An indie game based on Winsor McCay's groundbreaking comic strip.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
May Update - We're Back @ TooManyGames!
24 days ago
– Mon, May 11, 2026 at 06:59:56 PM
Happy May, Dreamers! Adrian here.
We've been making good progress on Jack Frost's Palace that will be pushing to the public playtest soon for everyone to check out, so look forward to hearing more on that soon! And on that note, we've gotten so much great feedback from our community on the game, and we're directly using the feedback to make Little Nemo & the Nightmare Fiends an even better experience. We're going to have more about how your contributions have directly helped us with the game, so stay tuned for more of that as well! For now, let's jump into our update for the month.
TooManyGames 2026
We're happy to announce that we're coming back to the TooManyGames Indie Showcase in the greater Philadelphia area at the end of June! TooManyGames is one of our favorite shows, and with tickets selling fast, its shaping up to be a great show this year. The whole team will be there with the latest version of the game, so come out, chat with us, play the game, and check out all of the other awesome panels, vendors and games at the show. Games! There's just too many of them! Get tickets and see for yourself June 26th-28th. More information at the link below!
We're doing a lot to get the Ice Palace environment ready for you. For those who have peeked in that area, there's a decent amount of space and platforming gameplay, but we had not put in all the story content. This is going to be an important environment, as it features the introductions of several major characters, including everyone's favorite green clown/Nemo's best friend, Flip! The Nightmare Fiends might also be escalating their attack as Nemo and crew move through that environment, including possessing a character that can melt all of Slumberland - the Dawn Guard! Check out what we have for you here (warning, some spoilers!)
Here's a work-in-progress for when the Nightmare wisp that has been chasing Nemo and gang through the game finally reveals his identity!
And here's a very work-in-progress version of the intro to our Dawn Guard fight (featuring a moonwalking horse - see it now before we fix it!) Doesn't that train look...familiar?
Conclusion
That's all for this update. If you haven't yet, please jump over to the Steam Page and join the public playtest (and also add the game to your wishlist!) so you can see the current progress on the game yourself. We'll be letting a new batch of playtesters in shortly as we continue to add content to the next section of the game for people to check out. And of course come chat with us over on Discord, the invitation link is on our website at http://www.littlenemogame.com
Also, we got a few questions regarding Steam game codes - the game is available for Steam Playtest, but codes have not gone out yet. We will be sending those out when Act I is available as an Early Access release. Basically, we'll take the playtest down at that point and non-backers will have to purchase the game, while backers (you all!) will get your codes! For those who have been checking out what we have so far and helping us hunt down various bugs, we appreciate you!
Until next time Dreamers,
~ Adrian
March/April update - new demos! Playtesting and polish!
2 months ago
– Wed, Apr 01, 2026 at 02:54:32 PM
Hello dreamers!
Once again, we've had a busy month of development on the game. Without further ado, we're going to jump into it!
Steam playtesting is LIVE
The biggest thing happening right now is that the game is live on Steam right now for playtesting. What this means is that anyone can get onto the game's page on Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/2229030/Little_Nemo_and_the_Nightmare_Fiends/) and request access to the test for free. This does not supercede buying it, so anyone who requests access and has not already backed it will have to buy it later. What it does do is help us continue to build our audience while also getting feedback for our upcoming Early Access build, which is going to be Act I of the game.
Currently, the playtest build lets players access up through Jack Frost's Ice Palace, which is fully constructed, but does not have story and quest elements implemented yet. These are coming soon and quickly (much of that content is being tested on the developer side right now), so there won't be much longer to wait to see how the story carries on once Nemo leaves the forest.
If you've not requested to get on the playtest yet, you can do so now. In fact, we are adding a new build with some quality-of-life additions (and squashed bugs) in the next day or so. Feel free to also tell your friends and even stream the playtest demo - we're starting to build up to our social media pushes for Early Access and every bit counts!
New features
One of the best things about this playtest period has been that we have gotten lots of feedback from folks in our Discord and have been able to come up with some quality of life improvements to the game.
One of the biggest is a new upgrade that comes towards the beginning of the game, the Dream Bounce. We created this both in response to feedback on the jump physics, but also the realization after MAGFest that some players did not understand that holding down the jump button made the characters jump higher. Now, Nemo and the gang have a super bounce that is activated by hitting the jump button as soon as they hit the ground from a previous jump (the way Mario can with his triple jump.) In testing, we've found ourselves and have been told by testers that this makes the jump feel more deliberate and getting around the environment more interesting. It can also be paired with powers like Nemo's Glide and the Sprint Shoes (that are not available in public builds yet, but are pretty cool), to increase the characters' mobility.
The Dream Bounce also consumes the characters' Magic power, which brings about the next update: adjustments to how the Magic system works. Ben has added some cool quality of life features to it, including having the UI shake whenever you try to do something that requires magic, but have no magic left.
Upcoming Features
As mentioned in the last update, the majority of our team spent a week in San Francisco at the 2026 Game Developers Conference. Based on feedback from playtesters at the show, Max and Chris began discussing some ideas for players for new mechanics unique to our four playable characters.
Chris' concept sketch of Flip pulling on certain walls
One of these mechanics involves Flip giving certain walls that have an inconspicuous hook a mighty tug with the help of his trusty extending boxing glove arm. Shortly after arriving home, Max quickly went to work to try and make this feature a reality, which lead to a rabbit hole of other new mechanics we'll be using in new levels that we're building!
One last thing Max has been prototyping we'd like to show is also part of our progress with Jack Frost's palace. Due to Flip's shenanigans breaking the palace's snow machines, certain rooms of the palace will be difficult to near-impossible to navigate due to blizzard-conditions. Max has been toiling away at how we're going to depict this in game, and we've been really enjoying the results! The visuals and animation are still in prototype form, but this will give you an idea of how this feature works:
Conclusion
Before going, we also want to send a hearty congrats to the lovely folks at Die Soft Games for the release of their game, Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland! It's looking pretty cool and has a neat interpretation of the world of Little Nemo, so make sure you go check it out on Steam as well. We know we are!
That's it for now - until next time!
Chris and Team Nemo
March Update - New Playtest Build on Steam!
3 months ago
– Fri, Mar 13, 2026 at 08:55:15 AM
Hi Dreamers! Adrian here.
This will be shorter than our usual monthly update as the rest of the team is out at the Game Developers Conference at the moment, however I wanted to let you all know that the playtest build we have on Steam has seen a major update!
First, a big thanks to everyone who has played so far! We've heard so many great things from you and have been able to knock out some bugs we didn't know about and make the overall game experience smoother thanks to your feedback! With this next update, we're hoping to onboard more people into the game and get as much data as possible. It's been a huge help, so if you haven't yet, bet sure to request access on our Steam page so you can check out the newest update to the game (and maybe give us a wishlist if you haven't yet! It really helps!), and if you have already, you can jump into the game again and see what's new.
As for this update, alongside bug fixes and some minor balance tweaks, we've made some pretty major adjustments to how jumping works in the game. Apart from making it feel a bit smoother and responsive, Nemo is now able to get a new ability early in his adventure: the Dream Jump.
The Dream Jump lets Nemo and friends jump even higher after a normal jump!
With the Dream Jump, Nemo and his friends can get a big boost on subsequent jumps directly after the standard jump. It costs magic to use, however, so keep an eye on your magic gauge in the top left corner, or you'll only be able to do the standard jump! We've been really happy with how this new ability makes the game feel more dynamic, as the decision of how you will approach new challenges and utilize our characters other abilities such as Nemo's glide more deliberate and interesting. Check it out, and be sure to let us know what you think on our Discord server, which you can access via our website.
That's it for this update! Again, we hope you enjoy the latest build to the game. If you run into any issues with the game on Steam, please be sure to fill out our bug submission form. It is still a work in progress, and we appreciate your help and feedback as we continue to push forward.
Until next time, Dreamers!
Adrian
Steam Playtest Update
4 months ago
– Mon, Feb 02, 2026 at 05:50:51 AM
Hi all!
I just updated the Steam Playtest to continue where the last playtest ended. The game now is able to be continued into the Ice Palace, the home of Jack Frost.
This is our largest level so far, but is still under construction - so some cinema scenes may not work exactly as intended and a few areas may be available that aren't supposed to be yet.
There are lots of unique enemies and challenges in this level, and you'll finally able to recruit Flip!
