If you type ‘scariest animals’ into Google, the search engine spits out a variety of expected results: killer spiders, disgusting centipedes, hideous fish, and flying snakes. You will notice that ‘sheep’ are not on that list. Watch the debut trailer for Reanimal, though, and you’ll quickly develop a fear for the woolly bleaters – particularly giant mutant ewes with far, far too many arms.
Developed by Tarsier, the studio behind the first two Little Nightmares games, Reanimal is both a continuation and an extension of the team’s prior work. At gamescom 2024 I was able to play a half-hour hands-on demonstration, and what I saw suggests that Reanimal is very, very close to its predecessors in the broad strokes. Like Little Nightmares, it is a creepy adventure in which you guide children through a variety of horrifying events.
It has a similar balance of puzzles, platforming, and all-out-terror escape sequences. And, once again, it’s all brought to life with the same stop motion-like animation style that makes the developer’s work look like a beautifully f*cked up Coraline. It’s just that this time instead of grotesque chefs and rubbernecked teachers, your tiny protagonists are on the run from a farm’s worth of warped, demented animals.
Note the ‘s’ at the end of protagonists. This time around there’s always two of you – a pair of siblings – and that means co-op play, both online and local. But before you conjure up images of a nightmarish version .