Hidden Folks
Hidden Folks is a hidden object game developed by Adriaan de Jongh and Sylvain Tegroeg. In the game, players are presented with a series of animated, interactive scenes and must find hidden characters, objects, and animals. The game was released for iOS, Android, Linux, macOS, and Windows in February 2017.
Hidden Folks | |
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Producer(s) | Adriaan de Jongh, Mirthe Venbrux |
Designer(s) | Adriaan de Jongh, Céline Veltman |
Programmer(s) | Adriaan de Jongh, Aran Koning |
Artist(s) | Sylvain Tegroeg |
Writer(s) | Bram van Dijk |
Composer(s) | Martin Kvale |
Engine | Unity |
Platform(s) | iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, Nintendo Switch |
Release |
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Genre(s) | Hidden object game |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Gameplay
Hidden Folks is a wimmelbilderbuch video game in which players are tasked with locating hidden characters, objects, and animals in a series of environments, similar to the British book series Where's Wally?.[1][2] Each scene is animated and composed of monochrome art.[1][3] The majority of objects in the environment can be interacted with by tapping or clicking on them.[3]
Development and release
Hidden Folks was developed by Dutch indie video game designer Adriaan de Jongh and Dutch artist Sylvain Tegroeg.[4][5] A prototype of the game was created by de Jongh after he saw detailed illustrations during at Tegroeg's graduate art show.[3][6] The two began collaborating in 2014, when Tegroeg noticed and was impressed by how de Jongh had used his art.[3][7] The idea of creating a hidden object game came naturally from Tegroeg's detailed art.[2] All of the game's art was hand-drawn on paper, scanned in to create digital images on a computer, and then layered manually to form the scenes.[3][4] The game was built using the Unity game engine, however de Jongh also built custom tools to specifically handle the process of digitising the hand-drawn art and maintaining detail on mobile devices.[4] Hidden Folks was designed to be a casual and relaxing gaming experience.[2] The game's audio is composed of noises made from the developers' mouths.[3]
The game was announced in February 2016.[8] It was released for iOS, Android (operating system), Linux, macOS, and Windows on 15 February 2017.[1][3]
Reception
Reception | ||||||||||||
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Polygon ranked the game 41st on their list of the 50 best games of 2017,[12] while The Verge named it one of their 15 Best Games of 2017.[13] It was also nominated for "Best Mobile Game" in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards.[14]
Accolades
Year | Awards | Category | Result | Ref |
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2017 | Golden Joystick Awards | Handheld/Mobile Game of the Year | Nominated | [15] |
The Game Awards 2017 | Best Mobile Game | Nominated | [16] | |
2018 | National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards | Use of Sound, New IP | Nominated | |
Game Developers Choice Awards | Best Mobile Game | Nominated | [19][20] |
References
- Walker, John (15 February 2017). "Wot I Think: Hidden Folks". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- Ewert-Krocker, Nate (15 February 2017). "Hidden Folks is a silly, charming scavenger hunt". Zam. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- Matulef, Jeffrey (10 February 2017). "Where's Wally-esque observation game Hidden Folks is coming to Steam and iOS next week". Eurogamer. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- Hall, Charlie (22 March 2016). "Hidden Folks is a stylish collaboration between an indie dev and a pen-and-ink artist". Polygon. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- Diver, Mike (15 February 2017). "'Hidden Folks' Is a Huffing, Puffing, Handcrafted Take On 'Where's Waldo'". Waypoint. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- Franklin-Wallis, Oliver (15 February 2017). "'Hidden Folks' Is a Huffing, Puffing, Handcrafted Take On 'Where's Waldo'". Wired UK. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- Walker, John (16 January 2017). "Hidden Folks is bursting with life and completely daft". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- O'Connor, Alice (3 February 2016). "Hidden Folks Looks Like Where's Wally? With Fiddling". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- "Hidden Folks for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- "Hidden Folks for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- Dotson, Carter (20 February 2017). "'Hidden Folks' Review – Seek This Game Out". TouchArcade. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- Polygon staff (18 December 2017). "The 50 best games of 2017". Polygon. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- Verge staff (15 December 2017). "The 15 best games of 2017". The Verge. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- "Best of 2017 Awards: Best Mobile Game". IGN. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- Gaito, Eri (13 November 2017). "Golden Joystick Awards 2017 Nominees". Best in Slot. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- Makuch, Eddie (8 December 2017). "The Game Awards 2017 Winners Headlined By Zelda: Breath Of The Wild's Game Of The Year". GameSpot. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- Gamasutra staff (5 January 2018). "Breath of the Wild & Horizon Zero Dawn lead GDC 2018 Choice Awards nominees!". Gamasutra. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- Makuch, Eddie (22 March 2018). "Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Wins Another Game Of The Year Award". GameSpot. Retrieved 22 March 2018.