Discovering the Secret Stories in Dictionarium

The art in Dictionarium is mostly composed of letters and words. We want to be as transparent as possible and tell you that it’s because the game is themed around “dictionaries.”

As such, the background design is a wall of text.

Some online sleuths have tried to piece together these little stories.

But there’s no point in puzzling it together, when we are frothing at the mouth to share our art with you. (We don’t have MFAs and we need this.)

So here’s a classic from the archives:

My sister had a thing for snakes. Since snakes were kinda her thing, I was like: uhhhh, what is my thing? I decided on snakes. But then I remembered that was her thing. Back to square one. So I decided my thing would be snakes. Oops again. That’s the exact same thing (snakes) as what my sister likes. So I picked chef school. I went to chef school and now I’m a chef. My signature dish? Roasted snakes. With a side of soup. (The soup is cabbage & snakes).

Fun fact! Because of the way the stories were imported into the game, they had to be written in fragments. This makes them sing like poetry:

The best place in the

world to cry is the beach.

I have no practical

advice, apart from this,

so listen fiercely.

Many smart, stylish

people have absolutely

lost it by the ocean.

The wind is so loud

and the air is already

pretty wet. Nobody notices

a lonesome lass in the

waving sea grass, shedding

a tear. Except perhaps

the hermit crab. But he

cannot comfort you,

because his hands are

weapons. Oh, to have claws.

Then at least, you would

have a real reason to cry.

We are waiting by the telephone for our call from the MacArthur Foundation. Until then, here are the last two!

When preparing to build

the perfect sandwich, it's

critical to remember not

to get cocky. Many have

crazy things with bacon

that could get you killed.

Mayonnaise is always a

good foundation, as long

kept far from its nemesis,

Dijon mustard. Keep the

underestimate the power

of a good relish. President Eisenhower once said,

I'll take a good jar of relish

best Bombardier any day!

Back to the task at hand.

Begin years in advance.

Tell your loved ones that

the sandwich is done,

even if it kills you. Which

Big ghoulish howls

could be heard

coming from the little 

silver box. But still,

we didn’t touch it.

Mother had told us

no. When Mother

says no, she means

no. When Mother says

“Cantaloupe” she means

yes. Mother’s rules

are a complicated

matrix, welded with

distrust. But still, I’ll

never love anyone

else the way I love her.

When she fell from the

willow, I prayed for

40 hours. But she was

never quite the same.

Have fun making up your own words in Dictionarium! And don’t forget to share your best creations with us on Twitter or Instagram!