Hidden object games have existed for longer than video games themselves, rooted in illustrated “seek and find” puzzles printed on paper. But a small wave of independent studios is rethinking what the genre can do, moving it past simple object detection toward something with narrative texture and genuine curiosity.
How Hidden Folks Changed the Template
Hidden Folks, released in 2017 by developers Adriaan de Jongh and Sylvain Tegroeg, did not set out to redefine anything. It ended up doing so anyway. The game asks players to search through dense, pen-and-ink illustrated worlds for listed items, but its real proposition is interaction. Clicking objects triggers hand-crafted “mouth sounds” and small animations. Things happen. Stories surface.
De Jongh describes it as a “searching” game rather than a hidden object game. “We wanted to make a very playful, interactive game where our focus was invoking this curiosity for these little worlds and the little stories that unfolded,” he said. “That was always the vision for the game, and all design decisions we made tried to cater to that sense of exploration.”
The distinction matters. Dozens of games modeled on Hidden Folks followed its release. Some copied its art style and assets closely enough to make de Jongh uncomfortable. Many deliver the mechanical satisfaction of finding things. Few replicate the sense of discovery that makes the original work.
A Genre Taking Shape
A loose lineage has formed around Hidden Folks. Games like Small Life, described as an “interactive city discovery game,” mystery title Wind Peaks, and history-focused Hidden Through Time all draw from the same well. The shared quality is an emphasis on exploration over task completion, with story embedded into the environments rather than delivered through cutscenes.
The newest entry in this lineage is Lost and Found Co., developed by Thailand-based studio Bit Egg. Set across colorful, densely populated magical worlds, the game casts players as assistants to a dragon goddess named Mei, helping recover lost objects for townspeople. Her intern, Ducky, a duckling she transforms into a human, narrates the adventure.
The environments range from an antique store packed with haunted items to a chaotic family home mid-morning routine to a lush resort where tourists overindulge in smoothies. Each space holds an overarching plot thread and dozens of smaller stories playing out in corners and edges, including pop culture references scattered throughout for players who look closely enough.
Pushing Past Static Images
Bit Egg cofounder and CEO Richmond Lee acknowledged the direct influence of Hidden Folks on his studio’s approach, particularly in the hint system. But the goal was to push the genre further, not just replicate it.
“When we looked at a lot of the hidden object games that are out there, they’re very gameplay-focused,” Lee said. “They have a theme, they give you a lot of content, but there’s not much in the way of characters and story. That’s something we wanted to push.”
The result is a game that uses the searching mechanic as a delivery system for character and world-building. The mystery of who is stealing from townspeople gives players a reason to care beyond completing a checklist. Finding objects restores the goddess’s standing in a community that has drifted away from her, which gives even routine tasks a narrative weight.
De Jongh, for his part, plans to expand the Hidden Folks universe in a new collaboration with Tegroeg. The searching genre, still young and loosely defined, appears to have room to grow.
Photo by Allison Saeng on Unsplash
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