Reanimal, the latest little horror game with massively unsettling vibes fromLittle Nightmares creator Tarsier Studios, launches on Friday, February 13, 2026. The review embargo is up, but I’m not ready, so I want to tell you why I just can’t stop playing.
As is always the case when I Can’t Stop Playing a game, I’m going to make this as spoiler-free as possible. That way, you can read all about the next adventure into scaring yourself senseless without ruining what’s coming.
Reanimal Plagues You With Some Of Your Worst Fears
The premise of Reanimal is fairly simple. A brother and sister are rescuing their friends from an island that they used to call home, but they have to go through hell to do so. In many ways, I think you could take that literally, because this game comes pretty close to what I’d expect the whole experience of the worst the afterlife has to offer to be.
It doesn’t throw horrors at its protagonists simply to kill them. No. Instead, the monsters you face feel tangibly real, many of which could be pulled directly from what you might now see as absurd childhood worries.
Every environment is complete with notes of loneliness and desolation, but with more than enough space for someone, or something, to be watching you from just around the corner. Even the objects around you have the potential to catch you off-guard when they spring to life or act in unexpected ways that this twisted, grotesque world has warped them for.
Your protagonists are two pretty tiny children in a world that’s almost unrealistically huge. This, of course, is how the world feels to children, and adults can feel just as huge and scary, too. The caveat to the overwhelming monsters that will hunt you down across the game’s various stages is the strengths every child has over grown-ups: size, speed, and tenacity.
Puzzles don’t always present themselves as such, so you’ve got a lot of exploring to do before you stumble upon what might be the solution or the problem. I haven’t found this a problem so far, but I think some players will struggle with making progress just because they don’t know what they’re meant to be doing. With that said, I firmly believe that the less signposting, the better.
When you do find a puzzle, you’ve got to solve it like a child. Ducking in and out of small gaps, using toy-like objects around the world to progress, and walking impossibly small paths that pose very little threat to someone of the protagonists’ size.
However, there are threats, many, in fact, and they’re downright despicable in how they throw themselves at you right when you least expect it. Just when you think you’ve pushed past a scare, a new one appears, and some even get right in your way, so you’ve got no choice but to walk right into them.
Tarsier Studios has done a fantastic job of veering away from simply making enemies giant humans and giving them eerily strange abilities. The monsters of Reanimal feel uncanny, real, and make you wish you never met anything half as horrifying in real life. They’re so incredibly well designed both in appearance and behaviour, ensuring you’re always on your toes and never get to relax.
As you explore the world, you’ll find many secrets, such as lost souls to free and masks to don. These are a lovely bit of fun, and the concept art is great to look at, but I can’t help but feel that somehow there’s a mechanic that could work with these masks to make gameplay even more diverse.
I think the question a lot of Little Nightmares fans will have is: Is Reanimal like Little Nightmares? And honestly, yes, it is, on the surface. It’s the depths of Reanimal that show you where this game truly switches gears from Tarsier Studios’ previous works. It feels more brutal, visceral, and is easily the creepiest game I’ve played all year.
The one thing I can’t speak to is the co-op. No one at Bonus Action wants to play spooky horror games with me, my wife hates this type of game, and my kids are so young that it’ll give them living nightmares. I’ve had no trouble playing solo, and I prefer the experience because co-op, for me, ruins all horror.
You can’t be scared if you’ve got someone sitting with you to make you feel safe, but Reanimal certainly does a good enough job of being terrifying that I wouldn’t be surprised if it managed to subvert that expectation.
If you like the sound of the game, make sure you pick it up on launch day so you don’t have any of the scares spoiled online or by friends. Make sure you follow us on all social platforms and check out our free Patreon membership so you don’t miss the full review.
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