Strange Girl Gaming

Among The Sleep: Enhanced Edition is a first person survival horror game developed by Krillbite Studio and published by SOEDESCO. The original version was released back in 2014 to a great reception by fans, now 5 years after its release it is time to revisit the toddlers journey.

For those who enjoyed the original, or perhaps the gamers that heard about it but never got to experience the nightmare for themselves Among the Sleep Enhanced Edition is a must have for you. Allow me to state that I never played the original version of Among the Sleep, but for those who have you may be able to see the improvements made to the visuals and performance.

A horror game in essence but not the typical form of horror we are used to encountering, being put in the shoes of a toddler certainly adds a different kind of fear. As children we all faced many different fears, our protectors were always either our mum, dad or in most cases our beloved teddy bears protected us from the monsters under the bed or in the closet. Teddy is very important in navigating through the game, hugging him will cause him to emit a light, helping to navigate through darker areas.

For the most part the game is linear with a set direction to go in order to complete the level, though there are multiple obstacles placed in the way to make things just that bit more tricky for the poor toddler. As we progress through the levels we are pursued by a feminine figure, that is until the final level when we are chased around by a second figure.

The story is simple, having celebrated their second birthday and being given Teddy whom we play with and develop a bond, we wake up to a creepy event happening in the house with Teddy being dragged away. Upon finding Teddy he has genius idea of finding our mum, because as I have already said our mums are who we turn to at such a young age to look after us and guide us. However, mum is nowhere to be seen, we must find her! It is time to journey through a nightmare as this young boy embarks on a journey with his trusty friend to find his mother.

Finding key items that trigger memories will enable you to progress through the various areas. The different environments have been well done, while stealth is the name of the game to avoid the big nasty that is pursuing us each area offers a uniqueness, it doesn’t feel repetitive at all. Keeping yourself aware of your surroundings comes in handy when the monsters show up, hiding is the only way to survive against them, getting caught will result in a game over.

I will say that should you experience a game over that is pretty impressive given that the monsters are easy to evade, honestly there was a higher chance of experiencing death through your own means such as falling down a chasm. It is a shame that the game lacked any real difficulty, as someone who enjoys at least a bit of a challenge I felt Among the Sleep unfortunately lacked that.

The enhanced edition happens to include the “bad ending” that was scrapped in the original game, having witnessed this ending I can see why. While it is a bit of a disturbing ending to the toddlers journey it is an ending to witness.

The graphics are good, with the different levels looking eerie creating a dark atmosphere. The audio adds to the atmospheric feel, a survival horror game of this nature needs to be shrouded in atmosphere if it is to grip the player, to install a sense of fear in them.

While Among the Sleep is an enjoyable experience, a decent survival horror game, worthy of the awards it received. Having said that I would have liked for it to have been a bit longer, being able to complete it in just over an hour was somewhat disappointing, couple that with a lack of difficulty and this game falls a bit short of where it could have been. Among the Sleep Enhanced Edition is available now for PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

A thank you to SOEDESCO for supplying the Nintendo Switch code for the purpose of this review.