A Short, Mind-Jarring Journey Through "Little Nightmares"

Since it is the spooky month of October, I am forcing myself to play games to put me in the mood for Halloween. One game that has been on my list for a while is the two Little Nightmares games. They’ve been on my wishlist for a while now, and when I got notified that both complete editions were on sale, I finally pulled the trigger and got them.

When I started Little Nightmares 1, I went in only knowing that this game wasn’t that long, but I had no idea how scary the game was. The beginning was nice, I felt like the atmosphere was unsettling but not super terrifying. Everything was super dark and foggy, I was made to crawl through small enclosures and only had a jump and a light to navigate. It wasn’t until I got to the sections that had a short man with insanely long arms trying to grab me that I was jumping in my chair.

The game design was great. It guides you pretty seamlessly through the correct paths. It never feels hand-holdy, a blend of gently pushing you in the right direction but hands-off enough to have you feel smart when you figure out how to get to the next section of the level.

I decided to play this game fully on my Steamdeck. Being able to sit and relax while I played instead of being hunched over my keyboard like I am with every (on rare occasions) horror game I play seemed like the perfect way to start this game. If you have a Steamdeck and want to play Little Nightmares, I highly recommend trying it out. The feedback you get every time an enemy gets close or when you fall through the floor has you fully immersed inside the tiny, deadly world. Mixing that with the sound design, this is the perfect game to play on a soft, fluffy chair.

The way the game makes you fearful is the best part. As a tiny person armed with only a light source, you can’t fight back like many other games. You also are not being chased down by ordinary people. The deformed monsters that hunt you down are the most unsettling part for me.

I was able to knock out the base gamer in around 2 hours and I think that length was perfect. It never felt like sections were dragging on, but it gave you enough where you never left a section feeling like you barely experienced anything.

The suspense that is built up in this game is masterful. When you get to the ending and experience the shock of biting the little grey guys to killing them. That alone was such a shock and I still never expected to kill the lady at the very end. during the earlier parts of the game, I had joked about my character being a little vampire, but I never expected it to become a little too real.

Thanks to the Steam sale, I was able to snag the complete edition of the game, so I had three sections of DLC to get through. I loved that instead of having the girl go through more levels, you play as a boy who is escaping at the same time. The mixing of both runs at the same time was such a nice touch and it made me love the creativity.

The DLC using the same rooms from the base game, but flipping them around made it feel like I could go super fast through them but also had to think a little bit because they were changed up just enough to make it feel fresh instead of a walk through a copy and paste game.

I love the use of the little grey friends in the second section of the DLC. Having to collect a small group of them to solve puzzles made it more fun than just myself pulling levers or pushing buttons. This whole section was my favorite, it felt a lot more friendly because of the buddies you collected on the way.

The ending of this section showing off the fact that my cute little grey buddies are actually other people who lost to the lady blew my mind. I had wondered what they were since the first time they showed up, but it never crossed my mind that they could have once been people.

Having to complete the last section as a cursed grey guy had me wishing I could do half the things the boy could do. The third section was also the most challenging for me. This was the only time that I found myself reaching for a guide because I was stumped and turned around.

This game is one that I would suggest for Halloween or just any game that you should reach for if you want a scary game without combat. I don’t find it super scary, it’s not gonna make you scream and cry like Outlast, but it will make you jump every now and then when the long arms grab you just before you make it to the air vents.