What’s the identity of Little Nightmares?

A deep dive into how engaging challenges and puzzles in video games are made on the balance of flow and frustration. A disassembly of the Little Nightmares horror game series (Tarsier Studios), looking at the type of game it is against what it wants to be, its own puzzles, and its many sources of frustration next to other titles like INSIDE (Playdead), Portal and Portal 2 (Valve), and The Witness (Thekla Inc).

This video contains LIGHT SPOILERS on gameplay and mechanics of all Little Nightmares games, there are no spoilers beyond what is shown in official trailers.

SCENES

00:00 Opening
01:09 Rhythmic Flow
04:45 Little Riddles
06:33 Dark Patterns
10:03 Pool Level
15:50 Expectation & Convention
21:10 Inside Parallels
24:58 Swift Execution
33:54 Chasing Dreams
38:55 Narrow Escape
40:00 Deep Sleep
43:58 Credits
44:44 Hidden Scene

FEATURED GAMES

Alan Wake Remastered (2021, Remedy Entertainment)
Alien: Isolation (2014, Creative Assembly)
Amnesia: The Dark Descent (2010, Frictional Games)
Audiosurf (2008, Audiosurf, LLC)
Beat Saber (2019, Beat Games)
Bloodborne (2015, FromSoftware Inc.)
INSIDE (2016, Playdead)
Little Nightmares (2017, Tarsier Studios)
Little Nightmares: Secrets of the Maw (2017, Tarsier Studios)
Little Nightmares 2 (2021, Tarsier Studios)
Portal (2007, Valve)
Portal 2 (2011, Valve)
Undertale (2015, Toby Fox)
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (2014, The Astronauts)
The Witness (2016, Thekla Inc.)

MUSIC

Accounting+ Soundtrack (Tom Schley, Crows Crows Crows)
BioShock Infinite Soundtrack (Gary Schyman, Irrational Games)
BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea Soundtrack (Gary Schyman, Irrational Games)
INSIDE Soundtrack (SØS Gunver Ryberg, Martin Stig Andersen, Playdead)
Little Nightmares Soundtrack (Tobias Lilja, Christian Vasselbring, Tarsier Studios)
Little Nightmares 2 Soundtrack (Tobias Lilja, Christian Vasselbring, Tarsier Studios)
Portal 2 Soundtrack (Mike Morasky, Valve)

MATERIAL

Little Nightmares Beginner's Gameplay & Voice
AskingThrone (   / @askingthrone5482  )

Additional Little Nightmares Material
Krystal109 (   / krystal109  )

Additional INSIDE Material
Games from Mars (   / @gamesfrommarsyt  )

Undertale Switches Puzzle Material
Full Gameplays (   / @fullgameplays  )

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