What is Yume Nikki?

Yume Nikki is a 2004 adventure game created by the pseudonymous Japanese developer Kikiyama. The player controls a girl named Madotsuki and explores her dreams, collecting 24 effects that change her appearance and equipment. Random events also occur throughout the game in the form of cutscenes and unique gameplay sequences. The game was developed using RPG Maker 2003 without a traditional plot or battle system. Gameplay instead focuses on the exploration of the dream world.

Why do i like it?

About the protagonist

Madotsuki (窓付き, lit. windowed) (pronounced /ma.do.tsɯ.ki/) is the playable protagonist of Yume Nikki. She is one of the few characters in the game with an official name

Madotsuki is the character the player controls through the game. She has brown hair done into twin braids with red hairclips, and an expression only consisting of two closed (or squinted) eyes. She wears a pink long-sleeve sweater with a window-like design, a dark purple skirt and bright red shoes.

Most of her identity and life are entirely left up to the player's interpretation, with any official hints of these factors being shown in abstract and vague forms during her dreams. Although there is no indication of her age given in the game, she is often depicted as a young person in official media, likely in her pre- or early-teenage years.

Her life in the real world (or at least what the player gets to see) is all confined to her small room. She can go out to her balcony, play NASU on her Famicom console, sit at her desk and write in her diary, or go to sleep in her bed, with the latter having the most significance due to allowing the events of the game to take place

All Yume Nikki Characters:

All Yume Nikki References in fangames (Spoilers: There are a lot)