Before I go any further with this, I’m just making this up for fun, not to ruin anyone’s day or experience with the game. Frankly and honestly, I started playing it on Wednesday and I’m probably enjoying it as much as everyone else is. This conspiracy theory of mine popped up last weekend when I was teasing my girlfriend, and I immediately apologized to her for the way I could see it was making her feel. So, please don’t let this post ruin your experience or opinion of the game, just take it in the spirit I’m presenting it: a bit of fun with a little thought behind the premise. Oh and SPOILERS!!!

So what is this theory?

Everyone on the island and in the game is dead.

Yes, I’m suggesting that the developers have pulled a Lost on us all, and that every character in the game is dead and in purgatory, trying to get to heaven through the various acts of friendship, trust, valor, et cetera. The Forgetting is explained simply by the characters not understanding what happened when they died, and they each arrived, locked in their own little worlds, needing to be rescued and placed in a safe place until a later judgement can occur. Merlin, theoretically the most supervisor experienced of them all, came to suspect what had happened and gained some agency over his situation: he was able to free himself from his own home. Watching our supernatural arrival, he came to enlist us to free the others from their own thoughts (or prisons), using “magical” tools and abilities and help them all remember a common land that they all once loved.

Odd that Dreamlight Valley, the ideal kingdom in which they all once lived and in which they hope to live again, sounds an awful lot like heaven, don’t you think?

Another bit of evidence… Progressing Mickey’s quest leads you to start seeing a ghost like image of Minnie… You can see her walking around, minding her own business before fading from sight, which is often reported in real world ghost encounters. (This bit is what inspired this theory, really; I very much do believe in ghosts and have encountered them throughout my life.) Eventually, you “rescue” Minnie and bring her to the valley as well, reuniting her with Mickey. This could be interpreted as helping her transition from the world of the living to purgatory, though I can’t imagine why she’d end up in the realm between heaven and hell… She’s an angel, unlike Mickey, who after more than three quarters of a century can’t even do the honorable thing and propose to her… Grrr….

I think (well, suggest) that the quests you undertake in Dreamlight Valley are to bring peace to the characters, allowing them to transcend their stuck states, and move on to heaven. That, in itself, is enough to justify continuing to play the game even if this theory were true. (Which it isn’t; it’s a game and games don’t have to have secret or mysterious meanings to them!)

So, that’s my conspiracy theory, and again, I mean this entirely in terms of fun. Please don’t take it seriously, but if you want to chime in on it, please tell me what you think one way or another. Most importantly, if you’re playing Dreamlight Valley, have fun doing so!