Among the Sleep Reviews
Among the Sleep puts the player behind the eyes of a two-year old and tasks them with surviving a series of wildly traumatizing scenarios. Careful hands and compassionate minds push Among the Sleep's delicate subject matter away from abject immorality, however, not with enough guidance to pivot an honest story into a capable game.
You may never look at your favourite Teddy the same way again.
Where it starts off on a high, the short story, lack of depth, and occasional bug all come together to make for a slightly numbing experience; it feels like there's no journey, no resolution, and a lot of unfulfilled potential.
Among the Sleep is ultimately a cool experience worth seeing through to the end. There's a novelty to the perspective that's hard to deny, and when the game focuses on that it's great. If you enjoy a brisk, atmospheric journey from a fresh perspective, Among the Sleep is a solid choice.
With a bit more time and cash or just a more solid plan of how to make their creatures scary Krillbite could eventually make the greatest survival horror ever (remember it took Frictional three Penumbras before they made Amnesia), but Among The Sleep is not that game. Waaaaaaaah.
Among the Sleep recreates a world between dream and reality, seen by a 2-year-old baby. It is intriguing and disturbing and tells an interesting story. However, it has some technical problems that can annoy some players.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Although light in content and devoid of any real scares, Among the Sleep is a curious little game with a great deal of charm
Besides those two larger complaints, Among the Sleep was a fascinating experience. The concept is one that has rarely (if ever) been seen before, and it really lets you look at the world from a different perspective as well as creating a real sense of vulnerability. It's a rarity but Among the Sleep is even a game that could be recommended even to people who aren't necessarily huge fans of the horror genre. Despite this, Among the Sleep starts out pretty tame but ramps up the horror as it progresses so it should also leave ardent horror fans sated. Just make sure you play it late at night in the dark with noise canceling headphones for full effect; you'll thank me later.
But little moments don't sustain a whole game, and Among the Sleep deals with a real monster — just one it doesn't quite know how to talk about.
Among the Sleep wants to be a combination of Gone Home and Slender, but doesn't quite reach the emotional and storytelling highs of the former or the bowel-rending scares of the latter. Krillbite have done some fine design work, though, and the core idea is new and unique enough to give the promise of greatness to come from the new studio.
Among The Sleep was a bit of a letdown on the horror front, but if you're looking for an interesting interactive story, you should definitely give it a shot. The immersion mechanics were great and they managed to make you feel powerless, if only for a brief period. It would've been nice to see some more realistic environments and subtle scare tactics and, if these were added, it would've been a fantastic game, rather than just a good one.
Among the Sleep is a horror experience that's more interested in delivering on its premise of exploring traumatic events from the perspective of a two-year old than in shocking you with gore or employing jump scares in order to get a cheap reaction out of you, which is good.
Among the Sleep is a nice concept and interesting story that looks great, but is let down through some dull gameplay and horror elements that aren't that effective.
Among the Sleep is quite a controversial game. While the story (which the player has to experience for spoilers), the setting and the overall concept are imaginative, their assembly into a functional whole is lacking. As an unconventional horror one-shot it works well and some elements are intriguing, but especially in hindsight you'll see untapped potential everywhere. The feeling is then doubled when going through the museum in the DLC, where you can see how much work the developers put into their project.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Among the Sleep does its job in presenting a powerful message, one that seems all too familiar in today's world of emotional video games, yet it lacks solid gameplay and only presents brief challenges.
Among the Sleep won't be remembered as a top 20 all-time great horror, but it's definitely a well-crafted dip into a dreadful story.
Among the Sleep is a game of perspective and confusion, seen through the eyes of a toddler in a world vastly larger and more terrifying.
The deaths that occur will lengthen your playtime, but I would guess everyone should be able to beat the game in about two to three hours, which leads us back to my opening thoughts. I really enjoyed the way the development team leveraged our toddler as a protagonist. It is a unique twist that works very well within the environment designs and plays with the notion that children really have very little understanding of their world or an ability to protect themselves, making the world a big and scary place. If anything the task is handled so well the majority of the time that I wish there was more of it, but what is here makes for a solid horror experience.
An interesting take on the survival horror / puzzle game, but lacking in areas that would set it apart from its peers. The dark twist in the plot may upset some players.
Among the Sleep is a very short experience that thrives on its ability to craft an interesting narrative while not needing to burden the scenario with words. Like a piece of art, Among the Sleep should be examined and thought about.