Before The Night

About Before The Night

Before The Night is a top-down horror action adventure by Uneducated Game Studio, a one-person studio in Korea founded by Seongjin An. It came out on Steam and itch.io in July 2022 and is also on Nintendo Switch.

The world is a fable turned upside down: animals live in villages and keep humans as pets. Lisa's owner, a rabbit called Alice, has died, and Lisa will not accept it. The village keeps precious Flowers of Life, and with enough of them she might bring Alice back. The rabbits guard the flowers with locks and traps.

By day you explore, talk to the animals and hear their stories, trade fresh carrots for keys and weapons, and use a hammer on villagers who will not cooperate. Picking a flower brings night. Then the villagers are taken by the darkness and turn into monsters, and the game becomes a chase: hide in bushes, throw food to lure them away and slip past to safety.

The horror lies in the contrast between the hand-drawn, storybook cuteness and what happens in the dark, and in what Lisa is willing to do. The maker warns that it is cute but not made for children, and that some villagers can be turned into meat.

It suits players who like dark fairy tales and hide-and-seek horror, and who do not mind a little combat and puzzle-solving between the chases.

How to play Before The Night

1. Buy it on Steam, itch.io or the Nintendo eShop; a free demo is on Steam.
2. Explore the animal village by day and talk to its people.
3. Trade carrots with the rabbits for keys and weapons, and use tools on locks and traps.
4. Pick a Flower of Life, and be ready for night to fall.
5. At night, hide in bushes and lure the monsters with food to escape them.

Tips

• Carry carrots: the rabbits trade keys and weapons for them.
• Find the nearest bushes before you pick a flower.
• Throw food to pull a monster away from the path you need.
• Listen to the villagers' stories; they explain the world and its flowers.

Questions