Little Nightmares

Overview

A lone child, a brass lighter, and a huge metal vessel full of nightmare residents: Little Nightmares drops you into a place where every corridor feels like a trap. You are Six, and the Maw is no place for children, especially when the adults around you are twisted into something far more dangerous than merely rude.

This is a puzzle-platform horror adventure built around observation, timing, and nerve. You pick your way through dark rooms, scale drawers and shelves, slip through child-sized routes, and keep out of sight when the Residents are near. When hiding is no longer enough, you run. It is a simple fantasy with a nasty edge: survive the place before it notices you properly.

The atmosphere does a lot of the heavy lifting here, but the setup is elegant too. You wake with no memory of how you arrived, armed only with that lighter and whatever courage you can scrape together. The Maw is packed with hostile creatures, awkward vertical spaces, and moments where one careless sound can ruin your day. Children are small. Trouble, annoyingly, is not.

Why play it

• Play as Six inside the Maw
• Hide, climb, and escape
• Use a lighter in the dark
• Face distorted Residents and monsters

Quick facts

Beginner walkthrough

Start by watching the room

You begin in a damp, dark place with no memory of how you got there. The brass lighter is your only starting tool, so pay attention to the space around you. The game pushes you to notice exits, hazards, and places a child can squeeze through. In the Maw, awareness is not a luxury; it is the first step toward staying alive.

Use your size to slip away

The Maw is built for larger bodies, which is awkward for them and useful for you. Climb drawers and shelves to reach passages adults cannot use, then move through child-sized routes when they appear. If the Residents are nearby, stay hidden and move carefully. Under the right circumstances, a distraction can buy you a little breathing room.

Run when hiding stops working

Sometimes stealth is not enough. When the Residents close in, the game expects you to bolt for safer ground and keep moving until they can no longer reach you. The trick is simple to say and far less simple to do: survive the chase, find distance, and keep pushing toward freedom through the Maw.

Key characters

• Six main character

  A lone child with a brass lighter, Six wakes in the Maw and has to find a way out before the Residents catch up.

Our take

Little Nightmares turns a simple escape plan into a tense crawl through the Maw, where every room asks you to stay quiet, stay small, and stay moving. Its horror comes from scale and pressure rather than noise alone, and that makes each escape route feel earned. If you enjoy eerie platforming with a heavy sense of place, this one has a sharp edge.

FAQ