I’m sure the Runaway Kid didn’t think it would be that easy. Sure, he electrocuted the Granny, but the Maw is full of horrors just like her. And one of them was waiting for him the second he reached the top of that massive ladder. Just like Six in the introductory chapter, the Kid has been imprisoned by the Janitor, the blind, wheezing abomination with the frighteningly-long arms. Luckily, it doesn’t take long for the Runaway Kid to live up to his name, and he ultimately ends up in infinitely better company.
The Nomes play a huge part in Little Nightmares: The Hideaway, in both gameplay and in storytelling. In the core game, they were ostensibly little more than window dressing, though one unforgettable moment involving the tiny, friendly beings shook me up and left me feeling absolutely terrible. Though Six’s relationship with the Nomes is a matter of dispute (to put it mildly), the Runaway Kid has a chance to position himself as a kind of shepherd figure, the Moses of the Maw, if you will. The Nomes, in return, are more than happy to help the Kid, at least, once he proves himself worthy of their trust and companionship. Most of The Hideaway’s puzzles involve the Nomes in some way, and while none of them are particularly complex, they still tickle the gray matter enough to make it stand out from everything that’s come before it. And it culminates in a quietly haunting penultimate scene that has me looking forward to Secrets of the Maw’s final chapter.
