Little Nightmares is a fear inducing puzzle platformer that can also be classified as a horror game. In Little Nightmares, you follow the adventures of Six, a tiny young girl who has been captured and left in The Maw. The Maw is alive with real horrors. It shakes ever so slightly with a vessel like movement. The game takes place across 5 stages set in various locations on The Maw. Every stage feels like a giant play box alive with objects for you to interact with. You are so tiny compared to the rest of the world and the game does its best to illustrate this.
Six wakes up in The Maw and finds that she has to escape its inhabitants. In each stage, I came across different bosses that had to be avoided most of the time. At other times, I had to be fast in an attempt to escape them after they have inadvertently detected me. Six also has a tiny cigarette lighter which I can use to light my way or reveal what horrors awaits me. The controls are simple enough and I didn't have any problem with them. The game camera is also perfect for a game of its genre. Sometimes sideways motions can be made giving it a unique 2.5D nature.
The puzzles are not difficult and I didn't have any problems facing them. As a platformer, Little Nightmares doesn’t excel. But as a horror game, it is great. Everything from the lightning to the sound to the appearance of the inhabitants of the Maw left me in no doubt as to how scary this world is. The checkpoints are okay although sometimes I was returned to some far-off point leaving me to solve some puzzles again. The load times are also quite long. The game looks like Inside in many ways. Like Inside, Little Nightmares left me trying to guess the plot of the game. There are no references to the name of the character or any other story element.
At 6 hours long, Little Nightmares is quite short. It’s a game finished in one sitting. But its brevity suits it well. At the end of the game, I had the option of replaying each level again. This is a good option as there will be some players who will be disappointed at its short length.
Pros
Scary horror game
Creative environment design
Good atmosphere
Cons
Unchallenging puzzles
Long load times
Watch Little Nightmares Full Walkthrough
Watch Little Nightmares Full Walkthrough