Little Nightmares III: Hands-on Preview - Safety in Numbers
The Little Nightmares series is known for its unique brand of darkness and whimsy, offering up eerie environments and a strange mix of hope and hopelessness. When I reviewed Little Nightmares II back in in 2021, I remember my primary emotions while playing it being an abject sense of dread coupled with constant anxiety. It stressed me out. So when they announced that Little Nightmares III would be a co-op game, I felt immediate relief. There’s nothing quite like playing alongside a friend to ease your worries and keep the perpetual stream of nightmare fuel at bay. If you actually sort of hate being terrified (like me), this will be a huge drawcard, and might make Little Nightmares III a good entry point for a new style of player. If you’re looking to for that feeling of isolation in a nightmare-filled world that the series is particularly well known for, then based on the level I got to play during my preview of the upcoming Supermassive Games title, you might be a little disappointed.
Little Nightmares III is the story of Low and Alone – two best friends, united in their desire to escape the horrors of the objectively awful world they’ve found themselves in. Low, armed with his bow, is able to attack enemies from afar, or cut down obstacles that might be a little out of reach for Alone, who wields a wrench and is able to whack things with incredible force. I played as Alone during my preview, and I was pretty happy with my choice – it’s extremely satisfying being able to crush the head of an enemy in a single blow. She’s also able to do things like break down wooden planks that are otherwise blocking the path forward, and even though she hits hard, getting through one plank can often take a few hits – which, when you’re on the run from one of the world’s unsettling inhabitants, can add a lot of tension to a situation.
There are a lot of situations that will really come down to the wire, and because you need both characters to be working in sync in order to proceed, you’re going to do a lot of yelling at your partner. You have to work in harmony, but you also have to be able to perform your part with precision – if you’re missing your mark, it doesn’t matter how good your friend is. I only played one level, but this game doesn’t seem like it’s going to allow for one player to carry the other through – you’ll both need to be switched on, or face the frustration that comes with needing to replay a section and knowing you’ll need to hit every single mark all over again.
That said, when you’re working together, it does feel great. With some of the game’s tension alleviated by the presence of a co-op partner, I did find myself more willing and able to take in some of the game’s smaller details – details I would have normally zoomed right past out of a desire to escape the horrors. The level I played, Carnivale, was filled with a bunch of creepy guys who – while absolutely unsettling – were also just trying to enjoy a nice day at the carnival. Which, in their terror-filled hellscape, I simply could not begrudge them. Instead of quickly running past them all, I was able to take the time to watch them enjoying their time on the carousel, or on one of those carousel-but-in-the-air style rollercoasters. Pointing out these little details and laughing about them with my co-op partner brought some light and humour to this otherwise deeply bleak experience, and it provided fun in a way Little Nightmares hasn’t really achieved before – at least for me. It’s refreshing, and I hope it’s a feeling that the game will continue to provide the whole way through.
In many ways, it seems like Little Nightmares III is going to be similar to the first two entries, and share some of the same features and frustrations. Figuring out a puzzle for the first time is rarely just about smarts and savvy, and often necessitates trial and error – you won’t even know what puzzle you’re trying to solve until you’ve died a few times and learned what you’re not allowed to do. So there will be repetition, and there will be frustration – but for me, that’s alleviated by the presence of a friend. I’m sure that once I’ve played more of the game and more of the frustration has been caused by a co-op partner failing a section I’ve nailed – or vice versa, I’m by no means an expert – then maybe I’ll change my tune. But for the sake of the preview, I like the direction the game has gone in.
After spending a little time with the game, I’m especially keen to see more. Little Nightmares is traditionally a series that offers up a lot of eerie questions, and provides very few answers – but I’m looking forward to being on the weirdly grotesque and unsettling ride once more. And because I’m a person who loves the aesthetic and concept of the macabre, but who hates sitting in feelings of tension and anxiety, I’m excited that maybe this game is going to be a little less spooky than its predecessors. We’ll see whether this ends up being this game’s biggest strength, or its biggest disappointment, when the game releases in full next month.
Little Nightmares III will release on October 10th, 2025, on PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series S|X and Xbox One. Player 2 was kindly invited to play a preview of this game by the publisher for the purposes of this article.
