Night in the Woods Reviews

Night in the Woods is ranked in the 95th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
IGN
Top Critic
8.7 / 10.0
Feb 25, 2017

Night in the Woods captures the fears and anxieties of being a young adult with surprising clarity, but brings it into new and interesting territory thanks to its developers’ deep understanding of rural America’s economic hardships. Branching, well-written dialogue made me feel closer to Mae’s story as I helped build out her history and reignite friendships, encouraging a second playthrough to uncover the scenes (and even a few secrets) I know I missed.

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Recommended
Feb 28, 2017

A witty smalltown adventure with light puzzle-platforming elements that walks the line between nostalgia and nihilism.

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Andy Kelly
Top Critic
82 / 100
Feb 28, 2017

A beautiful, heartfelt coming of age story that says something about life, and cracks a few jokes in the process.

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Metro GameCentral
GameCentral
Top Critic
8 / 10
Feb 5, 2018

A hugely impressive achievement in interactive storytelling, that tackles difficult subjects head-on but still manages to be life-affirming and relatable.

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8.8 / 10.0
Feb 23, 2017

Natural, clever dialogue is the most compelling aspect, mixing black humor, charm, and profound observations

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9 / 10
Feb 28, 2017

Night in the Woods delivers an evocative take on the early-20s existential crisis with awkward humor and charming characters.

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7.5 / 10.0
Mar 3, 2017

Night in the Woods isn't perfect. I'm not perfect. You're not perfect. Life isn't perfect. But as the game itself tries to espouse, if you've got the patience, you may find that there is true beauty in that revelation.

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Kotaku
Top Critic
Unscored
Feb 24, 2017

The main plot of Night in the Woods didn't move me much, and in fact it disappointed me a little in its shift from relatable 'people stuff' into grander, supernatural machinations. But for me the plot was secondary to the experience of kicking around town, bumping Mae up against everybody's lives, seeing myself, who I could have been, who I'll never be.

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9.5 / 10.0
Mar 30, 2017

All of this -- the unique pieces that make up Night in the Woods -- goes back to why it's so damn hard to define the game. There isn't an adequate term for titles that blend clunky platforming with choose-you-own-adventure friendship simulators. Nor is there a word to describe games that feature knife-fighting minigames and Guitar Hero-inspired band practices. But, again, maybe that's a big part of Night in the Woods' appeal. It's a confident outsider, and one that takes pleasure is celebrating the weird ways that everything comes together in life.

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85 / 100
Feb 7, 2018

Night in the Woods tells a sad story in many levels. We love the art direction and the soundtrack (specially in minigames and dream levels), but it is not a game for everyone. Gameplay falls short compared to narrative elements.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

7.5 / 10.0
Mar 1, 2017

Night in the Woods is a charming game. I was fascinated by its general atmosphere, graphics and music, which I found amazing. It's a good adventure overall, with very well written dialogues, but its bare mechanics made it kinda boring for me. The player doesn't really have to do that much, remaining extremely passive. It's interesting how the designers were able to deal with difficult themes such as depression, anxiety and child abuse in a very congenial way, without sounding too inane or obnoxious, but they did put a lot of accent on these aspects making the real plot marginal.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Unscored
Mar 7, 2017

Night in the Woods wastes just a little too much time before getting to the heart of a story about the value of life when life doesn't seem worth living. Buy it.

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9 / 10
Mar 13, 2017

Night in the Woods is an universal game about the fear of becoming and adult. A fear to struggle with politcs, money and family. A fear to lose your beloved ones and yourself. A fear to life itself. But it's also a survival guide to life and adultness and one of the best written videogames of the last few months.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Mar 2, 2017

Witty, smart and great to look at, there are many worse ways to spend your time than a Night in with Night in the Woods.

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8 / 10
Feb 27, 2017

While the main narrative drags a little, wonderfully crafted characters that deal with real-life issues, fill this beautiful Saturday morning cartoon show where the mundanity of life is the backdrop for some wonderful exchanges between Mae and her friends

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9 / 10.0
Feb 23, 2017

The anthropomorphized animals in Infinite Fall's indie narrative adventure are as complicated and emotional as any real-world college-aged kid

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Unscored
Feb 27, 2017

I started off really not liking it, I grew to completely love it, and I walk away from it with so much love but a wobble of doubt. It's by far the most elaborately graphical piece of interactive fiction, but in being so it suggests it's going to be other things too, and it's hard (certainly at first) to let go of all that, just let it be what it is.

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95 / 100
Apr 14, 2017

Night in the Woods is a fantastic narrative with a beautiful artstyle, theme and plenty of small touches occupying a wonderful world full of loving characters covering a sinister story underneath.

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Dec 20, 2017

Though some of its gameplay can feel overly repetitive, Night in the Woods soundly delivers a relatable, impactful narrative that will keep players attached for the ride, from start to finish — all held together by beautiful stylized graphics.

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Mar 14, 2017

This brilliant patchwork of storytelling, vandalism and melancholic reminiscences at the local mall is set to go down as a millennial classic

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