Little Nightmares is a puzzle-based platform game. In it, you are immersed in a dark story and are confronted with various childhood fears. The setting is a swaying ship that travels around the world, trying to satisfy the insatiable hunger of the people. Everything organic serves as a food source, even captured children like the protagonist named Six. He*s wears a striking yellow mackintosh and has only a lighter with which he*s able to give himself light in dark passages. Trapped, hungry and lonely, you have to help Six escape without being discovered. The presentation of the individual rooms is reminiscent of the view of an open doll's house. The basic atmosphere is gloomy and morbid, partly playing with disgust (lack of hygiene and obesity), but partly also abstract depictions, such as shoes being transported on hooks, which make for unclear interpretations. There are no depictions of violence, as the screen goes black every time Six is caught. Every single room is kept like a cell, every occupant is a danger. Since Six cannot defend herself, she has to try to sneak past all the other people as unnoticed as possible. She is much smaller than her surroundings, which is why she can hide under chairs and in boxes. The depiction of the threats is very symbolic and is probably meant to convey childish exaggerations. This makes you feel transported back to your own childhood, which makes the game creepy. Most of the game scenes consist of puzzles that are solved to progress. This involves combining objects in the room, having the right timing when hiding and, above all, always paying attention to the surroundings.

The research on Little Nightmares is based on the assumption that the story of this game can be interpreted in different ways. The story as a whole is kept rather abstract, especially since there is no dialogue and therefore only the events, characters and environment allow conclusions to be drawn about the story. In this respect, the events of the game must be interpreted in order to be able to attach meaning to them. Since many questions can arise and the interpretation is not unambiguous, players have to make this interpretation on their own. In the course of the research, the game will be analysed on several levels, whereby we will be guided by the basic principles of film analysis by Mikos (2015). Just like a film, we will analyse various aspects such as content and representation, narration and dramaturgy, characters and actors, aesthetics and design as well as the context. Players are asked how they have understood the aspects on the one hand and what conclusions they draw about the story after the game on the other. A subsequent guided reflection will clarify the extent to which the game is suitable for promoting interaction competence.

Mikos, L. (2015): Film- und Fernsehanalyse. Konstanz, Munich: UTB.