Platform reviewed: Steam
Price: $12.99
Baby Blues Nightmares is an indie horror game where you play as the toddler named Aiden tasked with reuniting your toys from the show “Red Belly & Friends” Aiden has all the “mean” looking toys from the show but doesn’t have Red Belly himself the nicest looking one because he’s actually very mean to his friends. This little twist was welcoming as it meant not everything that may look scary in this game was out to get me.
The game did a very good job reminding me I’m a toddler from the sense of scale, having to pull out drawers to climb on to reach the counter tops, to carrying a small stool over to a door to reach the safety bolt, as well as sneaking away to a safe room to take a nap. I thought this was a clever way to save the game. Along with the excellent sound design always giving you a sense of unease, you always feel small in a big and scary world.
What had me excited was during the tutorial they show several mechanics you can expect with a horror game like hiding, distracting, and since you’re a toddler you have a cry meter to pay attention to but as long as you have a nice piece of chocolate on hand you can calm those nerves. At the end of the tutorial you are introduced to what was my favorite part of the trailer, your tricycle. From what I saw this was how you would cruise around avoiding Red Belly retrieving your toys, finding customization items for your ride. What I found when being let free into the game is none of the mechanics were all that needed.
Besides one or two scripted jump scares I found the need to pay attention to my cry meter wasn’t all that important, and I never needed to throw an object to distract Red Belly and get around him. What I was most surprised at was that the game let me miss the Tricycle, I never felt like there was an area too big for me to walk and when the credits surprised me I was a bit sad I didn’t need my cool ride I had been looking forward to since seeing the trailer.
Final Grade: B+
While the game was short and some of the mechanics of the game didn’t ultimately feel needed, I did enjoy my time playing Baby Blues Nightmares. Much like a horror game, I was always worried about what I may find when turning that next corner and screamed a few to many times more than I’d like to admit.
Review code provided by PR Hound