There aren’t many games I recommend as wholeheartedly as 2021’s *Before Your Eyes*. GoodbyeWorld Games’ brisk, beautiful narrative adventure is a devastating, cathartic, and clever project that rolls a lifetime’s worth of ups and downs into its quick 90-minute playtime. Its eye-tracking control scheme is one of the most meaningfully frustrating I’ve experienced, as it skips through entire segments of the story every time your webcam detects a blink.
*Goodnight Universe*, the follow-up from Nice Dream Games, expands this idea into a 3-and-a-half-hour experience. It feels like turning a really tight Pixar short into a feature film—for better and for worse. The same sentimentality that ran through *Before Your Eyes*—making it an incredibly heartwarming story despite the tragedy at its center—is present here, but *Goodnight Universe* is far less introspective.
The story follows a baby named Isaac who, somehow, possesses adult-level intelligence, though he can’t communicate this to his frazzled mother, spritely sister, and suspiciously chill father. Yet with an adult’s intuition, he observes the chaos of their lives and tries his best to be a helpful son and brother. Sometimes that means just being a chill baby who isn’t causing trouble; at other times, he takes a more hands-on approach.
What can a baby who can barely crawl do as his family navigates all their adult problems? Quite a lot, actually, because Isaac has psychic powers.
Where *Before Your Eyes* was entirely built around eye-tracking tech as a form of narrative design, *Goodnight Universe*’s webcam implementation feels more mechanical and traditional. Blinking activates Isaac’s psychic abilities, which often change depending on the situation. It can shut down machinery, help clean up a mess in a bedroom, or—if you close your eyes and turn your head—you can listen in on your family’s worried thoughts.
In this game, blinking acts like an extra button. It certainly still feels novel, but it’s not quite as effective in what it communicates. *Before Your Eyes* made an entire mechanic out of “blink and you’ll miss it,” whereas in *Goodnight Universe* the webcam-based control scheme feels like something that could just as easily have been handled by pressing a controller button.
In a way, it feels more like a nod to the team’s previous work than something deeply integrated into the themes *Goodnight Universe* seeks to explore.
Later in the game, as it shifts focus from its supernatural family story to surprisingly dark science fiction and espionage twists, you’ll find yourself blinking as Isaac navigates mazes of obstacles and threats. These inputs are registered based on your cursor’s position if you’re playing with mouse and keyboard.
I played through all of *Goodnight Universe* with headphones to listen in on my family’s thoughts and a webcam to blink my psychic will onto the world. But in its effort to stretch out *Before Your Eyes*’ concise ideas into a longer experience, *Goodnight Universe* struggles to develop a strong grasp on why it’s implementing these ideas beyond wanting this gameplay approach to feel like a signature facet of their work.
I don’t want to keep comparing *Goodnight Universe* to *Before Your Eyes*, but the contrast between the two is one of the most interesting aspects of Isaac’s journey.
It’s about twice as long but never feels like it overstays its welcome, even if it lacks the same singular vision. The psychic set pieces are more mechanical, but they’re doused in childlike mischief and naivete that’s delightful. This makes the moments when reality intervenes as devastating as any childhood slap on the wrist.
Despite Isaac’s adult-level intellect and the mature voiceover by *Thunderbolts* actor Lewis Pullman, *Goodnight Universe* taps into childhood shame, embarrassment, and familial resentment like raw nerves.
As the story unfolds, it gradually explores many other themes and twists—so many that even hinting at them risks spoiling the experience entirely.
https://kotaku.com/goodnight-universe-review-before-your-eyes-webcam-baby-2000642517
