Goodnight Universe Review (PC)

Take Among the Sleep out of the crib for a moment, and you should come to the realization that toddler-based “horror” is a rather niche category. It’s so niche, in fact, that there are barely any poster children to help represent the notion that babies, too, can be heroes in their own stories. We do, however, have Goodnight Universe to ponder—a first-person milk-and-mind control experience that, similar to Among the Sleep, features a youngling for a protagonist, and an adolescent sandbox for a world. It isn’t Among the Sleep — but it’s about as close as we could possibly get to it, minus, of course, the night terrors.

Goodnight Universe falls from the same family tree as Nice Dream’s Before Your Eyes—a first-person affair that, like the latest baby-centric babbler, bases its premise around a seemingly signature “camera-based controller” system. The difference here, however, is that you have the ability to manipulate the world as a six-month old baby. A strange concept, but we’ll run with it.

The game builds its pillars around a rather simple idea: a baby who has the ability to manipulate their surroundings through a conduit of mind control powers. It also centers its plot around a seemingly dysfunctional family, and an evil tech company that yearns to harness the baby’s power for its own dubious purposes. There’s a little more to it than that, but that’s about the brunt of it.

Although camera-controlled world manipulation isn’t a new concept, it is one that Nice Dream knows how to interpret in Goodnight Universe, more so from a child’s perspective, believe it or not. It’s still a little odd, and it isn’t always as graceful as it could be. That said, it is a system that feels weirdly inviting. But, more on that later.

Mind Over Mother

Goodnight Universe puts you in the coddle blanket of a six-month old baby who, in an attempt to rekindle a relationship with a disconnected family, acquires the power to manipulate time and space (well, sort of). The caveat here is that, with such telekinetic powers being the epicenter for a foul tech company’s success, some dysfunctional folk will stop at nothing to make you their own. Thus, we have our plot: a power-binding baby; a fractured family; and a twisted tech giant that will bend over backwards to adopt you into their fold. Again, a strange premise — but a workable one, at that.

To give credit where credit is due, Goodnight Universe truly has captured a good balance between being an engrossing perspective-driven experience and an emotionally-binding tale of woe and wonder, broken ties and peculiar telekinetic powers. Again, the concept is a little “out there”, but the way in which it conveys its message is both intruiging and more-ish. And I suppose that’s what Goodnight Universe is, if anything: an experimental piece of art that builds on the foundation of Before Your Eyes’ signature mechanics and dares to be bold. It’s poetic, in ways.

Let it be said that, while the core gameplay elements are, to some basic extent, an extended version of Before Your Eyes’ blinking system, the plot is, quite frankly, of an entirely different tapestry. It’s heartfelt, emotional, and to be honest, a rollercoaster of tidings that you don’t need a bachelor’s degree to gel with. To add, you can see the amount of love and attention to detail Nice Dream has poured into its fulfillment. That’s something that, in all honesty, you don’t often get the chance to witness in a hand-crafted indie.

With Great Power…

While Goodnight Universe is more of a story-driven experience than a full-fledged game, it does features a ton of interactive storytelling and pivotal crossroads, with each piton in the story providing a fresh way to add extra context to the underlying themes and the characters’ involvement with the protagonist. And there’s a good amount of depth here, too, with the in-game telekinetic abilities allowing you the opportunity to interact with your surroundings and manipulate various childish dioramas. It’s cute, intuitive, and above all, a lot of fun to watch unfold from the young perspective of a newborn.

In the short amount of time I spent with Goodnight Universe, I was lucky enough not to encounter any game-breaking bugs or audiovisual errors. And that’s great because, for a game that prioritizes its storyline, the last thing that you want to bump into is a trove of poorly optimized features and graphical glitches that sully an otherwise good experience. Thankfully, though, that isn’t the case here, and I’m thrilled about that, truly.

All in all there is a great game to nibble at here, as well as a genuinely enjoyable story that’s both emotionally apt and teeming with a lot of tender moments and character development. The telekinesis abilities, too, make for fantastic gameplay mechanics, and they also work incredibly well with the chosen setting and theme, too. Is it a perfect game? No. However, it is a work of art that packs one heck of a punch and pulls on all of the right heartstrings. Maybe that’s enough.

Verdict

Goodnight Universe waxes a good concept that bleeds Nice Dream’s camera-driven signature. It also touches on a niche aspect of a concept that, frankly, doesn’t receive enough attention in the realm of first-person adventure. As it turns out, babies make for solid heroes. Kudos, then, to Nice Dream for being able to illustrate that fact through its own captivating lens and a rather engaging plot.

To cut a long story short, if it’s a crossbreed of Among the Sleep meets Beyond: Two Souls with a slight hint of What Remains of Edith Finch that tickles your fancy, then Goodnight Universe should make for a fitting choice to help scratch that rather niche itch of yours. It’s a peculiar centerpiece that gets a ton of things right, although not enough to appeal to the whole kindergarten class, I’ll admit. However, if it’s something a little different that you want to wrap your clenched fist around, then you should definitely give this universe a chance to reach supernova before you give it the cold shoulder.