Dark tale will take you back to your childhood fears

Little Nightmares offers plenty of scary moments

WHEN I was little I had an irrational fear of the cupboard at the top of my nan’s stairs. My grandparents lived in a lovely little terrace house, and as you climbed the staircase it meant the cupboard, nestled on the landing above, was directly behind you.

One night, tired and grumpy, I’d trudged up the stairs to bed and the cupboard door swung open behind me.

From that day, I convinced myself something lived in the cupboard, silently watching me making my way up the steps, biding its time to strike when I couldn’t see it.

We all had illogical fears as children – and that’s exactly what Little Nightmares taps into.

You play as Six, a rain-coated, barefoot child who wakes up in a dark cell.

With nothing but a lighter for protection, Six ventures from foreboding room to foreboding room in a bid to escape ‘The Maw’.

This unsettling facility is deep LITTLE NIGHTMARES PS4, XBOX ONE, PC underwater and filled with sickeningly monstrous inhabitants – all of whom want to catch the tiny child.

It’s this sense of peril that grips you from the off – a constant sense of movement in the shadows, a stomach clenching feeling that at any moment you’ll be spirited away.

The game’s hauntingly beautiful graphic style only fans the flames of fear – and, to be fair, the villains are not to be sniffed at.

There’s the hideous butcher brothers, twisted chubby chefs who will put Six on the menu if they catch her. There’s the Janitor, with incredibly long arms who lurks in the darkness to grab at you. And then there’s The Maw’s guests, who come to the facility to eat – and nothing will stand in their way.

Using the wonderfully tactile environment around you, you must help Six escape.

Filing cabinets become steps, strings of sausages become ropes, chairs become ladders – with a little imagination, nothing can keep you trapped.

Thrown into this terrifying mix are the adorable Nomes – cone-headed creatures who require a big hug.

As much as I loved this game, there were a couple of things which started to grate towards the end.

Unsurprisingly, death comes swiftly and often. Depending on where you are when you die, you can be respawned at an earlier checkpoint – meaning that puzzle you just completed must be finished again in order to progress. I also thought some of the load times were airing on the ridiculous – but then, I suppose that’s the trade-off for seamless chapter play through.

Little Nightmares is short – taking only about five hours to complete – as such, it left me wanting more.

It’s smart, it’s grotesque and it should be at the top of your must play list.

Sleep tight ...