Little Nightmares is a horror adventure game about children dealing with their fear of adults. Many people, including myself, were very excited with the announcement of a new game. The games weren’t supposed to get a third one, so it was a nice surprise to fans.
Little Nightmares 3 was released as a sequel to the original game. (Little Nightmares 2 was a prequel.) The game was picked up by new developers, leaving fans with mixed feelings.
Little Nightmares and Little Nightmares 2 was developed by Tarsier Studios, while the third game was developed by Supermassive Games. A third game was announced in August 2023. It was originally set to release in 2024, but then got delayed until October 2025.
Little Nightmares 3 is about two friends, Low and Alone, who travel through the Spiral together to try to escape the Nowhere. Little Nightmares 3 has a co-op feature where you can play with other people online. The game can also be played solo with an AI companion. However, there are no couch co-op capabilities. It’s also good to know that the online co-op is not able to be used between cross-platform devices, so if you’re using a PlayStation and your friend uses an Xbox, you would not be able to play with them online.
While most fans are disappointed with the ending and the game as a whole, I mostly enjoyed the game. I’m not a huge fan of video games, I only play a handful of them, so my expectations are pretty low when it comes to video games.
The atmosphere of Little Nightmares is very unique. The games do a good job at being eerie in a subtle way. In the games, there are different chapters you go through, each with their own different setting. For Little Nightmares 3, there are four different chapters: The Necropolis, The Candy Factory, The Carnivale, and The Institute. The designs for these chapters are nothing less than colorful and bright. The last two games have a consistent desaturated theme, but since Little Nightmares 3 takes place all throughout the Nowhere, the creators took a new approach with the colors and designs of these chapters.
My favorite chapters are The Carnivale and The Institute. I love the contrast of a fun carnival paired with a bunch of zombie-like people lingering around. The rain and candy wrappers that surround The Carnivale really add to the disturbing atmosphere. There’s a cutscene where Low and Alone ride a roller coaster, and it displays all the amazing designs of The Carnivale. I also love the design of The Institute. It reminds me of The Hospital chapter in Little Nightmares 2. I think it’s cool how even though it’s abandoned, they still keep a couple people in The Institute that add to the scare-factor when walking through. I really like that the final boss is apart of The Institute, and
In the last chapter, Low and Alone face a giant psychiatrist trying to kill them. The ending, although sad, was kind of predictable. It was pretty similar to the last game’s ending that, in contrast, did shock fans. Personally, I don’t mind the ending. I like how the game ties into The Sounds of Nightmares, the Little Nightmares podcast that first aired in August 2023.
One of the biggest issues I have with Little Nightmares 3 is the first monster in the game. Little Nightmares is known for its unique and uncanny style, so the creepy baby doll seemed like a cheap way out of making a memorable character. The monster baby was used in a lot of the advertising. For example, a life-sized version of the monster baby was featured at Gamescom in 2023. It’s disappointing seeing that advertisement is more important than sticking with the game theme. The whole point of all of the games is children being afraid of adults (which are portrayed by the monsters), but with one of the monsters being a baby, it defeats the whole premise of the game. Babies are rarely ever scary, because they’re inherently good. Usually, the only reason a baby is evil in the media is because it lost its mother. It was unfortunate to see that out of all the monsters in the game, only the last two really felt like Little Nightmares.
Apart from those critiques, I had a lot of fun playing the game. I like that you can play it from both the perspective of Low and Alone, it was almost like getting to play it all over again once I played as the second character. The puzzles are relatively easy, so it’s good for people who love laidback gameplay. The great thing about Little Nightmares 3 is that, even if you finish the game, you still have a chance to play more as Low and Alone with The Secrets of the Spiral DLC. The DLC will have two extra chapters that will be released separately in 2026. So if you’re looking to play an unchallenging exploration game with unique level design and loveable characters, Little Nightmares 3 is the way to go.
