Among the Sleep - The Story Explained 

I've had to delete a few comments due to them leading to a cess pool of toxicity. Please keep the comments section clean! The main point of contention I have seen comes from a line in the video where I mention how the father appears to have acted violently toward his wife. Some people have argued he was taking a bottle from her. There is no evidence of this, we see no bottle, the man's hand is palm open (impossible to hold something like that) which suggests a strike pose, and most importantly this outburst led to his wife leaving. I doubt removing a bottle from her hand would cause that. That said it is never stated in the video that the father struck the mother, we don't know this. He simply raised his hand to her. The developers themselves stated the DLC was made to show the father was also flawed and they do this both by portraying his aggressive outburst and by revealing his neglectful work practices. All leading to a failed realtionship. Both parties are to blame, but neither one are bad people - they are simply human and flawed. I hope this helps people understand a little better.

The pink elephant is symbolic of the mother’s alcoholism. A “pink elephant” is a very old term for a habitual drunk. I’m talking like 1800s lingo for a drunk. It was a phrase the “finer members of society” would use to describe the drunk of the town and such

"A teddy bear inventively named: Teddy" 😭

It's heartbreaking how the toddler sees his mother as an entirely different creature when she's angry and abusive. He loves his mom so much that they are not one of the same (monster and mother).

I honestly thought this game was about a child going through some inter-dimensional void with monsters, but turns out it was the traumatic representation of toxic parent relationships.

It feels refreshing of both parents being wrong in a way rather than usually one

Can we just talk about how terrifying the mom is in this game.

Something in the game I like is that instead of having the father be abusive and neglectful to the kid like most would show, they had it be the mother. Shows that fathers aren’t the only ones who can be abusive.

I played this game so many years ago But there's a detail I never see mentioned, there's a moment in the abandoned park where the player gets locked inside a small wooden cabin looking place for a few minutes, and I wonder if that was a real even that the child experience which might've even affected the parent's marriage in some way

The other characters apparently have names too. The toddler is David, the mother is Zoey, the father is Justin, the monster in the house is Harald, the swamp woman is Hyda, the trench coat monster is Heap and the furnace is Honz. Also, the game is set in Norway. Makes sense, since the game studio is Norwegian.

Something I definitely loved about among the sleep was it’s take on horrors that happen in real life (alcoholism, abuse and divorce) then mixed it with fiction so we can see what kids go through in their heads when dealing with these types of things

I love how comforting teddy was with his voice and how your character would pet him from time to time. I think the ending where teddy turns out to be the bad guy would just be weak and typical.

You forgot to add the sister. In the prolong, there is a room that belonged to a little girl who could have been his big sister that used to play with him with those other little dolls, which he has to find. The very last doll fulls out the window implies that his sister fell out the window in the adic. I love how you told the story, but I have seen the game prolong and didn't know about the sister or about how the poor baby's family began to full apart.

I'm still thinking about how the ending was foreshadowed from the very beginning. Not just the alcoholism, but the custody. The dad shows up at the beginning, the mom gets stressed out by the phone call, and *the fact that Teddy says that after all this is over they can play together all the time especially since he represents the dad.* It's almost like the kid knew he was going to leave his mom and was collecting the memories to take with him when he left. I mean, the boy is really young. If the mom doesn't get some custody, she will never see him again. Not to mention that he's so young that if she doesn't visit, he'll never remember her.

Something interesting I discovered while replaying this game; before you answer the door, walk over to your sobbing more and a interact sign should appear. When you do, you can comfort her by giving her a pat on the head. A very small detail not many know, but I thought it was a sweet touch.

I still remember the mom saying "Whoa, how many pieces of cake did you have" as she picks us up... She only gave us 1 spoon worth of cake XD

It makes sense that in the new ending Teddy remains a friendly since he’s a representation of the boy’s father who is shown to be nice

This is all a family argument thing but from a child’s vision The “monster” is his/her mother- Gosh this game is dark and has a sad lore

I like that Teddy's meta knowledge makes him rather a complicated character. He doesn't seem to care whenever he's an accomplice or a villain.

"A teddy bear inventively named Teddy." The guy who made the name: No need to thank me.

What's really sad about this is the fact that the mom is a monster but not really. She seems like she fell into darkness but she really just needed help. It makes me think about CPS. So many kids are taken from addicts, and yes sometimes it works, but sometimes taking the kid away causes the parent to go even deeper into drugs because they feel they have nothing to live for.

imagine being a two year old, can't talk, only listen, and go to a nightmare fuel place, and encounter some monsters and your mom has actually turned into one. and she also neglects you after you return. wouldn't that be traumatizing

This game is pretty sad when you know the context

I love how the child gives teddy a pat every time he picks him up

I like how the game is play from the perspective of a toddler, it's a pretty original idea

All things considered I'm glad they went with what they released. The demon Teddy thing woulda been too obvious. And yeah, I guess they coulda named Teddy literally anything else.

The dad never hit her. He took away a bottle from her whitch probably means she was drinking at the time already. This seems to be one of the incredibly rare cases of a family drama where the dad is actually not the bad guy.

I actually quite like that Teddy is called Teddy. Its usually how young children name their plushies, for example i had a horse Teddy cleverly named "Horsey" and a dolphin just called "dolphin". Just reminds me that young kids never go too creative with names lmao

I’m glad that they went with the ending that they did. It’s a lot more realistic and a very artistic way of representing the trials of a toddler thru the eyes of one.

Im thinking at the end of the main game, the dad probably is trying to fix everything and realized what he was doing and picked up his kid to take them to a place that feels far more safer than with the mother who is a drunken wreck

this was the game i thought of when i heard "among" back then.

I play this game a long time ago and I eventually played the DLC. I loved the DLC and it's engraved in my memory because of one part of it that drives me crazy. There is something in the DLC that I have literally never seen anyone talk about. Even here I didn't see any mention of it. In Among the sleep you play as a male toddler and in the DLC you play as the same kid. Something I want to point out is that in the DLC your room looks like it was set up for a baby girl and not a baby boy. Where the parents expecting a girl? Maybe the amount of work and money they prepared for you was somewhat wasted because they were mistaken and that could have led to them fighting. Something that adds to this theory? DLC characters. Every single one of your toys in the DLC are feminine and the talking ones are female as well suggesting that the parents did infact plan for a girl. This isn't ground breaking but it's eating away at me that nobody talks about this.

I like that they just went for a more realistic story instead of the generic supernatural ending.

i do love how the teddy's voice is the dads, to show that the son thinks of the dad as his friend and as a comfort :))

Wow. This child really understands the concepts of violence, neglect, and drinking, all which lead to a break up, at a very very young age. No one's gonna have to explain it to him.

This game is so unique and heartbreaking. I never played it, but I used to watch play throughs all the time back when it came out

man this is such a good game i remember back then watching mark's play through hope they would make a sequel where the toddler *now a 10 year old* would tackle the trauma he had with his mother as a toddler with his father having remarried and dealing with trusting someone other than his father *aka step mother*

I haven't heard of this game in like, 2 years

I honestly feel really close to the story in this game, I grew up with an alcoholic parent and I can relate to seeing the “monster” vs the parent… it’s really scary.

I feel like the game isn't scary in like a traditional horror game sense. It's like the story and bit of realism. When we see the mom at the spotlight area. Fear just comes in you

The ritual in the game: Summon the enemy, I will talk to her, I the baby will solve the problem The ritual in real life: UWA UWA UWA UWA UWA UWA!!!!!

Poor child he was just trying to enjoy his birthday

Among the sleep was one of the things that made me realise my life wasn't the normality as my mother was also an alcoholic and abused me and my sibling since before I was born so I didn't realise it wasn't normal until I saw things like this, so this game holds a special place in my heart.

I like how ATS portrayed both parents as flawed. Yes, the father did hit the mother. Yes, the mother was an alcoholic. Neither were good.

mmmm, thats some nice childhood trauma.

I had a feeling the bear was intended to be a villain at some point when I watched Let's Plays of this game years ago! Both versions of the game are fascinating, I like both stories. The more grounded and real one, and the more "traditional horror" one

Let's think about this logically. The mum felt unloved because the dad was focusing more on work. > Why was the dad focusing more on work? Most likely reason can be due to his role in the family-- the breadwinner. If he stops working or slashes his hours, that leads to a lower income for the family and a lower quality of life. The mum turned to alcoholism as a coping mechanism for her loneliness. > She has her son to use as an emotional battery for her. Maternal instincts would usually kick in more often than not. She felt lonely, but what was stopping her from voicing that to her husband? Communication is important in a relationship, and both parties seemed to have failed that; however, I'm more putting the blame on the mum, because people are not mind-readers. The dad struck the mum. > While I don't condone violence in the family, assuming the dad is a good man, he wouldn't have a reason to strike her unless she went too far with something. Think about it: he's the one who approached her concerning her alcoholism, but he's also the one to strike her? There is missing context between the two. Whether the missing context is something emotionally hurtful or a physical assault against him, we won't know. The fact of the matter is that there isn't enough information to know the "why", we just know the result. Why I think the father is a good man: > Despite everything going through between him and the mum, he still sets aside time to visit and give his son a gift on the latter's birthday. He even fights for custody of his son, despite not even needing to. In the game without the DLC, he's even portrayed as calming and in a very good light-- even speaking softly and kindly to his son, not even assuming any fault in his son for Teddy's missing arm. He gave his son the benefit of the doubt, despite our knowing that toddlers can have a tendency to break toys either to know how they work, know what happens, or other possible reasons. Issues with the mum. > Shes's shown to be selfish, emotionally abusive, and emotionally manipulative in the game prior to the DLC. As stated in the video, she takes away Teddy from the son, due to her jealousy that her son is having fun with a gift from the dad. The intro scene also shows that she actively tries to prevent the dad from visiting and giving the present to the son. In addition, she does not even mention who the gift is from. The implication would be that the gift was from her, not someone else. Are her insecurities so high that she's willing to harm her son's happiness and his relationship with his dad to feel better about herself? Apparently, yes. People seem to think that the dad should have reduced hours or something after taking custody of the son. Yeah, that's completely stupid. Money, remember? Of course, with the mum not in the picture, that is technically an increase in money saved...which can be used for daycare or a nanny. The dad, or any other parent for that matter, is not Superman-- that is to say he cannot do everything at once. Marriage is a contract-- an agreement. Typically, one becomes the breadwinner, and the other the homemaker. Frankly, I believe the mum had far too much free time, if she has time to pity herself for her husband not being around for her. The DLC, according to the devs, was meant to show that neither parents were perfect and that even the dad had issues. However, I believe, for a logical thinker, that didn't work as well as they would have hoped. In fact, I would argue that it makes the dad seem even better with the context. More context would be appreciated, though. A dad works himself for passion and for his family, yet the mum is upset that she isn't getting enough attention from her husband? She resorts to alcoholism...because that's smart and friends, family, and hobbies apparently don't exist...and snaps at her husband when he approaches her about the alcoholism? Something occurs that results in the dad most likely striking her with an open palm, and she leaves with the son? > Wait, what? Why bring the son with her? I can't speak for everyone; however, I know that, according to my own mother, whenever she got into an argument with my father, she'd take infant me and walk out. From what I understand, it was to have some form of leverage against him. This is a possibility for why she took the son. While separated, the mum tries to keep the dad away from the son's life, and eventually becomes jealous when the son plays with something from the dad. Who is worse here? I'm not asking for opinions. I'm asking based on what is observed and presented.

you never realize how sometimes having a boring forgetful childhood results in great memory's.

I remember watching people playing the game when I was a kid and I loved it so much EDIT: just an unnecessary fun fact I got sad after the ending and couldn't sleep for two weeks

Something to also mention is the fact that. In one of the levels and if you break a bottle. It will summon the monster to come after you. and since the monster is the mother and the bottles are suppose to be alcohol. I'm guessing when you break the bottles she gets mad at you and come after you. Because you broke the alcohol bottle so she has less of them.

I like how just before showing the scrapped ending Teddy was like “don’t worry kid none of this is canon”

The dad neglected but realized his mistakes and attempted to help his wife, who was in a dark place. Instead of letting her husband help she lashed out against his nature of positive confrontation and kindness. The father WAS in the wrong, but the mother is now wrong. She neglected what was left of her relationship between her husband and son.

Teddy is such a G, I loved him sm when I played. Broke my damn heart tho when he got snatched towards the end and his arm got torn off 🥺 he only wanted to protecc 💖

After learning of the story and all of the things that are symbolized throughout the game, I've got to say, it is very sad, especially since I can relate very much to the overall story. Having to grow up with a neglectful parent and another practically absent parent is very traumatizing and I feel so bad for the children who are going through what I and many other children went through.

I'm glad there's no villain in this story. I love the more grounded ending. It shows the parents have flaws, but aren't evil per say.

I always thought the bear was sent by CPS, and that the person at the ending was a CPS agent, given how "distant" his greeting is, rather than referring to the toddler as their kid, but as "a" kid. Maybe they did send teddy with the dad so the mother wouldn't be suspicious of a toy with a possible recording device. CPS most likely did have a conversation with the toddler through the teddy bear and pretended to be in a game with the toddler, gathering evidence against the mother.

You should do “moons of madness.”

The child is lucky because now he can’t get scared easily.

i love how the game has such a dark, depressing and sensitive story but it is made in such a way that you may not easily catch on to it, but still enough for you to catch on to it. it is a really clever way of displaying the ideas. lovely

This game is more sad than scary when you know what’s behind it. It really horrifies me, looking back at it now. So glad I’ve never gone through this.

Something always seemed off about the bear, it makes sense now that he was meant to be the bad guy in the beginning. I'm glad that they went along with the grounded ending, it's still sad, but not toddler devouring sad. The monster itself looks like Jack skellington on steroids and doesn't seem very original. If you guys have the opportunity to play this game you should I think it's only 10 bucks on steam.

I remember years ago watching people play this game and I loved it, but never really got the symbolism. Now I do, and man, its amazing. (Not the fact that the mother is an alcoholic) The fact that its showing these messages to young children in the form of a game, its just an amazing game.

Would be actually insanely cool to have a part 2 to this game (not a prequel) but that focuses on the child's story after maybe either becoming a parent himself or going back to his mom's custody or something

i remember when markiplier did a playthrough of this years ago i really enjoyed the story and how it was from the toddlers perspective

I remember I loved this game so much even though I couldn't play it

Glad they went with the official end. If they'd gone with the OG it would have come off really dumb. I assumed looking through the game that she was suffering from postpartum depression and the stress of being a mom made her drink. The dad did not get her help and exasperated the problem until she left with the son. It was then he tried reaching out to get her help.

When I first saw the game being played and Teddy losing his other arm I thought his other arm would've been the last memory-item needed.

this is actually pretty wholesome knowing the character isnt alone

teddy and dad have the same voice, which means that the toddler finds comfort within their father and imagine teddy having his voice!

Wow that was quick , Props to the artists of the game , the drawings add the atmosphere really well

The fact that I found your channel only a little bit ago and am now binging says something about either I'm too easily entertained or just how good your content is.

I love the subtle detail of the father and Teddy having the same voice actor.

Basically the secret ending show us how the boogieman make a children stew

While I'd love to see the original game, I'm so glad they changed the ending. The baby deserves good things.

Oh, it's been so long since I've heard or seen of this game! Thank you for giving it the recognition it deserves!

Playing this as a kid I never really understood it. Watching you recap the whole game made me realize how much of the narrative I was missing on a few years ago.

The scariest part of the game is the teddy

So basically this story is my childhood in a nutshell

I just came back from watching a RU-vidr play the game and he thought teddy was kinda creepy and didn’t trust him from the beginning ironic considering what teddy was going to be but actually became. I like the realistic ending we got as well lore was much deeper and less morbid than the old ending that we were to get

I did enjoy this! Thank You for making this great video SuperHorrorBro! :D!

I doubt the dad was being the abusive one. I think that he was either trying to get his ex-wife to stop drinking or she was about to harm their son and he had to do something about it

Now hold up, Some people have spectulated that the Father was either Taking the Mother's Alchahol, or hitting Her by Accident when she was going to harm the Toddler.

The nostalgia from this is insane

I guess the ending of 'teddy being the antagonist all along' is scrapped out due to the game being meant to symbolize child neglect through the eyes of a 2 year old.

I oddly felt, since adding the prologue info, that true, the mother felt a lil lonely due to the father probably being busy more than planned, but when seeing her drinking too much, he probably slapped her to try and bring some sense back to her, since they have a child and probably her forgetting her passions like music and/or art that she's also had trouble getting motivation, but she wouldn't listen and so packed up and left w/ child in tow, thus leading to the game we play.

The ending of the main campaign had me crying a bit- Very wholesome and adorable

I watched someone do a play-through of this game a few years back with a friend, and I swear I almost cried at the end. At the time, my dad was an alcoholic, and I was just realizing it. He’d been one for a lot of my life, so it hit so close to home when it’s revealed the monsters are just the alcoholic mom, because I saw my dad as a scary monster when he was drunk too. And I also had an easier time understanding the story at first than my friend because I’d been in the kids place myself.

This video bringed back so many memories.This game is so old.I remember when i played through it!GREAT VIDEO!!!

Well explained Mike, you did a good job piecing together all the story points and the symbolism, well done and I wish we did have the scrapped game rather than the original but hey what can you do?!

Sinester Teddy: come in and see RU-vid: two comercials

I love it when horror games have stories that are scary dye to their relevance. The story here was very sad and the developers handled it very well. And once again Superhorrorbro explained it all beautifully. Thanks for being awesome 🖤

Congrats on 1.06m!!! I’ve loved your vids they are amazing you deserve it!

I think I remember loving to watch gameplay of this game. I was so young yet I can remember this.

He is fairly late with this game but I'm very happy to see a video on it non the less

why the father's voice sounds so nice and calming it's almost making me cry T-T

No one commenting on how the mother tried to kill herself at the end? She actually knew how horrible she treated her son and how bad her addiction. 🥺

among the sleep teaches a life lesson its not to drink the mother is the monster when she drinks and gets drunk she becomes violent and the kid is imagining that shes a monster not drunk and thinks eddy will protect him from mom

I'm so happy you finally covered this game its one of my all time favorite little gems It's nice seeing this game get more attention and learn some new trivia about the game I didn't know before

Great video! You earned a subscriber!

Since I played the game, it is so sad that his mother is an alcoholic and neglected this poor kid. In the end of the game, A voice of dad will give him a better future and won the custody