A childhood fear brought to life, a relentless challenge for the brave, and a clever new twist on precision platforming have all arrived on Xbox today. And they’ve arrived via Through the Nightmares.
A hardcore platformer from developer Sandman Team and publisher Pingle Studio, has launched today on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S for £16.74.
Praised during its early showings at events like Digital Dragons and Games Gathering, this visually striking adventure invites you to dive into the world of dreams and rescue children from a mad god.
A Sandman’s Perilous Quest
In Through the Nightmares, you play as the Sandman, a size-shifting spirit said to bring people good dreams. But all is not well. Several children have become lost in the kingdom of Morpheus, the mad god of dreams, who has twisted sleep into a prison.
To bring the children back to their families, the Sandman must descend to a place where even the most secret of fears come to life.
The Size-Shifting Platformer
This is a ruthless, precision-driven platforming experience with a standout gameplay hook: the Sandman’s ability to change his size.
This unique twist directly impacts the game’s physics, altering your momentum, jump arcs, and the very ways you navigate obstacles, deadly traps, and secret pathways. You’ll need to master size-shifting to squeeze through tight spaces, boost your jumps, and interact with the environment in clever ways.
A Ruthless, Precision-Driven Experience
The dreamscapes you’ll explore are reactive, allowing you to manipulate the environment with the Sandman’s abilities to open up new pathways and solve tricky challenges. You’ll explore 45 handcrafted levels across six different locations based on Nordic folklore, modern-day suburbia, and medieval ruins.
Along the way, you can collect personal items from each nightmare to learn more about the children’s past and piece together the truth of what happened to Morpheus. But beware: enormous “Towering Terrors” lurk deep within the dream world, hunting you down. You’ll have to escape their clutches or face a swift end.
To aid in this hardcore challenge, the game features instant respawns and a unique checkpoint system that lets you control where you respawn, allowing for less repetition when tackling a particularly difficult section.
Our Journey Through the Nightmare
We’ve already braved the dream world of Morpheus for our review. We awarded Through the Nightmares a 3.5/5 score, praising its core mechanics and presentation, but cautioning that its high difficulty might not be for everyone:
“However, no matter how you look at Through the Nightmares, everything works well, from the great size-shifting mechanics to the haunting visuals and dramatic soundtrack that keep you going. The problem is, many may find it frustrating and at points, I couldn’t take repeating sections again and again. But others will relish the full-on challenge. Add another half-point to the score at the bottom if you put yourself in that camp.“
Key Features
- Unique Size-Shifting Platformer: Change your size to alter physics, boost jumps, and squeeze through tight spaces.
- Hardcore Precision Gameplay: A ruthless, demanding difficulty curve with instant respawns.
- 45 Handcrafted Levels: Explore six unique locations inspired by Nordic folklore, modern suburbia, and medieval ruins.
- Reactive Dreamscapes & Towering Terrors: Manipulate your environment and escape from enormous creatures hunting you down.
- Unique Checkpoint System: Control where you respawn to mitigate frustration.
- Uncover Dream Secrets: Collect items to piece together a deeper story about the lost children and the mad god Morpheus.
- Striking Low Poly Art & Haunting Soundtrack.
The children are waiting to be rescued, but the dream world already knows you’re here, and it will stop at nothing to ensure you never leave. If you’re a fan of hardcore platformers with a clever gameplay hook and standout visuals, Through the Nightmares is available right now on the Xbox Store.
Are you ready to defy the Dream God himself?
Through the Nightmares Description
Dive into the world of dreams in Through the Nightmares! This is a hardcore platformer where you play as the Sandman, a size-shifting spirit said to bring people good dreams. Several children are lost in the kingdom of Morpheus, the mad god of dreams, who turns sleep into a prison. To bring the children back to their families, the Sandman must descend to a place where even the most secret of fears come to life…
