Little Nightmares: Secrets of the Maw DLC Review

When you have a great game, sometimes you just need to make more of it. So Tarsier games did. Secrets of The Maw is a DLC for Little Nightmares comprised of three chapters, The Depths, The Hideaway and The Residence. They’re all set, as per the title, on the Maw, in fact, they all are part of one story. These levels don’t reinvent the wheel, but they do give us more of what makes the base game so awesome.

Secrets of The Maw is a surprisingly hefty DLC. It will probably take you around 3-4 hours to play through this content, which is impressive considering the length of the basegame isn’t much longer. The larger emphasis on puzzles and new mechanics in this DLC also can make these levels take a while, as they are much trickier and less straightforward in some areas. It’s harder than the main game, and perhaps a even a little scarier too.

Somehow, Secrets of The Maw has you feeling more desperate than the base game. I think it’s because unlike Six (the character from the base game , the Runaway Kid (our protagonist) feels extremely vulnerable as a character. He’s just a kid who’s escaped from the orphanage(?)/prison(?)/dormitory(?) type place where children are kept. Which is a good idea because there are killer slugs there!! In a child’s dormitory. So that’s a vibe check in Minute One. Point is, he’s way less badass than Six but also way easier to empathize with.

The Depths

The Runaway Kid is running away, as one does, and he ends up falling down this massive hole into THE DEPTHS, which is like the sewer. Either way, no location called “The Depths” is where you want to be. That’s because there’s a crazy old lady in the water called The Granny and she rises from the depths!! and grabs you and that’s curtains. So you got swim fast and platform fast and hope you don’t mess up your pace with some misstep because she is on your ass. Absolute menace. She’s easily the most aggressive enemy in the game.

This level is really fun. As someone who likes the platform aspects, this was the most engaging one in terms of what I like the most from Little Nightmares. Running like hell or creeping around something mean and evil. I enjoy puzzles, but I’m not a big puzzle. I don’t say “Hell yeah, a puzzle!” I say “Looks like I gotta solve this puzzle now.” This is the most puzzle free map in the DLC. And the puzzles that do exist are awesome.

The vibes are dour, sketchy and desperate. The Depths is not a place you want to be. You can feel the urgency of “getting the hell out of here” in this level. It’s a brand new location and has the most unique look of any DLC level. As such, it feels more uncomfortable and had me feeling very wary throughout. This is an especially long level, but it doesn’t feel that way because’s it’s so fast paced. It’s a fast start- you deal with leaches, the Granny and there’s a Janitor sighting. There’s a lot going on.

THE HIDEAWAY

The Hideaway is probably the most puzzle-ie level in all of Little Nightmares. It’s also a little different from a level design perspective. Instead of the typical straight ahead, up-down structure of most of the levels, The Hideaway is built more around a hub system. You explore the various branching paths, solve complex puzzles, avoid the Janitor and recruit Gnomes (these little follower guys) to help you further on in the level.

Story wise, this is an interesting chapter because you see a new part of the Maw and you come to understand how it works. It’s much more calm overall than The Depths, but it’s still scary in parts and it’s also very depressing. It digs much deeper into the themes of childhood and cruelty. It’s a downer.

Basically, you need to get a massive engine running to progress the next area. And you need coal for that, but mostly, you need workers to shovel coal. And that would be the Gnomes. The poor little Gnomes you have to recruit to help you push things around, grab doors and finally…shovel coal to further your aims. And the worst part is they’re too far gone to do anything else. It’s a brilliant level that furthers it’s story with good gameplay and whose gameplay educates more about it’s environment. Though it’s not my favorite, it absolutely fits in with the theme of “Secrets of the Maw” and it’s a very well made constructed and intentionally designed level.

THE RESIDENCE

The Residence is the final level of “Secrets of The Maw” and it’s probably the most difficult. It's puzzles are actually really hard, it has a combat element that doesn’t quite mesh with the engine and in general it’s just sort of tough area to operate in. It’s dark but like actually just dark, like hard to see. Enemies pop up out of nowhere, puzzles and combat are often helped. It’s a hard level and it might be the only level in the game that truly feels bogged down by it’s mechanics at times.

The level begins with some easy platforming before going into one of the least straightforward puzzles of the entire game that features an astrolabe and light beams. This is a somewhat common puzzle in gaming, but honestly I’ve never really loved it. Then it gets rough. Shadow Kids, yes, that kinds, pop up and start harassing you. To combat them, you have to use a flashlight and try and focus the beam on them. It’s really awkward and doesn’t really function well with the engine. It was briefly used in the main game, but nowhere near the same amount.

There’s a lot in this level I don’t love. I mean, the location itself is actually reused from the main game, we just see a different part of it and it’s not really that new or engaging compared to the previous levels. We’ve seen the Lady before and unlike The Janitor, she’s not really an overly exciting villain. And though she’s not a huge part, it does feel a little bit like a letdown. I think “The Residence” is a solid level, but it’s probably my least favorite in this DLC. It lacks a little bit of the creative spark the other two and feels a bit like a retread.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Little Nightmares “Secret of The Maw” is a very good DLC. I don’t know if I would say it’s a great DLC, but it’s undoubtedly very good. The levels are very thoughtfully designed and the writing is very strong. This DLC isn’t just a level pack, it tells a story that expands the Little Nightmare universe in a meaningful way. It adds new mechanics that build well off old mechanics and has fun new enemies and environments. It makes you see the Maw in a different way, a new kind of hopelessness. If you like the basegame, this is a must have. It’s a great bargain. It’s like $10 bucks, but it’s got that great Little Nightmares length where it will take you 5-6 hours your first time through and then you’re probably wanna speedrun or go find collectibles. It’s more of the same overall, but that same is good. This DLC definitely exceeded my expectations.