Among the Sleep Review – Night Crawler

My definition of a great game is one that stays with you even years after playing it; Immersive stories that echo in the back of your mind whenever something reminds you of it, prompting that urge to figuratively dust off the game for another chance to take you on that emotional rollercoaster you once experienced. Among The Sleep is one such marvel, and quite possibly the only game that places you in the mindset of a toddler.

Introduction

Prepare to experience the world through the eyes of a two-year-old boy. The safety of home, the love of one’s family and the joy of holding a new toy means the world to you. However, the world is a big, scary place, and not everything we perceive can be understood. The darkness of night brings with it an absence of clarity, and when terror kicks in, our imagination will only make the unfamiliar world around us much, much worse.

Among The Sleep is a first-person survival horror action-adventure game developed by Norwegian developer Krillbite Studio for PlayStation 4. The game was released on 10th December 2015. A definitive remaster titled Among The Sleep: Enhanced Edition was released as a free upgrade on PS4 on 29th May 2019.

Story

Taking place during the 1990s, a toddler is having their second birthday celebration at home with their mother. The celebration is interrupted by a visitor at the front door, believed to be the toddler’s father, who has divorced the mother. The conversation is muffled, however the mother raises her voice, refusing the father’s request to see his child. The mother’s angry tone frightens the toddler.

The mother returns with a gift, but does not say who the gift is from. Instead, she carries the toddler and the gift upstairs to the child’s bedroom. The mother begrudgingly opens the gift, revealing a teddy bear inside. The telephone rings, and the mother leaves the toddler to play alone. The seemingly sentient bear introduces himself as ‘Teddy’.

Teddy has a friendly, curious nature. After a few minutes of playing hide-and-seek together and playing with other toys, they go into the closet, which becomes a large, imaginary, dark room filled with long, dark coats. Teddy says that if the toddler gets scared of the dark, they can hug to feel safer. The small adventure is ended by the mother finding them; she tells the toddler, gently but ominously, to stop hiding from her and puts him to bed.

Later that night, the toddler’s cot is thrown over and Teddy is taken away by an unseen force. The toddler goes after it and finds Teddy inside a washing machine. The toddler unplugs the washer and rescues Teddy. Teddy realises that something is not right and that they must find the toddler’s mother. Along the way, they encounter a shadowy figure hunting them.

The search leads them to discover a slide that takes them to a small playhouse within ‘the void’, and the door found inside leads them into a journey through several surreal environments, consisting of an underground playground, a dilapidated mansion that has merged with a marshy forest, and a bizarre series of corridors created by hundreds of closets. Teddy tasks the toddler with finding four ‘memories’ that they shared with their mother that will lead them to her.

Gameplay

The game is a first-person exploration game with a survival horror element. The player can walk or crawl around, the latter of which is faster and required to slide through obstacles blocking the way. Running is an available option, though the player will fall down if done for too long. The player can interact with and push objects, and open doors and windows.

Sometimes, the handle to open doors is too high to reach for the player, in which case the player will have to push and climb chairs for additional height. Other than chairs, the player can climb boxes, tables, and various things to reach otherwise unreachable ledges and heights. Certain objects can also be held as well as thrown. Others can be stored in the inventory and taken out again for later use.

The game is mostly linear, though the expansive environments with multiple obstacles may induce the feeling of being lost. After some time exploring the player’s house, the player is taken to a dreamlike location with a gingerbread hut that serves as a sort of ‘hub’ level. The house contains a circular door that leads to a new level, surrounded by four containers where “memories” obtained from each level are stored. After the player finds a memory and heads to a tube at the end of the level, they will be returned to this hut.

For most of the game, the player is accompanied by their new friend, Teddy. The player can hug Teddy, who emits a faint light that helps the player navigate through darker environments. The light will wear down after a while, but will recharge if left unused. If the player drops Teddy, which happens whenever sliding through pipes to a new level or environment, they will have to pick him up first before advancing again.

Throughout the game, the player is followed by a monster which can appear in different forms depending on the level. You’ll be given a brief window to run and hide, indicated by a blurred screen, screeching sounds, and occasionally a slow, ominous lullaby. There is no way to fend off the monster; if it appears, the player will have to run away or hide under tables or chairs until it goes away.

If the player is not quick enough to evade the monster, a short cinematic will show the creature taking hold of the protagonist, which results in a game over, followed by a continue screen featuring a pacifier. Clicking the pacifier restarts the game from the last checkpoint. The player can get a game over by other means, such as falling into water or chasms.

Graphics/Sound

The levels, both familiar and less so, are richly detailed, other-worldly environments which are interesting, engaging and strange. The number of interactive objects, particularly in the game’s opening chapter, is a seriously impressive amount. It certainly shows a great deal of love and dedication went into fleshing out this fantastic world.

Sadly, the same praise can’t be said of the character models. Obviously, Teddy and also the monster aren’t expected to look particularly realistic, and the first-person view masks much of the toddler’s appearance, while the father is always largely out of view. That just leaves the mother, who I’m sorry to say looks like an early PS2 abomination which was something of a momentary distraction.

The details of the ‘toddler experience’ are excellently rendered: you pause the game by putting your hands over your eyes, you breathe like a child with a blocked nose, and your little legs move like a child just learning how to put one foot in front of the other. Running, walking and crawling all feel suitably different, and each has their pros and cons.

The sound design remains excellently creepy throughout. Loud noises cause the screen to shake and distort, the screech of the monster is particularly terrifying, and the voice acting remains excellent throughout. Though you’ll likely be cautious of Teddy at the start, he’ll very quickly charm his way into your heart.

Replayability/Trophies

It is a very short game at a little over two hours from start to finish, but it’s also rather linear with a closed narrative so the desire to return may not be immediately apparent, but there are little incentives. The trophies are partially focused on collectibles and certain interactive objects.

You’ll want to keep an eye out for all 50 collectible drawings scattered throughout the game. Each chapter contains 10 drawings and collecting them all is needed to unlock their corresponding trophies. There are three miscellaneous trophies given for interacting with certain items at certain times, so a guide will likely come in handy here.

The PS4 versions of the game also include the extra DLC ‘Prologue’ level which is set weeks earlier. Instead of exploring dreamlike locations, the player is taken to another house with the objective of finding and thawing five frozen dolls by playing music or turning on the TV. The gameplay is still the same, with the monster haunting the player, but the player is also confronted by a new fireplace monster in the basement, vaguely reminiscent of Kevin’s fear of the basement furnace in Home Alone.

Conclusion

There’s a clear structure to the progression in Among The Sleep. There’s the opening where we meet Teddy and the characters in the toddler’s life. Next comes the middle where the toddler’s imagination kicks in, searching his memories for his mother when he can’t find her in the real world, with Teddy as a sort of spirit guide. Lastly, the final chapter brings the reward for our efforts in the form of the truth, unpleasant as it may be.

Among The Sleep is an absolutely ingenious piece of modern storytelling. There is an uncomfortable truth that this little adventure brings, and while I won’t spoil it, the twist has the potential to tug at your heartstrings, and doubly so if you have knowledge or experience of the game’s underlying themes. The things that go bump in the night may be all in your imagination, or maybe things are far worse than you think. Sweet dreams.