Midnight Walk: A ‘Cozy Horror’ Game with Stop-Motion Animation Aesthetics

When I first started exploring The Midnight Walk, I had one of those “Is this really the game?” moments. At first glance, I was convinced I was watching a beautifully crafted stop-motion animated short film. Imagine my surprise when I realized what I was witnessing was indeed real-time game footage, courtesy of the talented folks at MoonHood Studios.

The game itself looks strikingly similar to those enchanting stop-motion films you might remember, like Phil Tippett’s Mad God or some of those classic Tool music videos. MoonHood achieved this by using actual physical materials to bring their characters, monsters, and environments to life. Klaus Lyngeled from the studio shared that they meticulously sculpted around 700 objects, 3D-scanned them, and transformed them into polygonal models. Each character walks with a stop-motion stutter, and the camera’s shallow depth of field ties it all together.

Lyngeled, along with writer Olov Redmalm, describes their creation as a “cozy horror adventure.” It’s designed to be a narrative-driven, first-person puzzle game filled with quirky characters and delightful monsters. The story unfolds over several chapters, each weaving fairy tales that revolve around themes of warmth, contrast, and the mission of restoring light in a darkened world.

Your journey in The Midnight Walk kicks off with the game’s protagonist, the Burnt One, emerging from a grave, patching themselves back together. As the game progresses, they travel down the Midnight Walk, a mysterious highway, accompanied by an endearing creature known as Potboy. Potboy, with its charming brazier-topped head, assists the player in illuminating the path and taking on foes by lighting torches with its flame and matches.

As you make your way through this world, you’ll engage in puzzle-solving and stealth. Unique to this game is a button just for closing your eyes to truly listen, making use of binaural audio that’s best experienced with headphones. And yes, there’s some clever “gunplay” involved too. The Burnt One gets a handy weapon that fires lit matches, which you can use to fend off monsters and overcome puzzles from a distance.

While much of the game delivers on its promise of coziness, largely thanks to Potboy, it also delves into darker, more terrifying territory. You’ll face a slew of haunting creatures: cyclopean mutants darting about, enormous, creepy spider-like beings, strange leather-clad entities with eyes sewn shut, and raging, angry slug creatures.

Taking inspiration from beloved works like Over the Garden Wall, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and even the trippy visions of David Lynch, as well as the classic game Half-Life 2, The Midnight Walk manages to stand apart, offering its own unique blend. It’s safe to say that MoonHood’s latest venture was nowhere near my radar until recently, but now, I can’t wait to dive in.

And the good news? We won’t have to wait long. The Midnight Walk will be released on May 8, and will be available on PlayStation 5, complete with PlayStation VR2 support, and Windows PC via Steam.