Nightlings

Nightlings

Team Nightlings · July 12, 2025 · Simulation, Strategy, FPS, 3D, Cartoony

Nightlings is free to play — no purchase needed. We track it so you know if that ever changes.

PC
Mixed67% · 27
This game is free to play. Get it on Steam →

Screenshots

Nightlings price

Nightlings is free to play — there is no purchase price, on Steam or anywhere else we track. We keep watching it, so if it ever stops being free the price history on this page will show when that happened and what it changed to.

About Nightlings

Nightlings is a first person, fast-paced survival horror game, where you play as a 10 year old child, left home alone for the weekend while your parents handle a family emergency out of town. Initially thrilled by the freedom, your excitement fades quickly as midnight approaches. Strange, goblin-like creatures from forgotten neighborhood folklore appear outside, intent on breaking into your home to slaughter you.

Your goal? Run, Secure, and Survive. Run around your house, blocking off all entries to secure your home from the Nightlings, and survive the nights until 7 AM.Each night will get progressively more intense, with more entrances opening up. You'll have to strategize your movements to get to each entrance and block off the Nightlings before it's too late. Note from the devs.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This game was made by a group of game dev college students in the span of only 4 months! This is our first game we've ever released, so we'd love to hear your feedback! Credits:
------------------Project Manager: NitroWolf902Lead Game Designer: ArmanlotLead Programmer: timefallcLead Sound Designer: Dylan RyanLead Artist: TheLittleBear

Nightlings — game info

Platforms
Windows
Player modes
Single-player
Controller
Full controller support
PC Game Pass
Not included

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

✦ AI summary

Nightlings is a free-to-play indie title that impresses players with its effective jump-scares and creative monster-defense mechanics requiring quick thinking, earning comparisons to FNAF and Emily Wants to Play. However, players note concerns about inconsistent difficulty spikes on harder modes, limited replayability, and a relatively short experience that feels more like an academic project than a full commercial game, while some also raise concerns about the developer's conduct outside the game itself.

Recommended Nov 2, 2025
I protect this house like I protect my virginity. good game feel like something you can find on itch https://youtu.be/C0wPzS2ao7M
1 found this helpful
Recommended Oct 23, 2025
I don’t know why this game is stuck in mixed review hell. It’s a free to play game which will appeal to fans of games like FNAF and Emily Wants to Play. It’s got fun gameplay mechanics, the monsters requiring different approaches to keep them out. The harder difficulties are insane and only for the pro gamers, of which I am most certainly not one. But I still had a lot of fun with the game overall and I feel like it deserves more praise than it’s getting for a free to play game. [B]Pros[/B] - Clear instructions on how to play and how to keep each nightling at bay - Challenging but fun gameplay - Free [B]Cons[/B] - The harder difficulties felt a little too hard. I like a challenge but not a frustrating, reset experience - Limited replayability - Relatively short experience [B]Overall Rating: 7.5/10[/B]
1 found this helpful
Recommended Oct 13, 2025
I wasn't expecting a good scare from a free game, but was pleasantly surprised by very decent jump-scares. The game requires a lot of quick thinking when it comes to keeping The Nightlings out, which I absolutely loved. My friends loved watching me get jumpscared on stream too aha
1 found this helpful
Recommended Jun 29, 2026
just finished all 3 nights and i like it.
Recommended Jun 14, 2026
I really enjoyed this. I've only played normal so far but I liked the mechanics and the physics with the toys.....I found the Nightlings to be cute, not scary although I haven't been jumpscared yet. I completed Normal without failing. Pretty sure I'll die straight away when it actually gets difficult. Didn't encounter a single bug which is rare, even for small free games. My Playthrough Of Normal Difficulty: https://youtu.be/FVJd0QTAiDc?si=GAzZdEe-V57wR2Li
Not recommended Sep 8, 2025
"Nightlings" is one of literally thousands of student projects infesting Steam. While student projects tend to be better quality than most "amateur" made games, we must still question what value such projects have for gamers. As with all student projects, this isn't really a fully fleshed out game, it's just the result of an academic exercise, and as such it has much more limited value as a game than a professionally developed game would have. Educational institutions should not be using Steam as a dumping ground for homework assignments (especially if the students didn't even pass the course). Sure, it helps their marketing and helps the students feel good about themselves, but this is another case of a business putting themselves before the needs of gamers. This time the students made a very poorly done first person horror game (wow, nobody ever thought of that before) with a FNAF type vibe as you take on the role of a child and run around your house blocking doors and so on to protect the house from goblins or whatever. Yawn. The gameplay comes across more as busywork than any serious endeavour due to poor style and narrative design coupled with the amateurish, low qualit…

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