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Games Like Little Nightmares: Small, Dark and Unsettling

Little Nightmares makes you small in a world of huge, hungry grown-ups, and gives you nothing to fight with: you hide, sneak, climb and solve puzzles in the dark. These games share that feeling of being a child, or something childlike, alone in a place that wants to eat you.

The games

5 of the 21 games in this guide are not on Xbox and are left out. Show them all.

  1. Little Nightmares II key art: Mono with a paper bag on his head and Six in her yellow raincoat stand among leaning houses before the tall Signal Tower under a glowing sky PsychologicalLittle Nightmares IIThe sequel: Mono and Six through a school, a hospital and a city of TV-struck people, hiding from grotesque adults.
  2. Little Nightmares III key art: Low in a bird mask with a bow and Alone in goggles stand on a heap of junk among giant hands in a dusty haze PsychologicalLittle Nightmares IIITwo new friends, Low and Alone, slip past giants in the Nowhere, alone or with a friend online.
  3. REANIMAL key art: two children row a small lit boat across dark floodwater past wrecked ships and telephone poles, under a giant sheep-headed creature looming out of the stormy sky PsychologicalREANIMALFrom Tarsier Studios, who made the first two games: a brother and sister cross a flooded island of giant, twisted creatures, alone or in co-op.
  4. INSIDE key art: the boy hides behind a pillar in a dark factory while a machine sweeps the room with a searchlight PsychologicalINSIDEPlaydead's wordless side-view puzzle game: a hunted boy drawn into a dark project, sneaking past men, dogs and worse.
  5. LIMBO: the silhouetted boy stands in a bright clearing as the long legs of a giant spider reach down beside him PsychologicalLIMBOPlaydead's first game: a boy in a black-and-white world of giant spiders and deadly traps, searching for his sister.
  6. DARQ screenshot: Lloyd, a pale boy in a striped shirt, crosses a tilted room of pipes and machines as gravity turns PsychologicalDARQ: Complete EditionSide-view sneaking and puzzles in a boy's lucid nightmare, past creatures he cannot fight.
  7. Bramble: The Mountain King key art: Olle and his sister in a dark green forest with red toadstools, a gnome and a hedgehog Hide, sneak and Bramble: The Mountain KingA boy chases his sister through dark Nordic fables, sneaking past and facing folklore monsters.
  8. Among the Sleep key art: a toddler in starry pyjamas hugs a teddy bear on a crescent moon that drips into a shadow with glowing eyes PsychologicalAmong the SleepA two-year-old searches a night-time house that turns into a dream world, too small to face what follows.
  9. Fran Bow key art: Fran holding her black cat Mr. Midnight in front of a red-eyed monster, with skeletal and masked characters on the left PsychologicalFran BowA hand-drawn, grim and surreal adventure about a girl escaping an asylum to find her cat.
  10. Little Misfortune key art: a little girl in a red beret and green coat looks back over a golden autumn hillside, with a fox holding a crackling staff and a Missing poster on a tree PsychologicalLittle MisfortuneA storybook-sweet tale of a little girl that turns darker with every choice.
  11. Poppy Playtime art: Huggy Wuggy, a blue furry mascot with red lips and rows of sharp teeth, grins in a red-lit factory Puzzle horrorPoppy PlaytimeA first-person puzzle game in an abandoned toy factory whose mascot comes after you.
  12. Creepy Tale 3 key art: Ingrid sits on the floor of a dark cell as light from an open door throws a long, horned shadow toward her Multiple endingsCreepy Tale 3: Ingrid PenanceA side-view, hand-drawn dark fairy tale: a small girl in a hell of creatures, solving puzzles to get past them.
  13. Creepy Tale: Some Other Place key art: Martin in a red coat walks toward a giant skull-like face full of teeth in a dark forest Puzzle horrorCreepy Tale: Some Other PlaceSide-on puzzles and monsters in an eerie storybook forest, with a boy trying to find the way home.
  14. Children of Silentown key art: Lucy among the black silhouettes of village children before a pale moon, with red and teal trees on either side Puzzle horrorChildren of SilentownA hand-drawn dark fairy tale of a girl in a village ringed by a forest of monsters, where people keep vanishing.
  15. Clea screenshot: Clea with a lantern runs down a brick hallway with her brother and his teddy bear as a hooded skull-faced figure reaches for them SurvivalCleaA girl leads her little brother through a mansion where escaped monsters roam and react to every noise, seen from the side.
  16. Bye Sweet Carole art: a frightened girl in a green dress among dark thorny vines, a grinning figure in a top hat with glowing eyes looming behind her Puzzle horrorBye Sweet CaroleDrawn like a classic animated film, a girl searches a dark storybook kingdom for her missing friend.

The obvious next step is the rest of the series. Little Nightmares II follows Mono with Six through a forest, a school, a hospital and a city of TV-struck people, and Little Nightmares III, now made by Supermassive Games, brings two new friends, Low and Alone, and lets you play it with a friend online. REANIMAL is the new game from Tarsier Studios, who made the first two: a brother and sister cross a flooded, monster-filled island to rescue their friends, with a second player in local or online co-op. On phones, Very Little Nightmares is a tap-to-move puzzle prequel set in the same world. With a VR headset, Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes puts you inside that world in first person, as Dark Six, solving puzzles and escaping giants.

For the same side-on, sneak-and-solve play, Playdead's LIMBO and INSIDE are where much of it began. In LIMBO a boy searches for his sister through a black-and-white world of giant spiders, traps and other children who want him dead; in INSIDE a boy alone is hunted by men, dogs and worse as he is drawn into a dark project. Neither has a word of dialogue, and both die often and suddenly. They Breathe is a half-hour cousin: a small frog swimming down through a flooded forest, learning without words what the creatures around it really are. DARQ is close too. A boy trapped in a lucid nightmare walks on walls and ceilings, turns rooms around and slips past creatures he cannot fight, all without a word of dialogue. Bramble: The Mountain King moves to a third-person view and to dark Nordic fables, as a boy goes after his sister through forests and caves full of folklore monsters.

If what you love is the child's-eye view, Among the Sleep puts you in the body of a two-year-old searching for their mother at night, with a teddy bear for company and a home that turns into a dream world. Yomawari: Night Alone sends a little girl with a flashlight through her night-time town, hiding from spirits that can kill her in one touch.

For the storybook darkness, Fran Bow and Little Misfortune by Killmonday Games are hand-drawn tales of young girls in grim, surreal worlds, and The Midnight Walk, made from real clay in stop motion, has you carry a small flame through tales of fire and darkness while monsters try to snuff it out. Poppy Playtime is the toy-factory cousin: a first-person puzzle game in which the factory's mascots come after you. Creepy Tale 3: Ingrid Penance and Creepy Tale: Some Other Place are hand-drawn, side-view dark fairy tales of puzzles and monsters: in the first a spoiled girl falls into a hell of creatures that want to swallow her, in the second a fishing trip leads a boy into an eerie forest land where he must find the way home. Children of Silentown is a hand-drawn tale of a girl whose village sits in a forest of monsters, where people keep disappearing.

Clea is the closest in its hiding: a girl leads her little brother through the side-on halls of a mansion where escaped monsters roam in real time and come at every noise, so you listen for footsteps and peek under doors. Bye Sweet Carole wears the look of a classic animated film over a dark story, as a girl searches an orphanage and a storybook kingdom for her missing friend.

If you only try one, play DARQ for the closest feel of play, or Among the Sleep to be a child too small to fight back.

Questions

What is the closest game to Little Nightmares?

Little Nightmares II and III first. Outside the series, Playdead's INSIDE and LIMBO and the nightmare puzzle game DARQ are the closest: side-view games of sneaking past things you cannot fight.

Can you play Little Nightmares with a friend?

Little Nightmares III can be played with a friend online; the first two games are single player. REANIMAL, from the team that made the first two, can be played with a second player in local or online co-op.

Are there games like Little Nightmares on Switch?

Yes: DARQ, Bramble: The Mountain King, Among the Sleep, Yomawari: Night Alone, Fran Bow and Poppy Playtime are all on Nintendo Switch.

Are there short games like Little Nightmares?

They Breathe takes about half an hour, and LIMBO and INSIDE take a few hours each.

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