Hidden Folks

Last updated
Hidden Folks
Hidden Folks cover.jpg
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, tvOS, Windows, Android, Nintendo Switch
Release
  • iOS, Linux, macOS, tvOS, Windows
  • 15 February 2017
  • Android
  • 14 December 2017
  • Nintendo Switch
  • 31 October 2018
Genre(s) Hidden object game
Mode(s) Single-player

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.

Contents

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, but 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] and was released for iOS, Android, Linux, macOS, and Windows one year later on February 15. [1] [3]

Reception

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

YearAwardsCategoryResultRef
2017 Golden Joystick Awards Handheld/Mobile Game of the YearNominated [15]
The Game Awards 2017 Best Mobile GameNominated [16]
2018National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers AwardsUse of Sound, New IPNominated [17] [18]
Game Developers Choice Awards Best Mobile GameNominated [19] [20]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Walker, John (15 February 2017). "Wot I Think: Hidden Folks". Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Ewert-Krocker, Nate (15 February 2017). "Hidden Folks is a silly, charming scavenger hunt". Zam. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 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.
  4. 1 2 3 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.
  5. ↑ Diver, Mike (15 February 2017). "'Hidden Folks' Is a Huffing, Puffing, Handcrafted Take On 'Where's Waldo'". Waypoint . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  6. ↑ Franklin-Wallis, Oliver (15 February 2017). "'Hidden Folks' Is a Huffing, Puffing, Handcrafted Take On 'Where's Waldo'". Wired UK . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  7. ↑ Walker, John (16 January 2017). "Hidden Folks is bursting with life and completely daft". Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  8. ↑ O'Connor, Alice (3 February 2016). "Hidden Folks Looks Like Where's Wally? With Fiddling". Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  9. ↑ "Hidden Folks for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  10. ↑ "Hidden Folks for PC Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  11. ↑ Dotson, Carter (20 February 2017). "'Hidden Folks' Review – Seek This Game Out". TouchArcade . Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  12. ↑ Polygon staff (18 December 2017). "The 50 best games of 2017". Polygon . Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  13. ↑ Verge staff (15 December 2017). "The 15 best games of 2017". The Verge . Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  14. ↑ "Best of 2017 Awards: Best Mobile Game". IGN . 20 December 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  15. ↑ Gaito, Eri (13 November 2017). "Golden Joystick Awards 2017 Nominees". Best in Slot. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ "Nominee List for 2017". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. 9 February 2018. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  18. ↑ "Horizon wins 7; Mario GOTY". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. 13 March 2018. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  19. ↑ Gamasutra staff (5 January 2018). "Breath of the Wild & Horizon Zero Dawn lead GDC 2018 Choice Awards nominees!". Gamasutra . Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  20. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (22 March 2018). "Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Wins Another Game Of The Year Award". GameSpot . Retrieved 22 March 2018.
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