Grotesque, grim and yet an eerily familiar puzzle platformer
Little Nightmares, developed by Tarsier Studios, suffers from the unfortunate role of being compared to two other well known dark grim platformers. They are so similar that if someone told me that Playdead developed Little Nightmares, I would not have doubted it. I’m sure the comparison does not sit well with Tarsier Studios, it being a Swedish team while Playdead is located in neighboring Denmark and vice-versa. With all that said, Little Nightmares is a beautiful grim puzzle platformer with a confusing story.
You play as an unnamed girl wearing a raincoat. No dialogue is spoken, no words are written, but it is assumed that she wants to escape from wherever she is. You soon realize that the setting this girl inhabits is a bit strange. She appears to be a very miniature person with doors, chairs and books towering over her. The environment also shifts from side to side as if the whole world itself is on a rocking chair. You quickly find things get more grotesque when the girl passes by a noose with a limp body hanging on it, encounters mysterious dark leeches that ooze from the ceilings and floors and eventually meet gigantic disproportionate humans with large heads and tiny legs.
Most of the game involves navigating the girl from left to right. There are numerous doors to be unlocked, platforms to be crossed and enemies to avoid and several physics puzzles involving weight and momentum. There are a multitude of trial and error sequences where you will escape through the skin of your teeth that are fortunately buffeted by generous save points. There isn’t much innovation here and if you’ve already played a game in this genre, Little Nightmares will feel instantly familiar.
Some interesting quirks is that the game is visually dark so the girl can turn on her lighter at any time. Also due to the environment constantly swaying back and forth, the girl’s movement is affected. As an example, crossing a straight narrow walkway sounds as straightforward as holding down one cardinal direction. However it is easy to fall off as the speed and direction of the girl varies constantly. This wobbly movement takes some getting used to but I appreciated it because I had to pay more attention instead of mindlessly holding right on the left stick.
It’s hard to write more about this game without going into spoilers but even if I were to spoil the story it would not make much sense. The game is very abstract and interpretive with the only common theme being the sin of gluttony. The final act is especially confusing as there is a sudden tonal shift without explanation. Little Nightmares from a mechanics standpoint is perfectly fine. The graphics and sound design are equally excellent and immersed me in its creepy grim atmosphere. It’s the narrative that completely lost me. I’m left with more questions than answers and not in a good way. When I reached the credits, my most pressing question was: “What did I just play?”.
