A release date for Little Nightmares 3 has been set for October 10, 2025 and the gaming world is absolutely buzzing.
The LN lore runs deep. It has turned players into theorists who continue to churn out new conspiracies from details once missed, many years after its very first release in 2017. Favorable reviews by early testers could not have fathomed the massive cult following that was coming. The questions. The deep dives. The emotions. The cultural impact.
Little Nightmares is a mindblowing “charming horror” adventure originally developed by Tarsier Studios. Tarsier is an independent game studio that began in 2004 and is based in Malmö, Sweden. Their official site keeps the background brief, maybe all for the better so they can scurry off and do what they do best: create unforgettable projects.
Now developed by Supermassive Games, the latest installment has us hopeful that it will continue Tarsier’s legacy of breathtaking gaming, and an experience of pure, playable cinema, with equal parts terror and resonance.
While waiting for the release, here’s 10 standout horror adventure games that are also emotionally shattering, in the best way. Titles with similar themes and gameplay, each with their own unique twists that gets all in the feels.
Darq
You close your eyes to enter slumber, only to be disturbed by a menacing dream. No matter, you just need to wake up… right? Except you can’t, and like most lucid night terrors, you can’t scream for help. There’s no dialogue here. You have to figure out your escape in the haunting, ambient environment that’s eerily silent until it’s not.
Uncover puzzles in the immediate surroundings through a hazy, topsy-turvy dream-collapse, while escaping dreary apparitions.
The goal is to try to solve the nightmare and finally wake up. The looping narrative of a false slumber is its own flair, that also feels all too real.
Beyond the Darkness
Confront childhood fears through this short adventure that takes you back to memories of a simpler time. Everything looks normal, but in the corner of your eye, something’s just not right. And you’re all alone and in the dark about where you are. No friends, no family. Just a quiet, strange town to explore.
While you explore through the twisted memories, each level allows you to discover key fragments to outwit monsters and hopefully reunite with the really real world.
Your weapon is a magic lamp, functioning as defense and lifeline. Will you make it before the darkness fully envelops you?
Out of Sight
This stealth-horror adventure to escape an expansive, sinister mansion has a unique twist: it’s played in the second-person POV.
Sophie is a blind girl who sees through her companion, a beloved teddy bear. Through teddy’s eyes, Sophie scrambles through the house while avoiding lurking threats. Think Coraline meets Among the Sleep.
Sophie must uncover unsettling truths, and face her captors through a true test of bravery: doing it scared.
Out of Sight redefines ideas of perception through storytelling with the senses, and does so with the help of an interesting point of view. This is the latest title in this list.
Fear the Spotlight
Fear the Spotlight is the debut release of Blumhouse Games, the gaming division of the film production company behind modern horror hits like Insidious, Paranormal Activity, and Get Out.
Enter scene: Vivian a shy bookworm and Amy a rebellious goth. They break into their school to mess with a Spirit Board, to unnerving consequences. Amy disappears into the darkness. Adventure ensues.
The narrative unravels through exploration and solving puzzles. This game has a low-poly style look reminiscent of PS1-era games, which adds to the unease as Amy tries to steer clear of a lurking presence and other dark entities.
The Midnight Walk
LN devs have called their game a “charming horror”, with the story always seeing “a spark of light” despite the disturbing circumstances. And The Midnight Walk is here for it.
The Burnt One accompanies Potboy, a flame-bearer, across the darkness to bring back hope to the descending madness.
Explore the dreary, menacing landscape. Talk to characters who are equally as distressed, and pressed, to find out the truth. Who turned off the sun? This world needed that, so give it back.
The Midnight Walk features an innovative art style that blends traditional (over 700 handcrafted clay models) and 3D rendering into a seamless, intensely cinematic atmosphere.
Gylt
In Gylt you play as Sally in a narrative-driven survival adventure set in the nightmare version of her hometown. Your character is a young girl on a mission to make things right by rescuing cousin Emily.
A flashlight keeps the shadowy horrors at bay while you solve puzzles and look for items to reveal haunting truths about your own inner turmoil, including feelings of… guilt. These intangible feelings mingle with very real monsters out to hurt you and Emily.
It’s an emotional, accessible game, making it easier for casual players and newcomers to the genre.
Hannah
In this 3D puzzle-platformer, the world is stranger, and larger than it seems. Perspective can get ultra, ultra, ultrawide, kind of like that one scene showing The Maw.
The eponymous game has Hannah jumping, pushing, or climbing her way through the nightmare sequences to find her missing doll.
Though Hannah becomes tiny, her courage refuses to shrink.
The game also uses story devices like VHS tapes, floppy disks, old television sets, and other nostalgic takes. A gruesome, long-legged monster awaits near the end, where you can take her to the final stretch. But at least it’s not a long-necked lady, eh? Eugh. Spoiler: this monster is also terrifying.
This hidden gem hides several endings. Will you be able to turn her story around?
Withering Rooms
Fight a variety of devious monsters in this gothic horror within a shifting Victorian mansion.
Withering Rooms has its own set of armed, slithering, fast, bloody, explosive, or limbless anomalies within its corridors. There seems no end to the macabre in these halls.
Perform rituals, and evolve with weapons. There are secret passageways that are procedurally generated, as items and NPCs also have random placements. Exploring the asylum is deeply rewarding in this roguelike. Plus, the highly customizable gameplay makes for great replay value.
For those that like to get confrontational: this game, along with the next one, features the most combat among the bunch.
Things could get feisty. Be ready to throw hands or learn a spell or two.
Bramble: The Mountain King
Embark on a dark, fairy-tale quest inspired by Scandinavian folklore filled with gut-wrenching surprises that take players on an emotional toll (or, dare I say, troll).
In this narrative-driven adventure game with horror themes, Olle stumbles into misadventures while finding his lost sister in an enchanted but cursed landscape.
Familiar children’s story tropes are contrasted with an ounce of violence and a sprinkle of upsetting scenes. And for good measure: corpses. It’s beautiful and brutal.
Olle also stumbles across gnomes that’s quite similar to the Nomes in LN. Perhaps with a fate just as twisted?
Flicker of Hope
A compact horror-stealth with big impact, this free game is a tense experience packed in a dense atmosphere.
You play as an animated candle named Jean Wick. As a candle brought to life in a decaying cathedral, you race to bring light while maintaining your own flickering life force.
Threats like rain, an active hunter ready to snatch you up, and exploding insects are all there to snuff you out. You don’t really know why at first, because all a little candle wants is to shine.
The chase sequences here are to die for.
The tomes of books to climb on are a lot like those in the LN series. And like in the Little Nightmares, it’s a reminder of how small one can feel in the darkest of times. But, despite the horrors, inner strength can still shine through.
Even with fear in their tiny hearts: look at that little one go…
These titles terrify as well as deal some serious emotional damage.
Tarsier Studios, while no longer involved in the LN franchise, is set to release Reanimal. The trailer looks exceptional, with the game perhaps filled with surprises that will echo across the gaming landscape once again. Add this to your must-play, too.
Meanwhile, go back to sleep, little one. But don’t forget to set your alarm. Two new friends are waiting.
