Little Nightmares

About Little Nightmares

Little Nightmares is a puzzle-platformer from Tarsier Studios, published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It came out on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 28 April 2017, on Switch in May 2018, and on iOS and Android in December 2023 in a port by Playdigious. You play Six, a small girl in a yellow raincoat who wakes deep inside the Maw, an immense iron vessel, and makes her way upward and out. The camera holds a side-on view of hand-crafted rooms that have depth, so you move into and across each space as you climb, crawl and solve puzzles.

You have no weapons. Progress is about reading a room: dragging objects, flipping switches, timing a dash and using your lighter to see and to light the occasional lamp. The threats are the Maw's inhabitants, including a long-armed Janitor who hunts by sound and touch, and the gluttonous Guests later on. When one notices you, the game becomes a short, panicked chase where a single grab means death and a quick restart from a nearby checkpoint.

The horror is in scale and helplessness. Everything is built too big, the adults are swollen and wrong, and hunger runs through the whole place, including Six's own. There is almost no text; the story is told through what you see and the spaces you pass through, which keeps the mood close and uneasy from start to finish.

It is a short, tightly made game of mood and timing rather than action, and a first run takes about three and a half hours. Three extra chapters, Secrets of the Maw, followed in 2017 and 2018 and show the Maw through another child's eyes. The Enhanced Edition of October 2025 adds 4K at 60 frames per second and, on PC, ray tracing; it is the version now sold on Steam and on PS4 and PS5. It suits players who want atmospheric dread, light puzzles and stealth over combat, and it works well as an entry point into this kind of horror.

How to play Little Nightmares

1. Buy Little Nightmares on your platform: Steam for PC, the PlayStation Store, the Xbox store, the Nintendo eShop, the App Store or Google Play. It is $19.99 on Steam and $7.99 on the App Store.
2. Start the game as Six and move through each room, pulling, climbing and jumping to reach the next area.
3. Use your lighter to see in the dark and to light lamps that mark the way.
4. Solve the physical puzzle in each room, often by moving an object or triggering a switch.
5. When a keeper spots you, run and hide: break line of sight, slip under furniture, and keep moving until it loses you.
6. Reach the top of the Maw to escape.

Tips

• Hold still in shadow when a hunter is near; many of them track movement and sound more than sight.
• Keep the lighter handy for dark stretches, but remember it does not protect you, it only helps you see.
• Watch the background as well as your lane; puzzles and routes often sit deeper in the room.
• During a chase, aim for a gap or a hiding spot rather than trying to outrun an enemy in a straight line.
• Look for the small statues and hugs hidden off the main path if you want the extra collectibles.
• Try the free PS4 demo on the PlayStation Store first if you are unsure whether the mood suits you.

Questions