15 Games That Overcame the Odds to Become Successful

Little Nightmares

Announced in 2014 as Hunger before receiving a teaser in 2015 and then disappearing until later in 2016, Little Nightmares had a weird development period. There was some buzz when Bandai Namco Entertainment announced itself as the publisher, and the name changed to Little Nightmares. But Tarsier was a relatively unknown developer and a platformer like this could fizzle out in many different ways.

Fortunately, it didn’t, because Little Nightmares wasn’t just a platformer. Yes, you had to solve some puzzles and occasionally platform, but it was more of a survival horror title, as the main character Six attempted to escape the nightmarish Maw. Little Nightmares told a compelling narrative laden with mystery and surreal horror.

Even if its controls weren’t the best, it received strong critical acclaim and sold over two million copies as of May 2020. Not bad for a new IP from an unknown independent games studio.