Little Nightmares

🎮 Steam ⏳ 5 hours ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

Oppressive Atmospheric Horror #

The first Little Nightmares entry is a dark and unsettling puzzle-platformer that thrives on atmosphere and environmental storytelling. The MC is called Six, a fragile child in a yellow raincoat, who must escape The Maw, a twisted underwater vessel filled with grotesque, nightmarish inhabitants. The game avoids traditional dialogue and instead builds its narrative through disturbing imagery, haunting sound design, and the oppressive environments you explore.

Interpretative Stealth Puzzles #

For those who like interpretative narratives, this is a very good title, it is good to engage with it’s community to try and find out what is actually happening in the game’s story, not that this is a must in order to enjoy the experience, but it is definitely a plus. The gameplay focuses on stealth, light platforming, and physics-based puzzles. You’ll often need to sneak past monstrous enemies, time your movements carefully, and use the environment to your advantage.

Vulnerable Tense Design #

At times, the controls can feel a little imprecise, especially during tense chase sequences, but the sense of vulnerability they create adds to the tension. And this can sometimes feel like a downside, though I consider this a plus, since this makes up for a more immersive gameplay due to the character being a child being stalker by monsters. Visually, Little Nightmares is striking, its exaggerated proportions, gloomy lighting, and grotesque character design create a unique horror aesthetic that lingers long after you’ve stopped playing.

Short Disturbing Masterpiece #

The short runtime (around 4~5 hours) works in its favor, keeping the experience tightly focused and impactful without overstaying its welcome. Overall, this title is a chilling, memorable experience that blends horror and artistry in a way few indie titles manage. It’s not just scary, it’s disturbing in a fairy-tale-gone-wrong way, and that’s what makes it so effective. This is definitely one of the best horror titles that I’ve ever played, and I highly recommend playing it any way you can.