Little Nightmares 2 secret ending has big implications for the first game

Little Nightmares 2 is seriously spooky. Despite its small scale and lack of dialogue, the atmospheric horror game tells a surprisingly rich story. Much of it is communicated through surreal images that expand on the first game’s lore in shocking ways.

In Little Nightmares 2, you control a boy named Mono journeying through a place called the Pale City to reach a Signal Tower distorting the world with its humming transmission. Six, the female protagonist from the first game, appears as an NPC companion. Their nightmarish platforming adventure takes them to all sorts of creepy places

The game’s normal ending already has fans buzzing and loading up YouTube comments with theories. But the game also includes a secret ending that’s easy to miss if you’re playing casually, and it adds an important piece to the story’s puzzle. We’re going to tell you how to unlock the ending below and then discuss it after, so make sure to skip the second part of this article if you don’t want it spoiled.

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How to unlock the Little Nightmares 2 secret ending?

To unlock the game’s secret ending, you’ll need to collect all 18 Glitched Children throughout the game. Glitched Children are one of the game’s secret collectibles, scattered throughout the game. Every once in awhile, you’ll stumble on a static-y kid that you can interact with. It’s unclear throughout the adventure what purpose they serve, but finding them all rewards you with the extra ending.

Glitched Children are difficult to find. They’re always cleverly hidden in levels, requiring that you keep a close eye out for secret passages or tunnels you can crawl into. Luckily, there’s a way to track your progress. When you quit out to the main menu, you’ll see a Chapter Select option. Press that and you can see how many Glitched Children you’ve found in each level. If you’re missing a few, head back in and get to hunting.

Glitched Children only appear in the game’s first four levels, so you won’t need to worry about finding any in the finale. Just focus on tracking them down as you play and keep checking your progress to make sure you’ve got them all.

What happens in Little Nightmares 2’s hidden ending?

Okay, here’s your chance to turn back if you don’t want spoilers. Otherwise, read on.

Little Nightmares 2 ends in shocking fashion as Six essentially abandons Mono during the game’s final chase sequence. Mono drops into a fleshy cavern, where it’s revealed that he grows up to become the very Thin Man you’ve been running from this entire time. It’s one hell of a twist!

The secret ending is short but important. We see Six emerge from a TV set, confirming that she safely escaped the Pale City. Suddenly, a glitched version of Six appears in front of her. As the two stare each other down, the camera ever-so-slightly pans to a picture of the Maw, the location Six explores in the first Little Nightmares. Glitch Six disappears and we cut to black.

So what’s going on here? That’s exactly what fans are speculating. Some think that the ending actually reveals that the sequel is really a prequel that explains how Six gets to the Maw. Considering that the game shows how Six gets her signature raincoat, that theory holds a surprising amount of water.

Whatever the case, the secret ending certainly seems to set up another installment. Hopefully, we’ll get more clarity into the surprising cliffhanger in a third game soon.

Little Nightmares 2 is now available.