Little Nightmares: Complete Walkthrough & Achievement Guide

A chapter-by-chapter survival guide to the Maw: how to beat each Resident, where the difficulty spikes are, how to get every collectible and hidden achievement, and what the Secrets of the Maw DLC adds.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final PC release, including all three Secrets of the Maw episodes. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Series context (2026): Little Nightmares (2017, Tarsier Studios) is the first game in the series. Little Nightmares II (2021) is a prequel. Little Nightmares III (developed by Supermassive Games) launched October 10, 2025, and its first DLC, The Backstage, arrived June 12, 2026. Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes came out on SteamVR in April 2026. The first game is also on mobile. None of this changes how LN1 plays on PC.

Quick Start

You can't fight back. Six survives by hiding, sneaking, distracting and running. Every enemy kills in one hit if it catches you.
Crouch around enemies. Crouch-walking is quieter and keeps you hidden under tables and in shadows. Sprinting and landing from falls make noise.
The lighter is for seeing, not for safety. Light it to explore dark rooms and to light candles and lanterns (the lanterns count toward an achievement). Put it away when you're sneaking.
Grab everything. Six can grab and pull objects, climb drawers, open doors, and throw small items to distract enemies. If you're stuck, look for something to drag or climb.
Checkpoints are generous. Dying sends you back a short way. Use deaths to learn each chase.
The hunger scenes are part of the story. When Six doubles over with hunger, carry on. The game guides you to what comes next.
Collectibles are on the way but easy to miss. There are Nomes to hug, Nome statues to smash, and lanterns and candles to light. Most are in side rooms or up high.
Chapter select lets you replay chapters after you've cleared them, so you can collect things after your first run.

Controls (default)

Action	What it does
Move / Sprint	Sprint when you're being chased. Walk or crouch when you're sneaking
Crouch	Quiet movement. Hides you under furniture
Jump	Gaps and ledges. Also useful to dodge grabs
Grab (hold)	Hold onto ledges, pull objects and drawers, carry items
Lighter	Light it in darkness and use it on candles and lanterns
Interact / Throw	Throw a held item to make noise, break statues, or trigger switches

Controllers are fully supported and play best. Remap everything in the Options menu.

The Residents: How Each Enemy Works

Resident	Where	Senses	How to beat it
Leeches	The Prison	Grab you if you're close and on the ground	Keep your lighter lit, run past, jump when one gets close
The Eye (searchlight sentinel)	Early in the Maw	Sight	Stay in shadow and behind cover, and move when it looks away
The Janitor	The Lair	Blind, but hears very well. Very long arms reach under things	Crouch, move slowly and stay out of arm's reach. Don't land hard from jumps near him
The Twin Chefs	The Kitchen	Sight and hearing	Crouch behind counters and under tables. Throw objects to lure them away. Run for small gaps when chased
The Guests	The Guest Area	Sight. They're slow but chase in crowds	Stay under the tables. When spotted, run for vents and gaps they can't fit through
The Lady	The Lady's Quarters	Sight	Use the mirror against her in the final confrontation

Chapter Walkthrough Outline

Chapter 1: The Prison

A tutorial with teeth. You learn to climb, grab and use the lighter, then meet the Maw's first hazards: Leeches in the dark, and the Eye, a watching sentinel you must slip past.

Leeches: Keep your lighter lit, sprint, and jump if one gets close. They struggle to grab a child in the air. Run right, behind the bucket, toward the exit.
The Eye: Wait against the back wall until it looks to the far side, then cross to the next piece of cover.
Collectibles start here. Look high on shelves and down side passages for lanterns and Nomes.

Chapter 2: The Lair

The Janitor's domain. It's full of shoes, cages and trapped children.

The Janitor is blind. Crouching is almost always right. Walking on creaky surfaces or dropping loudly will bring his arms in your direction.
The cage sequence is the hardest part of the game, and the part most "no death" runs fail on. Pull the supports when his hand has just been out of the cage. Wait for him to start feeling around the cage again, then pull the last support.
Six's Song: run across the piano keys in this chapter for the hidden achievement.
The chapter ends with a long chase. Just keep running and trust the camera.

Chapter 3: The Kitchen

The Twin Chefs cook for the Guests. They have sight and hearing, and they share the room.

Plan with throwables. Toss something to one side, then move while the Chef goes to check.
Hide under tables during their walking routes.
Kitchen Hand: throw three ingredients into the pot of water.
Expect a chase through the cold storage and the dish areas. Keep moving toward child-sized gaps.

Chapter 4: The Guest Area

The Guests arrive and eat nonstop. It's the goriest and loudest part of the Maw.

Stay under the dining tables and go from shadow to shadow.
When a crowd spots you, don't hesitate. Run to the next vent or gap. They're slow individually but the crowd is dangerous.
The Nome and statue hunt is dense here. Check both ends of each table room.

Chapter 5: The Lady's Quarters

Quiet, elegant and tense. You'll pick up an item that becomes the key to the finale.

Mirrors matter. The Lady fears her reflection. In the final fight, turn the mirror on her when she appears, and wait out her teleports.
Once the boss is dealt with, the ending plays on its own. Take your time looking around the final rooms.

Collectibles and Achievements

Achievement names below match the Steam list. Several are hidden and have no in-game description, so the requirements and counts come from community 100% guides; check the linked guide if a count doesn't match your run.

Achievement	Requirement
The Prison / The Lair / The Kitchen / The Guest Area / The Lady's Quarters	Finish each chapter
Light Up Your Life	Light 20 candles and lanterns (the guide counts 26 in the game)
Little Lost Things	Find and hug all 13 Nomes
Rascal	Break all 10 Nome statues
Highly Sprung	Jump on a bed several times in a row
Six's Song	Run across the piano keys (Chapter 2)
Kitchen Hand	Throw three ingredients into the pot of water in the Kitchen
Elusive	Get chased and escape repeatedly in Chapters 2–4
Fun & Games Ahead	Score a ball in a basket
Ashes to Ashes	Solve the mask and book puzzle, then knock over the vase
Ashes in The Maw	Carry a wooden figure through several areas and burn it
Hard to the Core	Finish the base game in one run without dying (community guides also cite a time limit; see the linked Hard to the Core guide)
So Close / End in Sight / We'll Meet Again	Finish the three DLC episodes
Not Alone / Is Anybody Out There? / I'm Losing You	Collect the 5 bottles in each DLC episode

Missable-achievement advice: Hidden ones like Six's Song, Kitchen Hand, Highly Sprung and Fun & Games Ahead are one-off interactions. If you miss one, use chapter select. The collectible achievements track overall progress, so you can collect across several runs.

Hard to the Core strategy

Do a practice run first. Know every chase before you try for no deaths.
Skip every collectible during the attempt. Sprint wherever it's safe.
The Janitor's cage is the biggest risk (see the timing above), followed by the Leeches and the Eye.
Don't quit to the menu mid-run. Pausing to catch your breath is fine, but quitting out can break the attempt.
Some players back up their save at checkpoints so a death doesn't cost the whole run. That's your call.

Secrets of the Maw (DLC)

Three episodes follow the Runaway Kid, whose story runs parallel to Six's:

Episode	Released	What to expect
The Depths	July 2017	Flooded lower levels and the Granny who hunts from the water. Stay out of the water when she's near
The Hideaway	November 2017	The Nomes' hiding place and the Maw's machinery. More puzzles, with Nomes helping you
The Residence	February 2018	The Lady's private rooms from another angle. It ties the Kid's story into the ending

The DLC leans harder on puzzles than the base game. Each episode has 5 bottles to collect. The Complete Edition bundles everything.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Sprinting everywhere. Noise brings enemies, the Janitor most of all. Crouch around Residents.
Leaving the lighter lit while sneaking. Only light it when you need to see.
Stopping during chases. Chases are scripted to be survivable if you keep moving toward the obvious gap.
Ignoring vertical space. Many routes and collectibles are up on shelves, drawers and pipes.
Going for Hard to the Core blind. Learn the game first. The cage section alone ends a lot of attempts.
Missing side rooms while hunting collectibles. Nomes like to hide at the edges of the screen and in rooms that look like dead ends.

Advanced Tips

Use enemy sounds. The Janitor and Chefs have clear footsteps and grunts. Time your moves to when they're turning away.
Throwing is your only tool. Plates, shoes and small objects can lure enemies, knock things down, and hit switches.
Checkpoints are automatic. They trigger as you enter new rooms and pass key moments, so after a death you usually restart just before the tricky part. Light lanterns as you go anyway; they count toward Light Up Your Life.
Jump to dodge grabs. Airborne Six is harder to catch, which helps against Leeches and the Guest crowds.
Replay for the details. The Maw tells its story through the environment: paintings, cages, the dining rooms and the Nomes. A second run with chapter select shows a lot you missed.

FAQ

How long is Little Nightmares? The base game is short, about 3 to 4 hours on a first run. A practiced no-death run takes around an hour. The DLC adds a few hours.

Is Little Nightmares scary? It's creepy and tense, not jump-scare heavy. There's body horror and grim themes, especially in the Kitchen and the Guest Area.

Should I play Little Nightmares 1 or 2 first? Release order (1, then 2) is best. Although II is a prequel, it pays off things from the first game. III is a separate story with new characters.

Is there co-op? No. Little Nightmares is single-player. Little Nightmares III added co-op.

Can I replay chapters for missed collectibles? Yes. After you finish a chapter, chapter select lets you go back.

What does Hard to the Core require? Finish the base game without dying. Community guides also describe a time limit, so read the linked Hard to the Core guide before you start an attempt.