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ENA: Dream BBQ

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ENA: Dream BBQ
Developer(s)ENA Team
Publisher(s)Joel G
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Windows, Linux, macOS
ReleaseMarch 27, 2025
Genre(s)Exploration, adventure, puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player

ENA: Dream BBQ is a 2025 episodic exploration adventure game developed by ENA Team and published by Joel Guerra. It follows ENA, a humanoid who explores various environments while interacting with other characters, completing in-game tasks, and solving mazes in an effort to reach the Boss, a mysterious figure central to the narrative.[1]

The game's first chapter, titled "Lonely Door", was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux on March 27, 2025. More chapters are in development, and are planned to be released as downloadable content. The game was widely described as surreal by reviewers.

Gameplay

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ENA: Dream BBQ is an exploration adventure game[a] set in the first person.[7] The player controls a humanoid named ENA and is presented with various objectives through her, which are accessible through the game's interface. Throughout the story, the gameplay incorporates character interaction, maze navigation, puzzle solving and platforming, alongside a minigame included as a segment within a certain task assigned during gameplay.[8] Tasks become available following interactions with specific non-player characters who serve as the trigger for a corresponding task. Some tasks are interdependent, requiring prior completion of related objectives.[9]

Plot

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ENA together with her employer Froggy

ENA, the game's main protagonist, is a humanoid with two distinct personalities. Her body is divided into two parts: one red, smoothly shaped, controlled by her "salesperson" personality; the other is white with light-blue shades, geometrically shaped, controlled by her "meanie" personality. During the game, ENA's appearance may radically change.[10]

Chapter 1 – Lonely Door

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The game begins at the Red Outworld, where ENA finds a blue door that teleports her to the Hub. There, she encounters Froggy, her employer, who explains that her goal is to find an entity known as the Boss.[b] Afterwards, the Hub is filled with smoke, which causes Froggy to have an allergic reaction. ENA is then assigned her first job, which is to find a way to clear the smoke.[11] She goes back to find the Receptionist, who tells her that the only way to clear the smoke is to find one of the Genies residing behind specific doors, such as the Lonely Door, Crowd Door, and Horse Door. After speaking with the Receptionist, ENA enters the Lonely Door and arrives at the Uncanny Streets.[9]

At the Uncanny Streets, ENA encounters many characters, one of which, the Shaman, tells her that the Genie can be reached by getting to a giant floating island in the sky, but in order to do that, she must create a special item called the Humanboard or "LIFE". The creation of "LIFE" requires access to the Northern Gorge, which is located beyond the bridge. Before crossing the bridge, ENA meets Hoarder Alex, who tells her that a strange man is watching him, likely planning to steal his properties, and that if she wants to cross, she must find a way to block the man's vision.[9]

After finding a way to block the vision of the man, ENA crosses the bridge and finds one of the witches, who asks her for help in finding her relatives, who are three other witches that can be found in the middle of Uncanny Streets.[12] If ENA manages to do that, she receives the Motherboard. She brings it to the Shaman, who turns it into the Humanboard, which can be used to reach areas that were previously inaccessible, including the Floating Island.[8] When ENA reaches the island, she will be teleported into the final location - the Core. In the Core, ENA must cross a white river, which she can do with the Humanboard or by jumping on rafts. If ENA falls into the river, she will be teleported into the Lost Village and will have to take a different route (see § Alternate routes), but if she crosses the river, she can enter the Bathroom to find Theodora, the Genie of the Lonely Door.

Theodora agrees on granting ENA one of her aspirations, providing a choice of five options, of which only one can be chosen—"Aspire to get rid of the smoke". After choosing this variant, ENA gains access to the Smoke Room. There, she destroys the Smoke Machine—the source of the smoke surrounding the Hub. Upon leaving the room, ENA finds herself in the Outworld, a location similar to the Uncanny Streets. She returns to the Lonely Door and tries to exit through it, but it is already closed. She is then covered with crystal-like growths, after which a mannequin emerges from her body and is pulled into an abyss, where a hand grabs it and carries it away. After, one of the mannequins in the Hub turns into ENA, bringing her back to life.[11]

Alternate routes

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Aside from the other path, the ending can also be reached through the Purge Event, which Froggy describes as a "dangerous and illegal party".[10] To access the Purge Event, ENA must find the head of the Taxi Driver by solving a maze located underground. She can then enter the nearby taxi, which the Taxi Driver picks up and places in the Uncanny Streets Dark, where the Purge Event can be found.[13] At the Purge Event, after talking with one of the special characters who serve as a trigger, she will be transported into a labyrinth, where she will be turned into a whistle-like creature.[10] After finishing the labyrinth, ENA enters the Core, where the further events will be the same.

If ENA falls into the white river in the Core, she will be taken to the Lost Village. To exit the village, she must find and enter the right building, which will take her to a long corridor leading to a broken body of Theodora, who is said to be "the former Genie of these lands". After talking to the Theodora, ENA will be taken to the Smoke Room and the path to the ending will be the same as other routes.

Development

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The game is connected to the web series ENA (sometimes formatted ƎNA), created by Peruvian[14] animator Joel Guerra and published on the video-sharing platform YouTube in 2020.[7] Set in abnormal environments, the retro-style animated series follows ENA, whose voice and face shifts with her emotional state.[15][5] The animated series is inspired by the webcore aesthetic,[2] and was influenced by the 1998 game LSD: Dream Emulator.[16] The titular character was inspired by Pablo Picasso's painting Girl before a Mirror and works by Brazilian artist Romero Britto.[17] The series partnered with Fangamer to produce official merch of the project in the US.[18] By 2023, Guerra's YouTube channel accumulated 900,000 subscribers.[16]

ENA: Dream BBQ was announced on September 23, 2021. The initial release date for the first chapter was planned for December 2022, but was later postponed to 2023 for further development of the game.[16] The official trailer of the game was shown on January 28, 2023.[5] Guerra announced in October 2023 that the game would be further delayed.[15] The first chapter of ENA: Dream BBQ, titled "Lonely Door", was launched for PC via Steam on March 27, 2025.[7] The game has voice acting in various languages besides English,[5] including Greek, Italian, Japanese, and Russian. Some in-game characters are inspired by different aspects of certain cultures, like French, Korean, and Peruvian.[19]

The first chapter of the game can be played for free, but the Supporter Edition Upgrade can be bought as downloadable content. The Supporter Edition includes unlockable additional content to the game, such as pre-production animations, in-development screenshots, developer commentary, and concept art.[20] The content can be accessed by obtaining hidden colleactable items, spread throughout the game. The Supporter Edition does not include access to future chapters of ENA: Dream BBQ, which are planned to be purchasable separately.[21]

Reception

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The game has been widely described by critics and journalists as "surreal".[7][5][4] Dominic Tarason of PC Gamer wrote that ENA: Dream BBQ preserved the "kaleidoscopic blend of aesthetics and animation styles" in the original animations while describing the game's world as being more immersive and the characters as more remarkable.[22] Characterizing the game as "essentially an interactive acid trip", PCGamesN's Jamie Hore noted that the experience had a mix of platforming, puzzle solving and some exploration, which made it difficult to determine the game's genre.[7] Tarason felt the description of "walking simulator" for the game would be too reductive of the experience.[22]

Upon launch, the concurrent player count reached almost 11,000 players.[7] It was greeted with an "overwhelmingly positive" response, collecting over 9,000 reviews shortly after release. Yusuke Sonta of Automaton Media stated that the game's popularity soon resembled that of the animated series, with the multi-language voice cast helping users enjoy the game in spite of language barriers.[4] According to Russian internet journal VGTimes, ENA: Dream BBQ was the eighth-most subscribed game on Steam with almost 30,000 followers as of March 27, 2025.[23]

Footnotes

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Explanatory

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  1. ^ ENA: Dream BBQ has been described as either an exploration or adventure game, or both, by reviewers. Some reviewers say it is an adventure game[2] [3] while others say it is an exploration game (or similar).[4][5] Viraaj Bhatgnar of Game Rant says it is both an exploration and adventure game.[6]
  2. ^ Throughout the game, numerous characters claim to be the Boss. However, some state that they are not afterwards, and ENA denies the characters' claims of being the Boss regardless of if they retracted their statement.

Citations

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  1. ^ "ENA : Dream BBQ - trailer du jeu vidéo indé (adapté de la web série animée péruvienne de Joel Guerra) - News | Catsuka". www.catsuka.com (in French). Retrieved May 24, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Shuman, Sean (April 9, 2025). "'ENA: Dream BBQ' Game Review: A Gonzo Adventure in a Surreal World". HorrorGeekLife. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
  3. ^ "Will ENA Dream BBQ have multiplayer coop? Let's look at it". Game Pressure. March 27, 2025. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Sonta, Yusuke (March 31, 2025). "不条理夢世界探検ゲーム『ENA: Dream BBQ』、Steamで無料配信開始。レビュー9000件超・好評率99％" [The absurd dream world exploration game 'ENA: Dream BBQ' is now available for free on Steam. Over 9,000 reviews and a 99% favorable rating.]. Automaton Media (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 4, 2025. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e Litchfield, Ted (January 30, 2023). "A surreal first person adventure based on a cult animated series just dropped its first gameplay trailer". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  6. ^ Bhatnagar, Viraaj (April 19, 2025). "New Free Steam Game Has 'Overwhelmingly Positive' Reviews". Game Rant. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Hore, Jamie (March 27, 2025). "Absurd, free, and 98%-rated, this new Steam game from a popular YouTuber is already a hit". PCGamesN. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  8. ^ a b Novichenko, Artur (April 2, 2025). "How to Complete Wizard Quest in ENA: Dream BBQ". Game Rant. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
  9. ^ a b c Broestl, Henry (April 2, 2025). "ENA Dream BBQ: How to Cross the Bridge". DualShockers. Archived from the original on April 16, 2025. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  10. ^ a b c Novichenko, Artur (April 1, 2025). "How to Get Through the Purge Event in Ena: Dream BBQ". Game Rant. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
  11. ^ a b Ferguson, Drew (April 6, 2025). "Ena: Dream BBQ - Get Rid Of This Smoke Job Walkthrough". TheGamer. Archived from the original on April 8, 2025. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  12. ^ Borges, Franklin Bellone (March 31, 2025). "How to find the witch and bring her back in ENA Dream BBQ". Destructoid. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
  13. ^ Ferguson, Drew (April 5, 2025). "Ena: Dream BBQ - For The Economy Job Walkthrough". TheGamer. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
  14. ^ Litchfield, Ted (January 29, 2023). "A surreal first person adventure based on a cult animated series just dropped its first gameplay trailer". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  15. ^ a b Green, Meriel (October 23, 2023). "ENA: Dream BBQ Will Take Longer To Cook Than We Thought". Gamezebo. Archived from the original on April 22, 2025. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  16. ^ a b c Kawano, Mayo (January 28, 2023). "サイケ夢世界探索『ENA: Dream BBQ』のシュール新映像に圧倒される者が続出。理解はできないが見るのがやめられない" [Many are overwhelmed by the surreal new visuals of the psychedelic dream world exploration game 'ENA: Dream BBQ'. I can't understand it, but I can't stop watching it.]. Automaton Media (in Japanese). Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  17. ^ Joel G (June 4, 2020). ENA. Archived from the original on April 21, 2025. Retrieved April 25, 2025 – via YouTube. Video description.
  18. ^ はくまいさん (September 28, 2023). "ピカソの絵のような少女「エナ」の奇想天外な物語が描かれるアニメ『ENA』新グッズが米Fangamerで発売へ。カオスすぎて海外で人気爆発中の作品" [New goods for the anime 'ENA,' which tells the bizarre story of a girl named "Ena" who looks like a Picasso painting, will be released on Fangamer in the US. The chaotic work is becoming extremely popular overseas.]. Den Fami Nico Gamer (in Japanese). Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  19. ^ Kubas, Aleksandra (April 24, 2025). "[PREVIEW] ENA: Dream BBQ – One of the most unique games ever made". IndieGames. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  20. ^ Haq, Huzaifa (March 29, 2025). "ENA Dream BBQ: Should You Buy The Supporter Edition?". Game Rant. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  21. ^ Haq, Huzaifa (March 29, 2025). "ENA Dream BBQ: How Long to Beat". Game Rant. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
  22. ^ a b Tarason, Dominic (March 27, 2025). "Mindbending free multimedia adventure ENA: Dream BBQ is out now, has activated all my neurons and opened my third eye". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  23. ^ "Названа самая желанная PC-игра марта в Steam. Её ждут больше, чем Assassin's Creed: Shadows" [The Most Wanted PC Game of March on Steam Has Been Named. It Is More Anticipated Than Assassin's Creed: Shadows]. VGTimes (in Russian). February 26, 2025. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
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