Back in 2023, two of the major creative forces behind Lost in Random and Fe founded Moonhood Studios, a brand new developer constructed to facilitate the artistic vision of its creators. Their debut title was announced to be “The Midnight Walk, a “cosy horror” adventure.
I had the opportunity to attend a hands-off preview of The Midnight Walk. Upon seeing it in action, I was immediately struck by the game’s aesthetic which is reminiscent of The Nightmare Before Christmas in all the best ways – delightfully grotesque creature design, stop-motion-style animation, and an interesting cast of characters you can’t help but fall in love with. Even if they tend to look a little spooky…
Stroll Along the Midnight Walk
You play as The Burnt One, a wanderer along the titular Midnight Walk. Early on, you’ll befriend a lantern creature named Potboy. This lost soul is crucial for progressing through the game’s many puzzles as Potboy can carry a flame around within him.
The idea of flames extinguishing darkness is a common motif in The Midnight Walk, as monsters devour fire and thrive in complete darkness. The true villain of this world is The Dark Itself – though the preview did not explicitly mention this being, I imagine it’s a creature of tremendous evil we will come to meet later on in the narrative.
The Midnight Walk is a physical path through the game’s dark setting, with various settlements and eccentric characters dotted along the road.
The Midnight Walk is a pure adventure game with light puzzle elements. Its core loop involves travelling from sequence to sequence – avoiding deadly monsters, solving puzzles and occasionally helping out the troubled inhabitants of the Walk.
These puzzles include manipulating the environment so Potboy can light a path along the dark walk, allowing you to progress through the game and , pathfinding clever routes to avoid a grisly fate at the claws of monsters. I didn’t notice any particularly complex puzzles during the preview, but elements of danger introduced by patrolling enemies added a layer of difficulty to simple solutions.
Something truly horrific happens if you get caught by a monster; I’ll just say I’m not sure I’ll mentally recover from the scene that played out.
The story progresses in a linear fashion as our pair of unlikely heroes stumble from one caper to the next. There are sequences between levels where you aren’t in any danger, so-called “cosy” moments that break up the terror. There’s even a mobile hub area of sorts, an ambling abode named Housy. This moving house follows The Burnt One and Potboy along the Walk, providing a place to rest and display your collectibles.
There are side branches and secrets to be found in every level to reward exploration and those curious (brave?) enough to investigate every nook and cranny. From what I saw, there was no back-tracking – the story simply progresses from one area to the next. In some areas you’ll have to aid NPCs to progress, in other areas you’ll just need to keep moving and survive the terrors of the night.
I was particularly excited by a scene where a wanderer is sat by a campfire and beckons you over. He gives you some cryptic advice about navigating the Midnight Walk before sending you on your way with well wishes. I adore quirky characters like this because it adds flavour to the world without bombarding you with exposition. It was a brief moment, but one that was indicative of the type of interactions that happen in The Midnight Walk – the world is full of this strange lore that you discover piece by piece.
Welcome to the Nightmare
Visually, The Midnight Walk is engrossing. Most of the objects you stumble upon, including all living creatures, were physically sculpted with real clay and then 3D-scanned into the game. The end result completely justifies the painstaking effort performed by Moonhood’s artists because everything is stylistically coherent and engaging to look at.
Such ghastly creatures being modelled in clay and then animated in a stop-motion-style add a horrifying layer to the proceedings – as these disproportionate beings creak towards you, destruction evident in their flickering body language.
Moonhood also showed off an authentic 1930s box camera they scanned and inserted into The Midnight Walk, something they’ve done with several objects.
Even though The Midnight Walk is labelled as a “cosy horror”, that is perhaps downplaying the horror elements. It’s terrifying. You’re encouraged to play with headphones because of The Midnight Walk’s binaural functionality, a feature that’s wonderfully utilized to add scares.
For example, there are points where you need to close The Burnt One’s eyes to ward off terror, a play on the classic “If I can’t see them, they can’t see me” coping mechanism. Closing your eyes so you can no longer see where the monsters are moving, but still having to listen to them snarl in one ear or the other is a nice (but scary) immersive touch.
This, along with other immersion-building elements, is one of the reasons I predict The Midnight Walk will shine in virtual reality. The game is releasing on both PlayStation VR 2 and SteamVR. I’m not a massive virtual reality enthusiast but I can only imagine how scintillatingly horrid The Midnight Walk would be to play in virtual reality with binaural audio. It’s not for the faint of heart, and my heart is so very weak.
All in all, I feel The Midnight Walk will appeal to fans of similar experiences, such as those who enjoy Little Nightmares and Inside. There’s not enough mechanical complexity here to tempt non-fans, except for the voracious virtual reality fans who are constantly on the lookout for a new, well-crafted game on the platform. Personally, I’m looking forward to strolling along the Midnight Walk when it releases on May 8.
- Released
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May 8, 2025
- ESRB
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Teen // Violence