Little Nightmares gameplay
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#187Puzzle Horror · 2018 · Bandai Namco

Little Nightmares

You control a small child sneaking through a dark, oversized world full of grotesque adult figures who will chase you down if spotted. There is no dialogue at all, so the unsettling mood is built entirely through sound and the way rooms are lit and shaped. Puzzles mostly involve hiding, timing your movement, and staying quiet rather than fighting back.

Gameplay video

More Little Nightmares gameplay on YouTube →

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Screenshots & review notes

Little Nightmares screenshot 1: The short version

The short version

A masterclass in dread built from silence and scale, unsettling in a way few horror games manage without a single line of dialogue.

Little Nightmares screenshot 2: In the hands

In the hands

Puzzles are simple by design, letting the tension of sneaking past monstrous figures do the heavy lifting instead.

Little Nightmares screenshot 3: Look and sound

Look and sound

Its grimy, oversized world design is the star here, drenched in shadow and unease that lingers long after you put it down.

Little Nightmares screenshot 4: The long haul

The long haul

A short but memorable experience, ideal for horror fans who prefer atmosphere over jump scares, though it offers little reason to replay.

Frames captured from the gameplay video above; notes are our own take on the game.

What it's like to play

You control Six, a small child in a yellow raincoat, sneaking through a huge, dark ship called the Maw where every adult you see towers over you and means you harm. Movement is simple, running, jumping, and climbing with the stick and one button, and much of what you do involves crouching to sneak under furniture, hiding in lockers, or scrambling away the moment a threat spots you, since you have no way to fight back. Your first ten minutes drop you into a cell-like room with no explanation, and you quickly learn through trial and error that the game wants you to explore quietly, watch for moving shadows, and time your movements around patrolling enemies.

Most of your time is spent solving small environmental puzzles, like finding a way to reach a high ledge by stacking objects or timing a dash past a sleeping monster, while slowly making your way deeper into the ship. There is no dialogue or text at all, so the story of why you are there and what the ship represents comes entirely through the environment and the disturbing creatures you encounter, which makes exploring feel unsettling rather than simply scary in jump-scare moments. A full playthrough is short, around four hours, and the tension mainly comes from a handful of chase sequences where a monster hunts you through a level.

Session to session it works best played in one or two sittings in the dark, since the atmosphere depends on sustained unease rather than one single scare. What may frustrate newcomers is that the controls can feel slightly imprecise during tense chase sequences, and checkpoints are sometimes placed further apart than feels fair after a difficult section. If you want a short, deeply atmospheric horror experience rather than a long game, and do not need combat to feel engaged, this is memorable and unlike most other games.