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

Just a few minutes into my first experience with The Midnight Walk, I found myself asking, “Wait, is this the actual game and not just a cutscene?” The visuals were so stunning that they resembled a beautifully crafted stop-motion animated short film. Yet, it quickly dawned on me that what I was witnessing was indeed real-time game footage created by the talented folks at MoonHood Studios.

The Midnight Walk captures the stop-motion aesthetic reminiscent of Phil Tippett’s Mad God or classic Tool music videos. This is largely because the game’s characters, monsters, and environments are made from tangible materials. Klaus Lyngeled from MoonHood explained that the team sculpted around 700 objects, scanned them into 3D, and then transformed them into polygonal models. Every character has that unique stutter animation typical of stop-motion, and the use of a shallow depth of field with the camera ties the whole look together perfectly.

According to Lyngeled and writer Olov Redmalm, their narrative-driven puzzle game offers a “cozy horror adventure” stuffed with quirky characters and endearing monsters. Spanning various fairy tale-inspired chapters, each segment maintains a common theme around contrast, warmth, and the quest to illuminate a darkened world.

The story kicks off with the main character, known as the Burnt One, emerging from a grave, piecing themselves back together. As they navigate the Midnight Walk, they’re accompanied by Potboy, an endearing and somewhat silly creature. This companion sports a tiny brazier on its head—the source of flames—and players use this alongside matches to light torches, illuminate paths, and ward off enemies.

Puzzles and stealth elements play significant parts in the game, with a feature that allows players to close their eyes simply to listen, thanks to the game’s binaural audio. The developers even recommend playing with headphones for an immersive experience. There’s also a unique style of “gunplay” where players can use a weapon that fires lit matches, allowing them to fend off adversaries from a distance while tackling puzzles.

Even with its warmth, The Midnight Walk doesn’t shy away from the eerie. Among its reels are truly unsettling creatures: cyclopean mutants that scurry, giant spider-like horrors, grotesque beings with eyes sewn shut, and slugs brimming with fury.

The inspirations drawn by MoonHood—like Over the Garden Wall, The Nightmare Before Christmas, David Lynch, and Half-Life 2—were evident throughout my preview. Yet, The Midnight Walk manages to carve out a niche distinctly its own, melding these influences into something wholly unique. I must admit, MoonHood’s latest creation has captured my attention, an unexpected addition to my list of anticipated games as of last week.

Luckily, the wait to dive into this captivating world isn’t long. The Midnight Walk is set to launch on the PlayStation 5, with PlayStation VR2 support, and Windows PC via Steam on May 8.