Dream BBQ is an upcoming episode and interactive adventure game in the ENA series. It is the fifth installment in the series and marks the beginning of a new season.
The title ENA - Dream BBQ was first shown on Joel Guerra's Patreon on March 8th with a post titled "ENA - Dream BBQ Concept Art". Later, on March 25th, the teaser and first announcement of Dream BBQ were posted publicly on Joel G.'s social media accounts. The same day, a Tweet on Joel Guerra's Twitter stated he was looking for new voice actors for future projects, alluding to new voice casting in the episode.[1]
On May 3rd, Joel had stated he had contracted COVID-19 from the ongoing pandemic, temporarily halting/slowing production of the episode.[2] However, ten days later, another Twitter post stated he was feeling much better and production had continued.[3]
On May 26th and June 15th, respectively, the concept artworks of two new characters were revealed. The first gave the front view of the Ena set to appear in Dream BBQ,[4] who was previously only seen from the back in the episode's teaser. The second was a character named Taski Maiden.[5]
In the post revealing Taski Maiden, Joel stated that he had drawn many character designs, stating there would be "more than 20 characters", already doubling the 10 new characters debuting in Temptation Stairway. On July 13th, he followed the previous statement by saying there would be "more than 50".[6] He also confirmed that Dream BBQ would be longer than Temptation Stairway.[7] Seven days after making the "more than 50" statement, some concept art for Season 2 Ena was shown.[8]
Logo designed to look like a neon sign, showcasing the episode title. Used to tease the then upcoming Dream BBQ game trailer.
On August 24th, a trailer was announced to be released for the project, also stating "an important announcement" to go along with it. A teaser logo for the episode, designed by Brian Zavala (Mizu_wolf), was also shown.[9] On September 14th, another teaser was posted that showed two Ena-like figures, both with previously unseen color combinations.[10]
On September 22nd, the aforementioned trailer was released, revealing that Dream BBQ would be an interactive game. It was also clarified later on that it would be an episode as well, just like Auction Day, Extinction Party, and Temptation Stairway. The trailer revealed that the player plays as Ena, exploring uncanny worlds and meeting new characters. The trailer also announced available pre-orders for upcoming Ena plushies on Joelgc.com. Gabe Velez, who previously voiced Season 1 Ena's masculine voice, revealed that the game will feature a new voice cast, and as such, he and Lizzie Freeman will not reprise their previous roles.[11]
During a Twitch stream on September 26th, a few questions were answered involving Dream BBQ. When asked about development, Joel replied, "there are still concepts to be done, but the main mechanics are done." When asked about the game's length, it was stated that "the game is very short. Not like a full game [like] some people think." When asked about the possibility of bosses, it was stated that there would be no boss fights in the game, though there would be fights.
On October 9th, another piece of concept art was posted on Joel Guerra's Twitter and Instagram. This piece showed Ena and an unnamed character who previously appeared at the end of the Dream BBQ game trailer.[12] On October 18th, a short GIF of Season 2 Ena performing a pose (also previously seen in the game trailer) was posted.[13] On Halloween, four new characters that had not been previously revealed were posted on Joel's Instagram.[14]
On November 11th, alongside the reveal of an alternate form for the Ena appearing in Dream BBQ, a short explanation of the entry's uncanniness was given:
“
"Months ago even before uploading Temptation Stairway, I thought about the probability of doing an ENA project based on nightmares. This is the reason why DREAM BBQ looks different and uncanny in some aspects." — Joel Guerra
”
This shows that Dream BBQ will mostly be centered around the theme of nightmares and also shows that the idea of such a project was thought of even before the release of Temptation Stairway.[15] Also in November, Joel confirmed via Patreon that the rough script for Dream BBQ had been completed.[16]
On December 14th, a music preview was released on Joel's YouTube channel featuring music by METAROOM in a song known as "The Purge Event". This was also released alongside art featuring an unknown character and Ena appearing in her currently unnamed green alternate form.[17]
On December 30th, an art piece was posted alongside an announced release for Dream BBQ in "the murky depths of 2022", hinting at a possible release in late 2022.[18] In a now-deleted Tweet, it was also joked that Dream BBQ would be immediately cancelled due to impatient fans.
2022
On January 19th, a public post on Joel's Patreon announced that the team was looking for 3D environment artists to help build retro-style environment models for Dream BBQ. Preferred experience included knowledge of 3D game engines, game asset creation, and 2D/pixel-art texturing.[19]
On February 23rd, ENA Day 2022, a Twitch stream featuring the ENA team was streamed, discussing Dream BBQ.[20] During the stream, some concept art previously exclusive to Patreon members was shown, and some aspects involving Dream BBQ were revealed and discussed:
The game is planned to be free on release with payable options later on if supporting service platforms (e.g., Steam) decide to adopt the game.
The game has horror elements without attempting to be outright scary or frightening. The horror comes more from the atmosphere or appearance of the game's world and characters.
An art book featuring concept art would be released at some point, though it is currently unknown when.
Oliver Buckland stated he wanted to make the music more "interactive" and much more than a loop of a single track for a single area of the game.
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Video shown during the ENA Day 2022 stream to reveal Tools.
The game has items known as "Tools", which involve a special animated cutscene for each. An animation for a Tool named "The ultimate Board member" was also shown.
The script for the game took months, with an approximation being nine months.
There will be multiple different endings to the game.
Accessibility settings are planned to be implemented, such as those relating to colors or effects that may affect certain players.
It is too soon to say if there will be other games or episodes in Season 2.
Dream BBQ is mostly described as being "different without being divergent" and as a short game with a lot of content. A joke explanation of the game during the stream simply states that "it's an ENA episode".
All of the voice actors have been selected, most of whom were found via a Tweet.[21] The primary goal was to look for voice actors who spoke languages other than English.
The game's engine is Unity, which was used for the making of the Season 1 episodes.
A new location known as "The Museum" is mentioned, which Joel Guerra states is one of his favorite areas from the game.
The character previously seen at the end of the Dream BBQ game trailer has concept art shown of them during the stream. They are also referred to by the nickname "Clown", so as not to reveal their real name.
On April 15th, a short animation was shown for a character named Coral Glasses who would appear in the game.[22] The character reuses an older design made in 2020.[23]
Taski Maiden concept art posted on May 20th, 2022.
On May 12th, Marco Cárdenas announced they were working with the ENA team as an animator for Dream BBQ, most likely for 2D character animation.[24] Eight days later, new concept art of Taski Maiden was shown, which depicted her carrying her companions in an aguayo.[25] On May 30th, Talon Zane also announced he would be working with the ENA team for Dream BBQ as a programmer.[26] On May 31st, a GIF of Ena talking while moving in a dance-like manner was posted by Joel Guerra.[27]
On June 28th, FERCI announced she would also be joining the ENA team as a 2D animator for Dream BBQ.[28]
During a Twitch stream on July 29th, it was reiterated that Dream BBQ would be aiming to be free on release, as it had been advertised as such. The team is also aiming for the possibility of pay-what-you-want pricing and also revealed that the game would release on itch.io.[29]
On August 31st, new art of "Clown" was released alongside a promotional email for Joelgc.com, sent out to users who subscribed to the website's newsletter. The new art depicts them as a 3D model, contrasting with their 2D appearance in the trailer. The email also states to stay tuned for more game development updates on Dream BBQ.[30]
On November 4th, a post on Joel Guerra's Patreon titled "ENA: Dream BBQ Preview 27" contained public preview text stating a new trailer was in the works for Dream BBQ. The post after this, titled "Dream BBQ 2022 trailer preview", contained more preview text stating that the trailer would contain gameplay footage. The next post after this, "Dream BBQ 2022 trailer preview 2", was released on December 17th and had public preview text announcing that it would be the last progress update of 2022 and that the next Dream BBQ trailer was being finished up.
2023
Although Dream BBQ was stated to be released within 2022, the project was stated to be delayed to 2023 after the year passed with no release.
The first preview of 2023.
On January 3rd, W. Blake Kimber revealed he would be voicing in Dream BBQ, although the characters he would be voicing were not revealed.[31][32]
On January 6th, Joel Guerra posted on his Twitter that a new trailer would be on its way, which was previously stated on his Patreon. Accompanying the Tweet was a GIF of a new humanesque character who resembles the new Ena set to appear in Dream BBQ.[33]
On January 27th, a new trailer for Dream BBQ was released, revealing a multitude of new worlds and characters alongside the first public reveal of the project's gameplay. Additionally, the game's Steam page was revealed, giving a description of the game and its gameplay, as well as providing additional in-game screenshots.
On February 9th, concept art of Ena's humanesque form was posted by Joel Guerra.[34] On February 17th, a GIF featuring an unnamed wizard-like character previously seen in the second Dream BBQ trailer was also posted by Joel.[35]
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Season 2 Ena's voice reveal/demo.
On February 20th, an upcoming live stream appeared on Joel Guerra's YouTube channel, which was revealed the next day to begin on ENA Day 2023 and would feature new content from Dream BBQ as well as the development team answering questions about the game/episode.[36][37] During the stream, several things were revealed:
Season 2 Ena was revealed to be voiced by Aleks Le and Nola Klop. Her two sides were also revealed to be named "salesperson" (red) and "meanie" (pale).
The project started development as soon as Temptation Stairway was completed and was initially a very small project with only six locations and five characters.
The paid version of the game will include extra content, including animatics, cut voice lines, and jokes and memes about the game from the development team.
A current price for the paid version is unknown and will depend on how much extra content is put into it, though it is presumed that the price will be somewhere under thirty dollars. It was also stated that it would hopefully be released alongside the free version.
It is unknown if there will be extra downloadable content after the game's release.
When asked if any characters from previous episodes would appear, Joel Guerra stated "yes", though the project should still be treated as an entirely different season and that both Ena and the characters around her have changed.
Not all of the characters in the game will be voice-acted, though the majority of them, including the major characters, will have voices.
Localization of the game will depend on the resources the development team has when the game releases, though the team will try their best to localize the game in languages they know.
If localization does occur, it is unlikely that the voice acting will be redone due to the nature of the series having multiple different languages used.
It was stated that characters would speak languages such as Italian and Greek. Paride Cardinali was confirmed to be a voice actor for Dream BBQ.
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Interview with Buchao and their work with the series and Froggy.
An interview with Buchao revealed several aspects of Froggy, including his voice and a summary of his personality.
Due to the game's release on Steam, the team is considering putting Steam Achievements in the game.
The second trailer is intended to be interpretive, though the development team is attempting to emulate the style and filter of the trailer in the game as well.
Steam Deck compatibility for the game is considered and is a big priority, though not confirmed. The game was run on Luke Mirman's Steam Deck, though issues arose with graphics and closing the game.
Originally, most of Dream BBQ was planned to focus on surreal Japanese-inspired sources, such as old movies that Buchao had shown Joel Guerra. However, later in development, it was decided to include various other cultures, particularly Peruvian culture, mixed with the Japanese inspiration.
It was also stated that the works of Zdzisław Beksiński and Francis Bacon largely inspired parts of Dream BBQ, with the former also being inspiration for most of Season 1's aspects.
A dark cave area revealed during the stream.
There will be no demo of the game due to it being free.
Oliver Buckland states that there is one location in the game for which he has written more music than all of his previous contributions to the ENA series back-to-back. The soundtrack also does not have a definitive length as of now due to it constantly expanding.
He also revealed that the piano segment of "anemoia", the music used in the second trailer, was inspired by the track "Gwyn, Lord of Cinder" from the Dark Souls soundtrack.
Most of the development team members were found through either Patreon or recommendations from other members of the team.
There are currently no plans for the game to be open source or appear on Steam Workshop, though the team is not against the game being modded.
When asked if there would be any cameos or collaborations in the game, Evan Nave stated "maybe".
The game has "gameplay" and will not be purely exploratory, though exploration is still a big part of the game.
On March 18th, VLIF released an extended version of the music used in Ena's voice reveal video on their YouTube channel, also showing the name of the track to be "I Have No Voice Actor And I Must Scream".[38]
On May 2nd, a new video on Joel Guerra's channel announced the release of new Dream BBQ merchandise on Fangamer. The video featured the Merchant showing off the various items, which included several pins, sticker sheets, a poster, and a shirt.[39] The Fangamer website also states that the Dream BBQ merchandise is a "first wave", alluding to more Dream BBQ Fangamer merchandise releases in the future.[40]
On August 26th, a YouTube video by DaftPina detailed the ENA series, also including interviews with Marco Cárdenas and Evan Nave about the production of Dream BBQ. The video also included several pieces of concept art that were previously not shown outside of Joel Guerra's Patreon.[16]
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"It's more of a lifestyle!"
On September 19th, an animation of salesperson Ena talking was posted by Joel Guerra, showing her speaking with her masculine voice.[41][42]
On October 20th, a delay announcement video was posted to Joel Guerra's YouTube, stating that Dream BBQ would be delayed to continue work closer to the visions of those working on it.[43] This seems to indicate that Dream BBQ would release in 2024 as opposed to the planned release in 2023. The video was also accompanied by new music by sleepCircle.[44] Also near the end of the video is a voice from an unknown source (likely speaking to Ena), telling her to get back to work. On Twitter, a reply by Joel Guerra to a post of the same video stated there would be an upcoming special announcement, which was revealed on October 25th to be the teaser for Power of Potluck.[45]
2024
On February 23rd, ENA Day 2024, a gif featuring the three different Ena forms, Froggy, Coral Glasses, and a previously-seen unnamed character was posted alongside an update about Dream BBQ.[46] It was stated that the script was originally written as one multi-chapter experience, though each story would now be released as its own distinct chapter/episode,[47] with the newly revealed title "Lonely Door" being the first to release.[48]
Gallery
Gameplay
Concept art
Early designs of the new Ena. Revealed during the ENA Day 2022 Twitch stream.
The new Ena appearing in Dream BBQ.
Concept sketches of Ena.
The character Taski Maiden, set to appear in Dream BBQ.
More concept art of Taski Maiden.
Concept art of a character nicknamed "Clown" before release. Revealed during the ENA Day 2022 Twitch stream.
Concept art of Ena and "Clown".
Various concept sketches.
Four new Dream BBQ characters first revealed on Instagram.
An unnamed 3D character. Revealed during the ENA Day 2022 Twitch stream.
Another unnamed character. Revealed during the ENA Day 2022 Twitch stream.
Dream BBQ Ena form concept art.
Early concept art for locations.
What was originally a birthday gift from Brian Zavala to Joel Guerra[49] eventually became concept art for an area in the game.
Concept art of a statue-like entity/structure. Revealed during the ENA Day 2022 Twitch stream.
Concept art of Ena and a dragon-like structure. Revealed during the ENA Day 2022 Twitch stream.
Concept art of Ena and a decorated room. Revealed during the ENA Day 2022 Twitch stream.
Coral Glasses, another new character in Dream BBQ.
A 3D model of a pair of legs, which are seen in the Dream BBQ game trailer.
A prototype of a quest board, which has since changed design. Also shows a hall-like location.
Dream BBQ Steam page background depicting a new area.
Dream BBQ was originally intended to just be an animation, but it was later changed to be a game as well.
The idea of it being a game as well was almost dropped at one point in development.
The Dream BBQ teaser uses the pixelation effect used in the Season 1 episodes, though this effect is not seen in any other media released after the teaser.
![What was originally a birthday gift from Brian Zavala to Joel Guerra[49] eventually became concept art for an area in the game.](/wiki/File:BDayMizuConceptArt.jpeg)
![What was originally a birthday gift from Brian Zavala to Joel Guerra[49] eventually became concept art for an area in the game.](/images/thumb/5/5b/BDayMizuConceptArt.jpeg/120px-BDayMizuConceptArt.jpeg)
