Little Nightmares III Backstage DLC introduces Puppeteer

Bandai Namco released a trailer for Little Nightmares III’s Backstage DLC and launched Chapter 1 of the two-part Secrets of the Spiral expansion on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Chapter 1, titled Backstage, is available now and adds a new area, a new antagonist known as the Puppeteer, and new cooperative mechanics.

The Puppeteer is presented as a mechanically enhanced figure that operates behind the Carnevale’s curtains rather than onstage. She outfits and sews living puppets that act as entertainers and enforcers. In combat and chase sequences she uses scissors, long needles and a fixed glare that can hypnotically freeze players who enter her line of sight.

Chapter 1 opens with Low waking to find his friend Alone captured. Low pairs with a new companion named Dime to search the Backstage before Alone can be transformed into one of the Puppeteer’s creations. The chapter introduces shared items for cooperative play: each character carries a helmet with a bulb that can be overloaded to produce a blinding flash. If one character is frozen by the Puppeteer’s gaze, the other can trigger the flash to stun the Puppeteer briefly and create an opening to escape.

The Backstage contains additional enemies called the Lost Remains. These shadowy figures resemble former children, wear strips of cloth over their eyes and typically attack in groups from dark corners in rehearsal spaces and storage rooms. The Lost Remains generally avoid the Puppeteer’s main workshop, remaining in outlying areas of the Backstage and blocking exits during encounters.

The expansion chapter retains the game’s puzzle-platform and stealth focus. Players can use Low’s bow and Alone’s wrench in the base game, while the Backstage chapter emphasizes timing, line-of-sight avoidance and brief stun windows rather than extended combat.

Secrets of the Spiral is offered as an Expansion Pass priced at $14.99, which includes two chapters and an exclusive Ferryman Costumes set for both playable characters. The Backstage chapter can be bought separately. The base edition of Little Nightmares III is listed at $39.99. Developers have previously described an encounter with a mannequin-like woman in a costume-filled atelier on a developer podcast, which aligns with the Puppeteer’s design and suggests a link to existing game lore.