The latest entry in the Little Nightmares series, Little Nightmares III, is slated for release on October 10. The series, which reimagines those sudden, unnameable childhood fears within a starkly original world, has prepared yet another stage to send chills down players’ spines.

This new stage is a delusion-saturated world called the Spiral. Players must help the two protagonists, Low and Alone, escape this strange yet menacing realm. If we had to single out the biggest new hook this time, it would be the two playable leads.

Whereas previous entries—starring characters like Six and Mono—essentially gave you one directly controllable protagonist, Low and Alone move as a constant pair in the new game, solving obstacles and pushing forward through cooperation. Another notable addition is each child’s signature item: a bow and a wrench. These tools can at times serve as weapons, but more importantly, they are the keys to overcoming a variety of roadblocks that stand in your way.

To deliver the best possible experience for fans who’ve been waiting, the team even delayed the launch once. To find out how their extra efforts have taken shape, we spoke with the developers via email about everything Little Nightmares III.

It’s the first sequel in four years. Compared to the last game, what would you call III’s standout strengths?

This entry introduces a completely new story and characters, set in a different locale within a place that doesn’t exist. We’ve also added the much-requested online co-op feature. And perhaps most notably, our two new protagonists can carry unique items—the bow and the wrench—to solve puzzles and defend themselves.

In terms of timeline, where does III sit relative to I and II—and if there’s a single ‘theme’ or word that runs through this game, what is it?

Rather than a timeline, it’s better to talk about the stage. Little Nightmares III unfolds in the Spiral, a delusion-filled world located in the Nowhere, that place that doesn’t exist.

You seem to be emphasizing mirrors—what do they signify here?

Mirrors have always played an important role in Little Nightmares, but the mirrors found in the Spiral differ in many ways from mirrors elsewhere in the Nowhere, because they’re used to traverse between the Spiral’s locations. They’re crucial to the game’s narration as well, though we can’t share the details just yet.

This time you start with two co-protagonists and support online co-op. Why center the design on cooperation, and what did you prioritize to make it work? From a puzzle and environment standpoint, what mattered most?

Online co-op is a feature we’ve long wanted to implement, so with Little Nightmares III we leaned into the dual-lead setup and built co-op in earnest. We worked to make sure puzzles, level design, and progression feel balanced and enjoyable in both co-op and solo play. When designing puzzles, the key was ensuring each character always has something meaningful to do to keep online co-op engaging. To that end, we introduced asymmetric gameplay in many puzzles and assigned Low and Alone their specific items (the wrench and the bow, respectively).

It’s been two years since the initial reveal, and the launch was delayed. Why? With roughly a month left until release, what held things up, and how did you address it?

The biggest reason was that we wanted to deliver the best possible experience to our fans. Achieving that meant taking more time to polish and fine-tune the game and ensure it met the franchise’s quality bar, and that process simply took longer.

Each title swaps out the lead characters and expands the universe. What makes the Little Nightmares setting so compelling?

This universe—the Nowhere—and that place that doesn’t exist are grounded in childhood fears, funneling children who feel out of place in the world into pits of danger. Through new protagonists we can tell varied stories while exploring fresh locations and puzzles—that’s the core appeal of Little Nightmares to us.

In Little Nightmares II, enemies tracked and closed in quickly, so even small mistakes often proved fatal. III also seems to lean more on evasion than fighting. How would you describe the overall difficulty?

The difficulty is similar to past entries. Between Low and Alone’s unique items, sneaking, hiding, and sometimes running for your life, there are many ways to deal with puzzles and threats. The crucial thing is that the player should not always be able to fight. You may have items, but they’re not meant to turn you into a combatant—we want you to feel small and vulnerable in a world not built for you.

Does the story connect directly to the previous game? Can newcomers still enjoy this?

It takes place in the same universe, but the plot isn’t directly connected, so both new and returning players can enjoy it.

You announced two DLC packs ahead of launch—are they epilogues or stories that unfold mid-campaign?

It’s a bit early to go into detail about the DLC. We’ll share more down the line, so please stay tuned.

The series is known for leaving room for narrative interpretation. Is that still true here, or will the story be more explicit this time?

As with the previous games, we like to keep a sense of mystery and let players form their own theories. Some story beats will be easy to pick up, but there are still secrets whose meanings you’ll need to interpret for yourself.

Through environmental interaction and lighting, how has the texture of fear changed for the player?

We’ve created new puzzles and designs, but the alluring kind of fear from earlier titles remains. In short, immersion is higher, but the feel hasn’t been completely transformed.

In Korea there was a rumor that ‘there would be no sequel to Little Nightmares II’. Why make III?

Even after Little Nightmares II, we still had more stories to tell. It took time to find the best way to convey the overarching narrative of the Little Nightmares universe within a video game, and that ultimately led us to Low and Alone trying to escape the delusion-soaked space known as the Spiral.

Parts of the new game evoke the comics. Do they take place around the same time?

They exist in the same universe, but whether there’s a direct link is something we’d like you to discover by playing.

After a hood and a paper bag, now we have a mask and goggles. Why that design choice?

When we design playable characters in Little Nightmares, we always think about silhouette and shape. Low has a beaked mask, and Alone has goggles and braided hair. To keep that childlike feel, we used playful, everyday objects you might find around you.

You mentioned that returning players may spot connective tissue with earlier games. Is there any in-game primer that summarizes the previous stories?

Not in-game, but you can look online. Since Little Nightmares III is about two new characters—Low and Alone—trapped in previously unseen locations, you can enjoy it even without having played the earlier titles or knowing their stories.

Even though cooperation is vital, there’s no in-game voice chat. That could be a deliberate stylistic choice, but some level of interaction seems necessary—are there at least simple gestures?

Low and Alone can call to one another in-game to communicate. They can even hold hands. And of course, players are free to use platform voice chat on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, or on PC while they play together.

The first two Little Nightmares entries earned praise for their portrayal of psychological horror from a child’s-eye view. What through-line do you see as core to the series?

In Little Nightmares, players follow children trapped somewhere they don’t belong. These kids are mostly defenseless, and they confront the inhabitants who pursue them. The earlier games delved into the internal fears nearly anyone harbors from childhood, and games let us explore those fears in ways other media—like comics or podcasts—simply can’t. That focus on childhood terrors is, to us, the very heart of the series.

Finally, what makes the Spiral, this new region of the Nowhere, so intriguing?

The Spiral is the largest area we’ve shown to date. While each locale has its own setup, we wanted to preserve a sense of distinctiveness across the board. One hallmark is the mirrors children can pass through. There are many more mysteries hidden there—please look forward to uncovering them.

This article was translated from the original that appeared on INVEN.