Skip to main content PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES Search PC Gamer View Profile Movies & TV Gaming Industry PC Gaming Show Newsletter Signup Community Guidelines Affiliate Links Meet the team About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine Subscription Why subscribe? Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99View Spring Prime Day Monster Hunter Wilds Marvel Rivals Mindbending free multimedia adventure ENA: Dream BBQ is out now, has activated all my neurons and opened my third eye Dominic Tarason 27 March 2025 A journey through the lonely door, into the realm of the veiny hipposnake octahedrons. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Joel Guerra) Some days you just roll out of bed and immediately fall into another world. Exactly four years and one day from its announcement, ENA: Dream BBQ is out on Steam, free. The first chapter of it, at least. It’s the first interactive adventure of the titular chaotic cubist girl (created by Peruvian artist Joel Guerra), star of a series of deeply strange but wonderfully compelling animations, which you can watch here on YouTube. You should watch them, and then play the game, because you’re in for a one-of-a-kind experience. The Ena animations thus far felt like a peek into the dreams of someone raised on a diet of early CD-ROM era ‘multimedia experiences’ and subtitled foreign animation. A kaleidoscopic blend of aesthetics and animation styles, from slick CGI renders to overly compressed FMV overlays, to heavily aliased low-fi 3D corridors and everything in-between. From the hour I’ve played so far, Dream BBQ doubles down on that, but its world feels so much larger and more tangible. Its characters (existing across multiple mediums and speaking a dozen different languages) are given more opportunity to linger, ramble and get their hooks into your brain. The terribly reductive would just call this a ‘walking simulator’. An exploration heavy, mechanics-light ramble through strange environments, and while not inaccurate, that also feels like it sells the experience short. ENA: Dream BBQ Chapter 1 - Release Date Trailer - YouTube This is a genuinely fractured, dreamlike experience that defies any attempt to make sense of it. The game opens under a blood red sky in shadowed, irregular asian streets. A giant silhouette of a person swims lazily through the air above. An inviting blue bed stands in the street. Interacting with it asks you if you wish to open the door. Of course you do. And now you’re Ena, at work. She’s looking for The Boss, with the aid of a Japanese man-frog and a masked Dracula. For those who’ve watched the animations, this particular incarnation of Ena is more focused, aggressive and businesslike. Overbearing, almost. She’s a woman on a mission, full of useful business buzzwords. In this chapter, she’s looking for a Genie, except that every attempt to say that word becomes overwritten with ‘Bathroom’. The answer to this bathroom mystery might lie in a strange desert realm where veiny hipposnake octahedrons float through the sky. Go on then, you’ve got work to do. The game might be free, but that’s not to say it’s underfunded work. Guerra runs an active Patreon page, Fangamer have an extensive merch page, and Dream BBQ has an optional bit of ‘supporter edition’ DLC that adds funny little collectible dogs to the game which unlock behind-the-scenes development commentary and production notes. The rabbit hole is as deep as you want it to be, but as curious as I am about the production process, I do enjoy this stuff having an air of mystery to it. Like it’s a mysterious artifact from another plane of existence. Something to be experienced, but never fully understood. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. As for whether we’ll see the other chapters anytime soon, or even at all, I wouldn’t even hazard a guess. Part of the fun of Ena’s world is not knowing what lies around the next corner. But I can’t deny that even before I’ve had a chance to fully explore this strange pocket dimension, I’m already hungry for more. But who isn’t at a good barbeque? Go grab yourself a bite. Best cozy games: Relaxed gaming Best anime games: Animation-inspired Best JRPGs: Classics and beyond Best cyberpunk games: Techno futures Best gacha games: Freemium fanatics Dominic Tarason Social Links Navigation Contributing Writer The product of a wasted youth, wasted prime and getting into wasted middle age, Dominic Tarason is a freelance writer, occasional indie PR guy and professional techno-hermit seen in many strange corners of the internet and seldom in reality. Based deep in the Welsh hinterlands where no food delivery dares to go, videogames provide a gritty, realistic escape from the idyllic views and fresh country air. If you're looking for something new and potentially very weird to play, feel free to poke him on Twitter. He's almost sociable, most of the time. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. 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