Little Nightmares

 PC
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 661 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 488 out of 661
  2. Mixed: 143 out of 661
  3. Negative: 30 out of 661

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  1. Ayreos
    May 31, 2017
    5
    Finished in one playthrough, the game is definitely playable and quite visually pleasant (even astounding at times), but nothing else. All the environments are repetitive, and so are the perils encountered. The plot is inconsequential. It takes far more to scare an adult than this game manages to do, so i can only confine it to the realm of walking simulators. Recommended for children, butFinished in one playthrough, the game is definitely playable and quite visually pleasant (even astounding at times), but nothing else. All the environments are repetitive, and so are the perils encountered. The plot is inconsequential. It takes far more to scare an adult than this game manages to do, so i can only confine it to the realm of walking simulators. Recommended for children, but don't expect it to entertain them for more than an afternoon: it's that short.… Expand
  2. HSuke
    Jun 10, 2021
    5
    Little Nightmares is a super bad version of Limbo. The gameplay mechanics are just so poorly designed.

    This is a guess-and-check "puzzle" game. You keep repeating each section over and over again until you get it right. There's so much unforgiving guesswork involved. And the backtracking whenever you fail is really painful. There's too much downtime repeating sections, and it's not    Little Nightmares is a super bad version of Limbo. The gameplay mechanics are just so poorly designed.

    This is a guess-and-check "puzzle" game. You keep repeating each section over and over again until you get it right. There's so much unforgiving guesswork involved. And the backtracking whenever you fail is really painful.

    There's too much downtime repeating sections, and it's not fun. The contextual clues are badly designed. For example, some enemies sniff around even though they can't smell you. However, they have perfect sight.

    The camera angles and controls also really, really suck in a lot of sections, leading to unnecessary deaths. Sometimes you push doors open by walking into them while running doesn't work. Sometimes you can push open doors by running into them. And sometimes you can push them open by holding the action button. It's never consistent, which makes escape sequences entirely tedious guess-and-check routines.

    The jump + action combination is the worst of all. There's a 50-50 chance whether or not an object is climbable while holding the action button. Try doing that over and over again during an escape sequence.    … Expand
  3. rambaldo
    May 3, 2017
    5
    This game is as beautiful as is it short.. I beat it in 4 hours..
    If you buy and play it,in the end i guarantee you'll be disappointed.. you could maybe buy it on discount because otherwise it's not worth it (but that's my opinion of course)
  4. ChosenUndead99
    Apr 29, 2018
    7
    A horror platformer that provides multiple locations to explore and a variety of monsters that you have to run and hide from. However it is very short, so be certain you want this game before buying.
  5. Wweald
    Jun 3, 2021
    7
    Really cool game, the monster and level designs are really good. I dislike that there really isn't a story and nothing about the world is explained. The gameplay is clunky at parts but it didn't bother me much.
  6. OLORIN1231
    Mar 25, 2021
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Gioco carino, ambientazione affascinante e ben resa (ricorda una versione dark de "la città incantata" di miyazaki) . Gameplay piuttosto scarno e forse alla lunga ripetitivo, ma complessivamente il gioco non annoia, data anche la contenuta longevità.
    Scene memorabili:
    - i boss terrificanti (braccia lunghe, la nonna sott'acqua, i due cuochi. - gli ospiti del residence che si ingozzano come maiali.    … Expand
  7. Neng-
    Apr 29, 2017
    6
    I really wanted to like Little Nightmares, i really did, but it's just so frustrating to play that it doesn't let me say that i had an enjoyable time playing it, i mean, i like the feeling of being pursued that it gives you, the tension you get... is fun, and it has a good ambient around.

    That being said, mechanically, this game doesn't work at all, key commands are not responsive    I really wanted to like Little Nightmares, i really did, but it's just so frustrating to play that it doesn't let me say that i had an enjoyable time playing it, i mean, i like the feeling of being pursued that it gives you, the tension you get... is fun, and it has a good ambient around.

    That being said, mechanically, this game doesn't work at all, key commands are not responsive enough, which makes this hide and seek mechanic almost unbearable to the point you end up getting frustrated quite often. I got bugged like twice during my play-trough, the AI gets all messed up when you try to make a sound decoy throwing an object, and there is an absurd amount of clipping with some enemies and their interactions.

    I won't say i had a bad time playing this game, but i feel if they would have taken care of those things i would be praising this game without a doubt.    … Expand
  8. Karlsefniy
    Jul 28, 2022
    7
    Great art, great ambiance, great soundtrack and some good tension moments. But puzzles are so simple that it feels more like a walking simulator than puzzle-platformer. If it had better puzzles, I would put it in the same category where I would put INSIDE and LIMBO.
  9. RCruey
    Feb 17, 2018
    6
    I’ll be honest I didn’t exactly know what to expect when jumping into this game. From the trailers I assumed it would be like a dark Tim Burton film with an engaging story plot and a dark and lurking atmosphere. Well I was at least half right there. Little Nightmares is one of those indie games that shouldn’t be twenty dollars for the experience alone, because that experience is like aI’ll be honest I didn’t exactly know what to expect when jumping into this game. From the trailers I assumed it would be like a dark Tim Burton film with an engaging story plot and a dark and lurking atmosphere. Well I was at least half right there. Little Nightmares is one of those indie games that shouldn’t be twenty dollars for the experience alone, because that experience is like a short roller coaster ride that ended abruptly and without any true understanding as to why.

    I haven’t read any of the comics or background information about this game, I am giving you a review from my experience jumping in. So of course there is going to be a lot of information that is lost in translation, I won’t need you to tell me where I am right and wrong. But I am sure you will do so anyway. Anyway back on point.

    You play as a nameless character (unless you read the comics or whatever then you find out the character’s name is six, but as I mentioned above) who is of ambiguous gender and wears a bright yellow raincoat. You wake up having a fever dream of an asian lady looking at you. I don’t blame the thing, I’d wake up from a dream that was getting a little too heavy for me to handle as well. Once you come to your senses you seem to be in a prison/ship where everything is dark and murky. This is where I will stop, because this game is an experience worth having.

    The game controls like limbo, and let’s be honest it might as well be limbo. Just with a brighter color tone. You can walk, run, jump, grab things and manipulate the camera. The challenges aren’t too terrible. I instinctively knew what I was doing, so I never really got stuck. The obstacles you’ll face are these grotesque creatures that resembles a Tim Burton nightmare. However considering that this indie game was published by Bandai games I wouldn’t be surprised if it was an exaggerated representation of the American Culture. But I doubt it, I just thought that would be a funny connection. You’ll spend most of your time running away and hiding because you are a tiny being in this world. You’ll find Nomes that will run from you. Once you find them you can give them hugs, but i’ll be honest. Considering you perform one of the best Dr Hannibal Lecture inspirations on one of them over a thick sausage, I wouldn’t become too attached.

    The overall plot is told through visual metaphors, and this game does perform that extremely well. Its is a beautiful game in the most dark way possible. All of this is accompanied by beautiful sound design that does set the tone of the game. However the game isn’t worth $20. Considering you can beat the game in two hours and have to spend extra money to get extended gameplay with DLC, you can see where I became disappointed. But at least I was able to get it out of the way on one of my off days. So that’s a plus.

    Overall, if you’re looking for a game that is dark and doesn’t overuse blood and gore. Accompanied by amazing visuals and sound design and have some money to spend. This game is worth the play through. I do wish it was a longer experience. The ending was… strange to say the least. But It was still a good game.

    Hope this swayed your opinion.    … Expand
  10. kezzyhko
    May 30, 2021
    6
    ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍
  11. 92ross
    Jun 7, 2021
    7
    A really good game with exceptional level design, great sound effects and some excellent high speed chase sequences which you will have to be on your toes for. The only things that let the game down are it's very short duration (2-4 hours max), puzzles that are a bit simple and slightly clunky controls.
  12. jelikey
    Sep 25, 2021
    7
    A horror platformer that provides multiple locations to explore and a variety of monsters that you have to run and hide from. However it is very short, so be certain you want this game before buying.
  13. Topfpflanze
    Mar 6, 2021
    6
    I think Little Nightmares is a good horror platformer. Unfortunately, I have to say that I don't like the game very much. First of all, I hate having to watch children being tortured, and secondly, I hate that dark, drippy atmosphere where the owner of a nice living room can't be none other than a man-eater.
  14. touchofheaven
    Jul 2, 2020
    7
    Недлинная, атмосферная и не особо сложная игра. Во время прохождения иногда возникали сложности с управлением, персонаж не хотел двигаться туда, куда нужно.
  15. actinium
    Nov 27, 2021
    7
    / /
  16. dandalis
    Aug 6, 2023
    6
    A game clearly taking heavy inspiration from Playdead's Limbo and Inside, and while Little Nightmares manages to add its own flair, it doesnt quite match those games in my opinion.

    The 2.5D approach here is interesting, but it becomes a nuisance in critical parts of the game where it's challenging to percept depth while you're platforming. The game also tries to emulate Playdead's trial    A game clearly taking heavy inspiration from Playdead's Limbo and Inside, and while Little Nightmares manages to add its own flair, it doesnt quite match those games in my opinion.

    The 2.5D approach here is interesting, but it becomes a nuisance in critical parts of the game where it's challenging to percept depth while you're platforming. The game also tries to emulate Playdead's trial and error gameplay approach by making you die quite often, but here it somehow doesnt feel as fair.

    The game world is intriguing however, it's filled with dread and atmosphere, and it keeps you thinking about what is going on it. Some later parts of the game are genuinely nail biting.

    An overall decent game, but doesnt quite grab me as the games it's trying to live up to.    … Expand
  17. pcapinheiro
    Jul 9, 2022
    6
    Boa experiência, bem curtinha, mas satisfatória. Tente escapar de virar jantar enquanto você mesmo sofre os efeitos da fome. Recomendo para quem gostou de Inside e Darq.

    PONTOS POSITIVOS: + Ambientação + Curtinho, terminei em 3h PONTOS NEGATIVOS - Muitas vezes objetos em frente à camera atrapalham - Controles meio travados em algumas áreas de plataforma - Quase um walking    Boa experiência, bem curtinha, mas satisfatória. Tente escapar de virar jantar enquanto você mesmo sofre os efeitos da fome. Recomendo para quem gostou de Inside e Darq.

    PONTOS POSITIVOS:
    + Ambientação
    + Curtinho, terminei em 3h

    PONTOS NEGATIVOS
    - Muitas vezes objetos em frente à camera atrapalham
    - Controles meio travados em algumas áreas de plataforma
    - Quase um walking simulator de tão simples que é o gameplay, meio desgastado.    … Expand
  18. pawq
    Dec 11, 2022
    6
    Like many others, I can't help comparing Little Nightmares to INSIDE, but for me that's not necessarily a good thing.

    Like INSIDE, it's a very pretty, atmospheric 2.5D platformer, where you traverse a mysteriously hostile world as a tiny human. A lot of traps await and a lot of things are out to get you, and you have to sneak past them all on the way to freedom (?). The world design is    Like many others, I can't help comparing Little Nightmares to INSIDE, but for me that's not necessarily a good thing.

    Like INSIDE, it's a very pretty, atmospheric 2.5D platformer, where you traverse a mysteriously hostile world as a tiny human. A lot of traps await and a lot of things are out to get you, and you have to sneak past them all on the way to freedom (?). The world design is gloomy yet charming and the music adds to the experience.

    Like in INSIDE, the journey is at times quite monotonous, with not enough movement mechanics to keep the player engaged physically. Because of the lack of narration and the mysteriousness of everything, it's also difficult to get engaged emotionally, other than "protect this cute little thing from dem ugly big things". The puzzles were decent, but most of the time rather trivial, so intellectual engagement also wasn't really a thing. Because of the overall lack of engagement, I simply didn't care about the game most of the way through, which is a shame, because the concept felt like it had more potential!

    Like INISDE, it's a solid 6.    … Expand
  19. philzlz
    Feb 15, 2021
    6
    Finished the game in around four hours. While the visual style was good (especially the enemy characters), the game was very easy and way too short. I also did not find it scary enough to tag it as horror. Only buy at a steep discount.
  20. gameking
    Jan 12, 2020
    7
    This game is looking good but the configuration is very bad. You will angry about the controller.
  21. rezo_21
    Sep 18, 2021
    7
    ====================IIIIIIIIII GAME SCORE : 70 IIIIIIIIII====================
  22. Soullex
    Nov 30, 2022
    7
    Bazı yerlerde bilmiyorsaniz kesinlikle bir kez ölüyorsunuz. Bu biraz can sıkıyor.
  23. Mehrshad_MB
    Nov 5, 2020
    7
    Little Nightmare is a cool puzzle platformer game with great graphics and visuals, but personally I prefer Inside and Limbo...Because their story is darker and more complicated than Little Nightmares'.
    Game itself was exciting and cool but DLCs were boring.
    Also there weren't really hard puzzles and beating game was easy. Generally it's a good puzzle platformer and worth playing and    Little Nightmare is a cool puzzle platformer game with great graphics and visuals, but personally I prefer Inside and Limbo...Because their story is darker and more complicated than Little Nightmares'.
    Game itself was exciting and cool but DLCs were boring.
    Also there weren't really hard puzzles and beating game was easy.
    Generally it's a good puzzle platformer and worth playing and also it shouldn't be classified as a "horror" game because it wasn't scary at all!    … Expand
  24. Crimert
    Mar 14, 2020
    7
    The art of that game is so nice. Puzzles are sometimes annoying but especially the controls sometimes become so frustrating. I also played all the DLCs. I can say the DLCs are okay. 11hrs on record.
  25. ChesterField
    May 12, 2020
    7
    Nice game in essence, but a little bit too short. Good level design and visuals.
  26. hoanns
    Jun 6, 2020
    7
    not as good as inside, still pretty good .
  27. ErayTellezi
    Mar 14, 2021
    6
    Fena değil ama bir limbo veya inside olamamış. Korku öğeleri eksik, atmosferi güdük kalmış.
  28. Bodislav
    Jun 18, 2021
    6
    Nearly died playing it .
  29. JustinForgueims
    Jun 14, 2021
    6
    Really nice graphics and style with also a good and inmersive soundtrack.

    A bit short maybe, just 2-3 hours.

    Worst thing is about its controls and camera.
    The fixed 3rd person camera + the clunky controls make almost imposible to target anything in the game. Specially affecting jumps and persecutions.
    That makes all the game difficulty relays on its poor controls and camera.
  30. F3T1W
    Aug 27, 2021
    6
    A bit weaker than the first part, fewer monsters, more understatements, but overall quite good
  31. Rnoviok
    Dec 4, 2021
    7
    very well made game
    I played it the second time with my cousin and had a great time.
  32. briiiz
    Dec 20, 2021
    7
    虽然流程很短但是各种的场景美术设计都很棒，全程诡异的气氛是最大的特点，解密和跑酷的难度都一般，就是地图利用率不高，没有让人走二周目的想法，在玩法上可能略逊但是游戏体验很好
  33. mustado
    Oct 22, 2022
    7
    esse jogotraz a opressão, a fome, a miseéria e a vingança de um jeito cabuloso. è um jogo bem rápido (2-3 horas) que te faz pensar. Pena que os bugs na hitbox atrapalham bastante a experiência
  34. Top1saraya_
    Oct 16, 2022
    7
    --------------------
    / My score - 7 /
    ---------------------
  35. Danvie
    Oct 7, 2022
    7
    Игра может создать жуткую атмосферу, особенно вначале, ну и водная бабка в длс ёбнутая)
  36. korku
    Jul 18, 2023
    7
    ‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏ ‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏ ‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏ ‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏ ‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏ ‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏ ‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏
  37. arllda
    Feb 4, 2023
    6
    The story is really interesting, it makes you wonder, but even though it is short, it gets very boring after a while, you always do the same thing, I loved the music of the game and the finale
  38. zNeverSleep
    May 14, 2023
    7
    I changed my mind about it.

    Well, let's just say my first playthrough of this game was not good. However, for some reason, I decided to give the second game a chance, and then... yes! I absolutely loved it. Since I was left with that famous taste of "I want something more," I returned to the first one. So, did it get better after all? The story was the easiest one to get involved in    I changed my mind about it.

    Well, let's just say my first playthrough of this game was not good. However, for some reason, I decided to give the second game a chance, and then... yes! I absolutely loved it. Since I was left with that famous taste of "I want something more," I returned to the first one. So, did it get better after all?

    The story was the easiest one to get involved in because I was really into the plot of the second game. The six's perspective became so interesting after seeing what happened before all of that. The villains were not all memorable - and to be honest, they were kind of dumb since the AI is not that good. Speaking about the gameplay, it is strange. It's not that responsive, and the uneven composition just made everything worse. Yeah, it makes sense cinematically, but it's a pain in the a**.

    Just like the second game, there's an amazing atmosphere around you. It's not that deep, but it's enough for most people. That game made me value the sequel even more because I could see clearly where they got much better. Anyway, I hope there's a third game.    … Expand
  39. DoomDoc_
    Aug 11, 2023
    7
    ----------------------------------
    I am giving this game 7/10.
    ---------------------------------

Awards & Rankings

59
#59 Best PC Game of 2017
25
#25 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
75
#75 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. Power Unlimited
    Oct 19, 2017
    70
    Do you like Limbo and Inside? If so, Little Nightmares will be right up your alley. The game is less original and expressive as Playdead's titles though.
    Read full review
  2. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Jul 5, 2017
    84
    Music and sounds of the Maw make an already atmospheric game even better. The cry of surprise and righteous indignation that Chef Twins let out once they find Six prowling around their kitchen will surely come to haunt you in your dreams. [Issue#221, p.93]
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jul 5, 2017
    80
    Little Nightmares is truly poor by the gameplay, but it's a very intense breathtaking one-timer, what warm-up your black soul especially thanks to the brilliant design of ship interior full of horrors. [Issue#275]
See all critic reviews »