Hidden Folks (2017)

I did not enjoy this game at all. The prospect of playing finding Waldo in a black and white world seems promising at first, but a majority of the game is spent in these gigantic levels with so many interactive objects that finding the correct 'hidden folks' becomes a gargantuan task with far too immense of a scope. This is one of the most exhausting gameplay experiences I've had in the last few years, and not in a rewarding way. It's like a 2D-variant of finding Korok Seeds in Breath of the Wild, but instead of being an optional task, it's the main mission, and you need to find 80% of them to succeed.

The sound design is one of the worst I've experienced in any game, being whimsical human noises. It's ditzy, immature and reeks of amateurism, and since the main way of interacting with the game is clicking at stuff, you need to listen to it a lot.

There were some fun puzzle elements in between, and I think the developers would have created a more interesting experience by prioritising clever puzzle gameplay over sheer scope. Instead they chose the More is more-approach.

Essentially, this is the Just Cause of hidden objects-games.

This game sat in my backlog longer than I intended. It is extremely well-suited to casual, occasional play, but its gameplay lends itself better to a larger screen. I picked it up again after upgrading my phone, its larger screen allowing me to comfortably play in those stolen moments on the train or between meetings.

The comparisons to "Where's Waldo" are apt, but I'd also recommend this game for point-and-click adventure fans. The puzzles are never quite that deep or meandering, but I was surprised to feel a similar vibe from it.

I liked the game's hand-drawn aesthetic a lot. I didn't care for its audio too much. The style of effects is kinda charming at first, but I found it overly repetitive and irritating after a while.

If you ever enjoyed hidden objects books like 'Where's Wally/Waldo?' as a child, then you'll love this game. I know I did.

The hand drawn graphics brought a hit of nostalgia, and the mouth sound effects (seriously, a dude just made a bunch of sounds into a mic) add a charming, whimsical feel to the game.

Clicking a button or a bush to see what happens made combing through each scene even more enjoyable. Like in Where's Waldo, you get huge scenes with characters sometimes in goofy situations. There's also funny captions for each 'target' you have to find.

This whole game is a delight, and the love put into this game is evident.