A galaxy before your eyes.
When the next game from the developers of Before Your Eyes, Goodnight Universe, was revealed I was flying so high my head could’ve floated to the stars. Ever since Before Your Eyes made me question who I was back when I experienced it for the first time, I’ve been patiently waiting for another game to suction out my tears the same way. Much to my chagrin, Goodnight Universe didn’t elicit the same flow of emotion down my cheek but still managed to entertain and connect with me through its storytelling and unconventional gameplay mechanics.
Goodnight Universe tells the story of Isaac, a six-month-old baby who’s just as confused and curious as the person with the controller or in this case, the camera in their face. Across the span of a handful of hours you’ll try and put together why Isaac is not only more intelligent than any baby should be but somehow is in possession of psychic abilities. Navigating through life at home with Isaac’s grandfather, parents, and sister as well as the unfolding story involving the tech company Aio– the threads weaving in-between eye blinks were an interesting trip that’s destination often subverted my deductions.
Though, the true pulse beneath the the outward narrative of Goodnight Universe was the constant grappling of wanting to be seen for who you really are– or in some cases hidden. Isaac so badly wants to be understood by his family and communicate with them as he believes he’s wise beyond that of an infant. His sister Cleo waffles between their own goals and the ones that they feel pressured to pursue. This inner self struggle is a common thread that’s woven into this story in meaningful ways for the characters within it making their challenges seem more remarkable and relatable. Isaac, as well as other characters who show glimpses of this same conflict, dances with this to varying degrees throughout Goodnight Universe and though it may not be the central plot it’s probably the thematic tissue I connected with the most. As someone who so often– especially in my younger years– had moments of realizing my identity and withheld aspects of myself from different groups of friends, family, or partners aspects of these moments in Goodnight Universe triggered fragments of my, mostly, past. In a game where you’re using your eyes to control most of it, it’s ironically poignant when you feel seen.
One of the major ways that Goodnight Universe props itself up is in its unique way the player controls this game. Similar to Before Your Eyes, the optimal but optional way to play Goodnight Universe is with a mouse and a camera to track not just your eyes but also your facial expressions. Blinking, smiling, and frowning, are all at your disposal to alter scenes, disrupt antagonistic forces, or advance the plot. Aside from the addition of smiling and frowning, the eye tracking in Goodnight Universe is also implemented differently in how the story is told and how the game feels. In Before Your Eyes, each blink almost always moved things forward. It served as a unique mechanic of input but also in itself became an at times adversary. You’d be fighting the urge to blink to stay in the moment of what was happening, while in Goodnight Universe I never noticed any forced propulsion by whether or not I closed or opened my eyes before I wanted to. This led to the eye inputs being a new feeling of immersion in Goodnight Universe, so much so to the point where if Before Your Eyes was a game about seeing, Goodnight Universe to me actually places that same emphasis on hearing. I spent many moments in Goodnight Universe with my eyes closed, listening intently, and existing in those moments that were all elevated by the stellar voice acting. So although this mechanic is not new to the developers at Nice Dream, the way they function in the storytelling segments of the game allowed for a separate experience from their previous title.
Where Goodnight Universe drops the ball slightly for me is in its use of the the unique controls. Specifically in the action sequences that have fail states. The idea of blinking at enemies or pushing them away with psychic powers seemed novel but more often felt laborious in these segments. It could have just been I was not in the mindset to transition into more active gameplay that involved minimal risk, but these sections were some of the weakest in comparison to the mysteries the story was revealing to me.
I’ve brought Before Your Eyes up probably too many times while talking about Goodnight Universe and normally I wouldn’t reference another game this much but because it’s some of the same developers and expanding upon the mechanics of the previous it feels warranted at times. Although, when the credits started rolling on Goodnight Universe I think my initial thoughts were a little more negative. If I’m being honest with myself it’s because I was hoping that Goodnight Universe was going to rip me apart the way Before Your Eyes did and that’s not fair since I don’t think Goodnight Universe was trying to do that– because both of these games are telling very different stories. Two stories that I very much enjoy and after sitting with my thoughts longer and taking in Goodnight Universe on its own merits, my fondness for psychic baby adventure continued to swell.
Goodnight Universe twinkles just enough to sparkle in a sea of stars. Utilizing unique gameplay mechanics to navigate a story that starts with mystique, injects humanity, and lands somewhere familiar. An at times messy or imperfect story, or maybe one I just wish spent a little bit more time on certain emotional beats, it still manages to offer a gaze to those willing to be seen. I don’t think it ever set out to take itself too seriously, but somehow still managed to remind me that even when things seem different or otherworldly there’s a piece of humanity that can connect us all despite the barriers that exist. Goodnight Universe didn’t rock me to my core but it sure made my inner self quake.
We reviewed Goodnight Universe on Steam with a code provided by the developer. Goodnight Universe releases on November 11, 2025 for PC, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X | S, and PlayStation 5.
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