How Little Nightmares II plumbs the depths of adolescent angst
May 13, 2021Released earlier this year, Little Nightmares II provides an eerie stage-setter for the horrors of the original 2017 Little Nightmares and its exploration of The Maw, a horrific sort of ocean liner. This prequel brings back the original game’s protagonist Six as a sort of sidekick to Mono: a boy wearing a paper bag over his head.
The title pushes the Little Nightmares’ universe beyond the horrors of The Maw’s iron ship to the expansive and unsettling realm of Pale City in a game that Game Informer called the first essential title of 2021.
We chatted with developer Tarsier Studios about the inspirations behind Little Nightmares’ aesthetic, why a melodic motif and the counterplay of light and darkness help to shape the game’s overwhelming sense of unease, and how a smart design choice streamlined the developer’s ability to quickly prototype.
To read the rest of this feature, which first ran on April 8, 2021, visit UnrealEngine.
