When the creepy-crawlies come out from under the bed, some kids might pull the covers over their heads. But not the ones in Sleep Tight. In this twin-stick shooter, you fight back against the bogeyman by building forts and arming yourself with an arsenal of toy weapons. It’s developer We Are Fuzzy’s debut game, and it launches July 26 on PC and Nintendo Switch.
To fight off waves of nighttime monsters, players can choose from a roster of 12 kids, each of whom has their own special perk. For instance, Lynn sports a star-studded astronaut outfit. She just came back from space camp, and she researches new skills faster than others. Wyatt, on the other hand, takes his inspiration from cowboys on the range, and he starts with a buckshot to fend off enemies. Players who prefer to beef up defense can select Rosie the engineer, whose perk enables her to build tougher pillow fort walls.
The new indie studio has triple-A roots, and its team has individually worked on games like Far Cry 5 and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. It also recruited Disney illustrator Dylan Ekren, who contributed to Wreck-It Ralph and Zootopia. The veteran talent shows in Sleep Tight’s new trailer, which is brimming with character and polish.
Sleep Tight seems to feature a lot of strategic gameplay and fast-paced shooting, and it’s neat that it has gone for a colorful, Pixar-like aesthetic rather than something gritty or blood-splattered.