Review: Goodnight Universe Might Make You Cry

Nice Dream experimented with unexpected control schemes for the first time with Before Your Eyes. As the name suggested, tracking your blinking helped control memories. In Goodnight Universe, that concept is expanded upon and added to a much more compelling story that sees us helping an above average, supernaturally gifted baby find his way through extraordinary situations.

Isaac isn’t your average baby. He’s smarter than normal, able to understand the world around him and engage in some pretty complex problem solving situations. There’s also the telekinesis. But he can’t just spend time processing that and trying to connect with his awkward family. There’s a company named Aio Industries that is very aware of what Isaac is capable of and wants to use him for their own purposes.

While Goodnight Universe can be controlled via more typical control schemes, such as a controller, and there will be some segments where we need to move Isaac, the main mechanic here involves actually looking at things and blinking in order to affect the world around you and make things happen. (As such, it’s not a great fit for something like a Steam Deck or handheld gaming PC!) I played using the built-in webcam on a laptop, and it worked pretty well. I do recommend calibrating the game first in Settings to ensure it is catching your eye tracking, since there will be some segments where you want to be certain the game is recognizing when you’re focusing on an object/person or blinking. But I found it’s quite capable in most situations. There are some situations where I did notice it didn’t seem to recognize my inputs, but those were ones where there time felt of the essence and I wasn’t sure if it was due to my moving too quickly and out of my patterns or the game not properly recognizing it.

After playing all of Goodnight Universe via the intended control scheme, which didn’t take long since it is three hours or so, I did try it playing only with a controller. It definitely feels less “special” that way. So I will say if you can’t play it with the eye-tracking option, you will be missing out.

While Goodnight Universe is an adventure game, it can also feel a bit like a visual novel or interactive movie due to how heavy and pivotal the story and character relationships are. It’s an incredibly well-written affair with a lot of moments that can hit you hard. This is all without feeling overly melodramatic. The plot beats are amazing here. While it also is a drama with some supernatural thriller elements, there’s some levity too. It’s genuinely funny! Some altercations with Aio Industries are scary! As someone who was incredibly close to her grandfather, the parts involve Angus got me misty. This game is absolutely moving and heartfelt. There are a few parts around the middle that feel a bit slow, but in general the pacing is okay.

A part of that also has to do with the fantastic casting. I really loved Lewis Pullman as Isaac, and Tessa Espinola does a great job as Cleo. Both Al Madigal and Kerri Kenney-Silver are perfect picks as Isaac and Cleo’s parents, and I’m glad they went with folks who are so adept at comedy for those roles. Perhaps my favorite was Beau Bridges as Angus, as he nailed the part, came across as sympathetic, and it ended up being quite a surprise to hear him.

Goodnight Universe features a wonderful story with great performances and a unique, competent control scheme. Said method even works pretty well, considering it’s relying only on eye-tracking! I will say part of the experience is lacking without that, so you should make sure you can play under optimal conditions. But even if you can’t, the narrative and performances from its stacked cast are pretty great.

Goodnight Universe is available for the Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.