playing it. My eyes were awoken to a game called Mr. Sleepy Man, created by Devin Santi. He describes the game as “Mario 64 meets Untitled Goose Game,” and that’s a great description of how it plays.
In Mr. Sleepy Man, you play as the character named Sleepy. As you find a game and put it into your Lonely 64, you turn on the power, and you see an evil-looking face on the TV. Soon, a hand grabs you and pulls you into this bizarre dream world where you meet a character named, and I am not joking about this, Teefy. Teefy is an old, country, big-headed guy with one tooth who sounds similar to Mr. Herbert in the show Family Guy (just not with the other things that make Mr. Herbert who he is, if you’ve seen the show).
Once you take control of Sleepy, you can roam the land and do tasks. With tight controls and a smooth frame rate, Mr. Sleepy Man appeals to the nostalgia of the N64 era while offering modern controls that work. You can steal a register and run away with it, or help a sleepless-looking man with a concern. Whatever the game has you find and explore, it can be achieved with some great jumping and gliding around with a blanket. You attack with your pillow in a fast manner, but in the demo, there wasn’t anything to defend against, unless you attack some innocent bystanders.
You collect some kind of gems for currency, but at this time, no purpose was served for it, which is fine for this short ten-minute demo. There also seems to be a nightmare meter, but I didn’t get an explanation at the time about it since the creator stepped away from the game.
I truly enjoyed my time with it and look forward to more of the game to see what wacky ideas are in the final version of the game.
When asked about the inspiration for Mr. Sleepy Man, Devin Santi, explained that he always loved video games and has a music background; he jumped into game development with a desire to create something lasting and permanent, and with a desire to conquer a new artistic medium. He began developing the game in 2019, and as a one-man team, created all of the music, art, and voice acting, while doing the programming himself.
Mr. Sleepy Man is set to release at the end of 2025 or early 2026 on Steam, but will likely be heading to consoles a few months after.
You can add Mr. Sleepy Man to your Steam Wishlist here.
Tell us what you think! Will you be getting Mr. Sleepy Man when it releases? Share your reactions in the comments below or join the conversation on Boss Rush Network’s Discord, Facebook, and Twitter.
Featured Image: Devin Santi
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