KATIE MARIE

On the Maw You will Suffer

Today I want to talk to you about a game/series of games that I’m a little late to the party on.

I’d heard of them but for some reason convinced myself it probably wasn’t for me, then I was kindly loaned a copy and yeah, now I feel silly. This is totally up my street.

I am talking about Little Nightmares.

Little Nightmares is a horror/puzzle solving/platforming/mystery game. It was developed by Tarsier Studios and released (initially) in 2017.

Summary

You play as Six, a young girl with no shoes and a yellow raincoat. Six is alone on the Maw, a massive seafaring contraption. The main plot of the game is Six escaping the Maw which is filled with various strange creatures, some of whom are indifferent to Six, others less so.

As you journey through the Maw Six will note other captive children as well as various oversized and strangely proportioned ‘humanoid’ creatures, which seem to be working in the Maw, cleaning it, preparing food etc. As Six journeys up, she faces pursuit by some of these creatures until she eventually comes to an area where guests are held. The guests are gorging themselves. The Maw seems to be something of a guest house, a place where people come to indulge their appetites.

Speaking of appetites, Six certainly has one herself, at times during the journey she will experience debilitating hunger pains and eat some pretty gross stuff, culminating with her eating one of the small gnomes like creatures which previously she had been affectionate towards. Whenever Six eats there is a change in tone and shadows build around her.

In the guest area Six sees the Lady who seems to be the one running the Maw. Six pursues her and finds her in a room filled with broken mirrors, the lady is injured when she sees her own reflection, something Six uses to fight and defeat her. Once the Lady is defeated Six eats her, absorbing whatever magical properties the Lady held. We know this because as Six leaves some of the guests attack her and she is able to eliminate them easily whereas before all we could do was run.

The game finishes with Six waiting outside the Maw.

There are three DLC’s for Little Nightmares, The Depths, The Hideaway and The Resistance.

In the Depths you play as a little boy, known as the Runaway Kid, who after attempting to flee the Maw falls into the Depths of it and encounters another creature known as Granny, who pursues him he defeats her but is captured by another creature known as the Janitor.

In The Hideaway, the runaway kid escapes the Janitor and with the help of the gnome creatures makes his way up the Maw, the DLC ends with him on an elevator with the Lady.

In the Resistance the runaway kid explores the upper levels until he encounters the Lady again. This time she turns him into one of the Gnome creatures and he tries to flee. He runs into Six and it is revealed that this is the gnome creature that Six eats.

My Thoughts – General 

I really enjoyed this game, the atmosphere, the fact that Six can’t fight, the gruesome hunger she experiences, the character designs. This whole game is a mood and I am here for it.

My thoughts – Characters 

Six is your typical silent protagonist, except she’s not. She’s unique in that she’s a child, she’s also vicious when it comes to fulfilling her hunger. The balance between vulnerability and viciousness is amazing.

The design of the enemies is wonderful, they are all so delightfully warped. Potentially due to how Six sees them, or potentially due to some real-world mutation that has caused this. Either way it works wonderfully and really adds to the atmosphere and the sense of threat. I also really enjoyed seeing the creature exist outside of Six, so often in horror games the monsters are just there to chase you, but in this you can see they have other purposes and intentions which hints to larger worldbuilding or perhaps plot. They cook, they clean, the gorge themselves, Six is an interruption to their day to day not their purpose.

My Thoughts – Setting 

The Maw is a perfect setting, its used perfectly to enhance not only the feeling of vulnerability, Six is so damn small compared to everything else, but to build the world. The Maw serves a purpose, it’s dark, dank and deeply unpleasant but it serves as a place for these creatures to gorge themselves, away from society, which only hints at the fact their appetites are gross. It’s full of traps and dangers but also hiding places, its used perfectly to raise and lower tension in the game.

My Thoughts – Plot 

Theres not a lot to say here.

The draw of the game is its mystery, what is the Maw really? What are the creatures that work on it? Or visit it? Why was Six there?

The main plot, escape the Maw, is simplistic but that works really well because it allows you to focus on the characters, the mystery, the music, everything that comes together to craft a wonderful gaming experience.

I cannot recommend this enough.