Sleep Tight | Nintendo Switch | Review

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After making its way to Steam and North American Switch owners last summer, Sleep Tight has finally reached our shores this month, bringing its Pixar-inspired take on the classic horde formula to Europe.

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by Liam
​Andrews

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​@liam_andrews5

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Developer: We Are Fuzzy
Publisher: We Are Fuzzy
Platforms: Switch, PC
Players: 1

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The game’s premise is a rather simple one: try to survive for as long as possible. Every night, monsters attack, and it’s up to you, as one of twelve children, to fight them off using a mixture of strategy and skill. All of the twin-stick shooting action takes place in your chosen character’s bedroom, though, somewhat disappointingly, the décor remains unchanged whoever you might choose to play as.

While there’s only one character available to begin with, it doesn’t take too long to start acquiring more, but there are some unlock requirements which may raise a few eyebrows, such as the need to kill a specific enemy type with every weapon in a single playthrough.

Each character comes with their own specific perks, whether it’s having a better gun as a starter weapon or the ability to purchase turrets without the need to research them first. Who you choose to play also determines the difficulty level, introducing a risk/reward element to proceedings, while some of the kids even offer up complete new ways to experience the action, such as the ability to play from a first-person perspective. Once again though, the unlock criteria can keep these interesting features frustratingly out of reach.

​Save for a handful of permanent stations used for buying power-ups, health, ammo and defences, your room is relatively empty, leaving plenty of space to construct barriers that help to see off incoming waves of monsters. Such an open level design means it’s possible to approach Sleep Tight in a variety of ways.

During our early playthroughs we attempted to construct a square fort in the middle of the room, using barricades and the four upgrade stations as indestructible cornerstones. While visually pleasing, this left us open to attacks from all sides and required a much more hands-on approach to defence. Later runs brought about a change of strategy, namely hiding in a corner behind a wall of turrets, which allowed us to sit back and watch the automated fire do much of the dirty work for us. There was even a rather daring run which saw us eschew all defences in favour of ammo and shield power-ups, a strategy that proved surprisingly effective.

​Every night survived sees you rewarded with suns and, along with stars dropped by downed enemies, these serve as a currency used for purchasing products at the aforementioned stations. You’ll need those to combat the evolving suite of enemies, which could easily pass for Monsters, Inc. movie extras, with small and speedy creatures being complemented by the introduction of bigger, stronger types capable of dealing serious damage to your base as rounds progress.

With only a few suns handed out each morning, you’ll need to spend wisely in order to stay alive for as long as possible, especially considering they don’t carry over to the next day. Do you repair a turret on its last legs, or stock up on shields and ammo in case things go south? It’s decisions like these that can make or break a playthrough, and while watching the inevitable downfall unfold on a particularly good run brings with it a tinge of sadness, last stands are always good, frantic fun. The game’s relatively speedy pace also means it’s never too long before you’re back in the thick of things, which helps.

From a technical standpoint, Sleep Tight appears to run well on Switch, both when docked and handheld. The only drawback was some screen glare when playing in handheld mode during daylight hours, as the game’s entirely set at night and obviously quite dark as a result. You can exit and save progress between rounds, but we often found that simply putting the Switch in sleep mode then returning some time later was a decent way to keep a playthrough going when interrupted.

​Overall, Sleep Tight is another solid addition to the Switch’s growing roster of indies. Whilst it would be great to be able to team up with friends for a monster mash, the quick pace of rounds, satisfying gameplay and battery-friendly nature of the game make it a great candidate for solo commuters.

Pros

• Quirky, Pixar-style visuals
• Easy to learn, difficult to master
• Supports a range of strategies
• Plenty of characters to choose from…

Cons
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• …Which can be locked behind overly difficult challenges
• Voice overs can get annoying
• Not a bright game, inviting screen glare in handheld mode

7/10