Hello Neighbor Hide & Seek

Hello Neighbor: Hide & Seek is the prequel to one of the most popular (and unique) survival games of recent memory. This lore-heavy offering includes some valuable background info about the Neighbor and his odd life before the events of the first game unfold. So, if you're into the series, this might be a great way to better understand just what the heck is going on in the quirky world of Hello Neighbor.

The game offers a nice change of pace from the usual Hello Neighbor affair, at the cost of some clumsy controls and cryptic puzzles. Is this chapter a must, or could you skip it at the risk of not getting the whole picture the franchise is trying to make? Let's find out!

Hiding In Plain Sight

As the name implies, Hello Neighbor: Hide & Seek is about two kids (the Neighbor's kids, to be precise) playing an innocent game of hide and seek. However, since this series has always known how to properly balance the harmless with the macabre, every room you hide in contains tons of hidden clues and easter eggs that point towards the mystery at the center of the series.

The gameplay is quite basic: you play as the Neighbor's daughter, as you try to hide from your brother. Each room presents some convoluted puzzles that might leave you scratching your head for a while until you realize that most of them involve physics in some way.

It's a similar approach to what we saw in previous Hello Neighbor titles, adding some tension elements that remind me of games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Nothing is ever that scary, though, with the game retaining its trademark cutesy art style.

Cartoon Thriller

A cursory look at the visuals of Hello Neighbor: Hide and Seek might be enough to ease your thoughts if you're not into awfully scary horror games. The game is more like a thriller, with no graphic violence or disturbing content to speak of.

Granted, the overall atmosphere of the game can feel quite tense, but it never abuses its jump scares or anything like that.

When it comes to the game's presentation, the graphics are still the same cartoony ones we've come to expect from the series. It would have been great to see a different direction for the art in this game, especially considering that this is a prequel, with the Neighbor's mental state being completely different than the one we know from the first game.

All in all, Hello Neighbor: Hide & Seek is a competent game that will keep you on your toes every step of the way. Just be aware that some of the game's puzzles can be downright frustrating, more so because the game refuses to explain even its most basic mechanics to the player, leaving behind a tiresome trial-and-error approach that can chip away anyone's patience.

Pros

• The same old visual style that defines the series
• Some of the puzzles can be quite fun to solve
• Gives some insight into the franchise's characters and their backstories

Cons

• Some puzzles can be very vague
• Controls are as clumsy as ever in the series