This Nintendo Switch 2 gem is one for Little Nightmares fans

It may be a little controversial but I do believe horror can be considered ‘cosy’. In fact, cosy horror is the only kind I can really tolerate. As much as I’d love to play Silent Hill f or Resident Evil Requiem, I just can’t. I’m not brave enough. Heck, it’s rare that you’ll even convince me to leave the van in Phasmophobia, much to the annoyance of my dead teammates who need one extra piece of evidence. Cosy horror, however, does away with jumpscares and nightmarish creatures. It instead focuses on ambiance, crafting settings and narratives that are undoubtedly unsettling without losing any sense of mass appeal.

I’d perhaps even pose the argument that it’s much harder to craft a cosy horror than it is a fully-fledged one. How do you retain a horror identity without setting out to terrify your players? It’s a difficult balance to strike but one that several wonderful games have managed to over the years. Little Nightmares, of course, springs to mind, as do Dredge and Oxenfree.

I adore all three titles, and if you’re able to tear yourself away from Mario Kart World, there’s one more game I’ve recently discovered that also deserves a place on that list that you can find on the Nintendo Switch 2: Out of Sight.

Out of Sight is an atmospheric horror title from indie developer The Gang, published by Starbreeze Entertainment. You’ll play as Sophie, a young blind girl who’s being held captive in a creepy old house. It’s up to you to guide Sophie to safety, doing so through her teddy bear’s eyes, uncovering the truth behind Sophie’s circumstances in the process. If you’re confused about what I mean by “her teddy bear’s eyes”, allow me to explain what is easily Out of Sight’s greatest triumph.

The game is uniquely played through both a first and second-person perspective, the latter of which I doubt you’ll have come across much before. At the beginning of the game, Sophie’s teddy is somehow imbued with the power to see; yes, this is something that the story will later address. As such, when Sophie is holding the bear, you’ll navigate using its sight, exploring the house via a first-person perspective. When it comes to puzzle-solving though, Sophie will usually need to free up her hands. In these instances, you’ll need to pop the teddy down, where you can then guide a now-visible Sophie via the bear’s second-person point of view.

I have to say, I hugely enjoyed what this set up added to the game. Out of Sight consists of two main gameplay actions: puzzle-solving and stealth. In certain sections, you’ll want to avoid your captors, taking refuge in nearby hiding spots and keeping the noise down. For the most part though, you’ll find yourself figuring out how to escape the various rooms Sophie finds herself in. It’s incredibly Little Nightmares-esque. You’ll need to shift pieces of furniture around or experiment with switches, all whilst avoiding drawing attention.

The teddy mechanic adds another layer to the puzzle-solving. You can’t roam the room freely to look for a solution. You need to ensure that Sophie stays within her bear’s sights, which may mean altering the bear’s location midway through the puzzle. Of course, once a path has been cleared, you’ll also need to retrieve the teddy before continuing. There’s nothing in the game which is impossibly hard to figure out by any means, but I certainly never tired of the formula.

Out of Sight never really builds upon it though but that, at least for me, never became an issue thanks to the game’s short runtime; it lasts for around three hours. It’s the perfect length for what Out of Sight has to offer: a simple concept, incredibly well executed.

The story is as engaging as the puzzle-solving but I’m hesitant to address it in any way. It’s something that you simply have to experience unfold. Yes, it’s not a story that takes any hugely sweeping twists or turns, but I did feel the environmental storytelling really helped infuse it with life. Whether it be a specific painting or a chair surrounded by manacles, I had fun theorising where the tale might be headed, a shudder running down my spine with every new theory.

As I alluded to earlier, Out of Sight is free of full-on jumpscares, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t scary. Horror enthusiasts will likely breeze through with ease but there’s plenty here for the scaredy cats amongst us to contend with. Whether it’s the haunting whistling of a nearby captor or the unsettling creek of a floorboard, Out of Sight is excellent at making you believe you’re not alone, whether that’s true or not. A third or so into the game, I grew to understand that this title was never going to shock me with a jumpscare and yet I never stopped expecting one. There’s something about the wonderfully tense atmosphere that keeps you right on the edge of believing that something dreadful lies around the corner; that’s exactly what cosy horror should do.

While Out of Sight is available across all platforms, I’d argue it feels most at home on the Nintendo Switch / Nintendo Switch 2. But whatever platform it is you have access to, I’d urge you to pick this one up. In today’s volatile market, it’s incredibly important that we support indie developers, and Out of Sight’s ingenuity and execution has left me excited to see what else developer The Gang has planned.

Out of Sight is out now on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch systems.