Can you escape the nightmare?

Do you remember your childhood dreams? What about your nightmares? Well, be prepared to add some new ones to your list with the delightfully terrifying game, Little Nightmares. This game, released in 2017, has since featured three different downloadable contents, which furthered the existing story and explored more of the setting shown in the original game. Now be warned, this is a game worthy of nightmares. It has visuals and aesthetics reminiscent of Coraline, so be ready. 

You start your adventure as a mysterious child named Seven, waking up from a nightmare of an imposing lady. From there, you begin your journey to escape The Maw, a giant submarine-like ship that causes the environment to constantly sway as Seven navigates rooms designed for giants. Abandoned playrooms, rooms with bookcases stacked higher than you can see, and pipe-filled crawl spaces teeming with rats. As for obstacles, poor little Seven has plenty to watch out for, such as impossible heights, electrified gates, and monstrosities that wander these comically disproportionate halls. One such enemy, the Janitor, a blind man with impossibly long arms, is looking for lost children like you to wrap up in his grasp. Another enemy, the Twins, continuously chops meat and fish, with stacks and stacks of dirty dishes waiting to be attended to. The gluttonous Guests, who always seem to flock to the Maw, but never seem to leave, devour anything in their sight, regardless of whether it moves or not. Just remember to always beware of The Lady, who runs everything. She’s watching. 

Want to see more of this world? Well fortunately, parallel to the events of Seven’s story, another Boy is also making a daring escape by taking an entirely different path, with new enemies to find and different obstacles blocking his path. While his story is not necessary to the main game’s story, the DLCs that comprise it help to flesh out the world even more, while still leaving plenty of mysteries to ponder at 3 am when you wake up from the nightmares relating to this game. Or not, who knows.

I would definitely recommend this game to fans of horror and environmental storytelling, as this game is full of it. There is no dialogue throughout the entirety of the game, and the only real text found in-game is in the form of hints. So play it for yourself, and let us know what the worst nightmare is in Little Nightmares. For a bonus challenge, there is an achievement titled “Hard to the Core,” which you get for beating the entire story in less than an hour. As of writing this article, I still have not gotten it. Best of luck!