Among the Sleep

Among The Sleep is a poignant horror adventure more interested in the nature of trauma than scare tactics.

Among the Sleep makes good use of its unusual concept, taking you on a distinctive journey through the frightening dreams of a young child.

That's what's most disappointing; there's absolutely the spark of a really cool whatever-this-genre-is game in Among the Sleep, and for a while it looks like it's going to get there. Too bad it ends barely a quarter of the way in, passing the baton to something both much less interesting and perpetually trapped in its shadow.

Among the Sleep succeeds at being a creepy baby simulator, but the real monster turns out to be boring, buggy puzzles and a shallow world and story.

Among the Sleep builds an engaging, terrifying experience on top of simple, buggy mechanics

A curious, frightful take on childhood trauma that whips up scares from the most seemingly mundane sources. Among the Sleep is unpolished and scrappy, yet eerily memorable.

While sparse in terms of legitimate scares, the unnerving story and chilling vibe make it worthwhile

Frequently-terrifying first-person crawler flounders at times, but the ending makes it all worthwhile

There's plenty to admire in Krillbite's debut but, like a child itself, it's messy, loud, confusing and it grows up far too quickly. The length is the key isssue. For all its efforts to get inside both the player and the characters' heads, Among The Sleep doesn't linger long enough to leave a mark or more than a fleeting memory.

Despite the great storytelling mechanics, I can't help but wish there was a little more to the game. When all was said and done it wrapped up in a handful of hours at most and I was left craving more. It's especially a let down because the game invents such new ways of thinking about the horror genre, and it left so much to be expanded on. However, I honestly have to applaud the team for delivering a concise and complete story in that amount of time, and one that is so unique to the horror realm at that.