Mattel Purple Moon Secret Paths to Your Dreams PC Game

Created for girls ages nine and up, Purple Moon: Secret Paths – To Your Dreams provides users with a means to track their dreams by entering and illustrating them in a journal of sorts. The end results can be saved as a type of dream diary or shared with others over the Internet. Five themes, or paths, are available to categorize dreams: nature, elements, fantasy, the known and the unknown, each with unique scenery backgrounds and associated items (e.g., people, objects, and creatures).

Five fictional teenage girls from ~Whistling Pines Jr. High represent what the designers perceive as typical teens. After listening to them relate their dreams, players are asked to illustrate a second dream. If done correctly, the player receives a "dream gem," providing access to other dream items. Other features include a dream dictionary (dream symbolism) and an option to import personal pictures in .bmp or .jpg format.

Unfortunately, the software is too self-limiting to be of much practical use, featuring only five themes, 25 scenery backgrounds, and 50 animated stamps and brushes. Considering the millions of possible dream sequences, the user is forced to fit dreams into a handful of homogenized categories, with little latitude provided for real life interpretations. ~ Michael L. House, All Game Guide