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Parents' Guide to

Night in the Woods

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Rich, witty, emotional narrative adventure; mature themes.

Game Mac , PlayStation 4 , Windows 2017
Night in the Woods Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

age 16+

Based on 2 parent reviews

age 13+

Why Night in the Woods is More of an Experience than Simply Just a Video Game

What can I truly say about Night in the Woods? From what I heard, it's the kind of game that is worth experiencing for those who want exploration and tons of dialogue within something that is simply worth investing. As for the zoomorphic cast of characters, mainly Mae, Bea, Gregg, Germ and Angus, they all represent flaws within our own real-life society on a day-to-day basis of what adulthood is all about, and even having some deep, dark, and even borderline morbidly depressing overtones throughout most of the game, to the point of sympathising with each of their own inner struggles, and why they're just relatable to us for teens and young adults respectively. I highly recommend picking up this game, if you're the kind of gamer who enjoys reading text and looking at pretty pictures on screen, as I downloaded the Nintendo Switch version 30% off in the Switch eShop, and it is just worth having of what is essentially a visual novel as a video game, but when you play it, you'll truly see why at the end of everything, hold onto anything.
age 18+

Confusing and pointless game with cartoon animals

This game looks appealing to children on account of the game consisting of cute little animals. But looks are deceiving,for there are tons of adult material crammed into this game. The gameplay tends to be confusing and convoluted,often jumping around from one plo point to another plot point without warning. Look-there's Maie and her friends running away from cloaked figures. Now Mae is suddeny collapsing,and somehow Angus,Gregg and Bea have vanished completely out of the picture. Now the scene suddenly shifts to Angus,Gregg and Bea in Gregg's apartment. Wait,what? How did they suddenly get out of the woods and right into the apartment? And what happened to Mae? There are no role models or any great messages in this confusing mess of a game . There's lots of violence and swearing,and 20-year-old Mae gets drunk at a party because apparently,that's what all young adults are supposed to do at parties Underage drinking,anyone? Mae's not even at legal drinking age yet. So-if you want a GOOD adult game,I suggest you go with something like Grand Theft Auto or Silent Hill. Night in the Woods could of been good,but it was the confusing gameplay that turned me off.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (19 ):

Few games choose or succeed at the ambitious challenge of trying to capture the angst, unhappiness, and confusion of young adults entering the real world. This is one of the rare ones that stands out. Don't be fooled by its cartoon animal characters; Night in the Woods tells a coming-of-age story with personalities that are much more authentic and honest than those we normally see in games aiming for photo-realistic graphics. Their conversations, while funny and sarcastic, often also are melancholy and relatable, exploring problems to do with parents, relationships, friendships, mental states, and the future. And Mae's journey, which has her friends and family worried about her physical and mental well-being, is absolutely compelling. She feels like a real, three-dimensional human in feline form. The larger mystery with the severed limb and missing persons, which may or may not involve ghosts, acts as a catalyst to help Mae and her friends deal with their own personal issues.

Narrative adventures often succeed in storytelling but fall down in terms of design as well as keeping players interested and active. Not this one. While there's a bit of repetitive journeying back and forth across the same streets and buildings, the designers have injected a wide variety of interesting activities that help keep Night in the Woods feeling like a game. Most nights, Mae's dreams/nightmares provide creative running-and-jumping puzzles, the band's jam sessions offer a surprisingly challenging rhythm game, and little contextual activities -- like feeding a family of mice living inside an old parade float -- are gradually unlocked all over Possum Springs. The result is a character-driven story that's also a lot of fun to play. There are precious few other games like it.

Game Details

  • Platforms: Mac , PlayStation 4 , Windows
  • Pricing structure: Paid
  • Available online?: Available online
  • Publisher: Finji
  • Release date: February 21, 2017
  • Genre: Adventure
  • ESRB rating: T for Fantasy Violence, Drug Reference, Language, Crude Humor, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco
  • Last updated: December 15, 2021

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