Do you miss ‘Where’s Waldo’? Are you feeling like casually looking about a weirdly populated landscape for random items? Or are you just addicted to hidden object games? Hidden Through Time might be the game for you!
Hidden Through Time from Crazy Monkey Studios is just what it sounds like, a hidden object game that travels through various historical eras for scenarios, starting with the Stone Age and ending with the Old West. Over 26 levels you’ll scour every surface to find all of the hidden objects, from bugs to people to dinosaur sculptures made of rock. It’s an excellent relaxation game, unless you get frustrated by being unable to find that last item.
This is easily one of the best suited games for the undocked Switch ever. Full touch compatibility has been integrated with Hidden Through Time and you can zoom in and out with a pinching movement, the same way you do so on a smart phone. Simply tapping a hidden object finds it, and tapping anything else produces a wide variety of effects. That’s one of the best things about Hidden Through Time, the sheer interactivity of the environments, some of which are absolutely huge! Docked gameplay however is a different story. Zooming is done on the shoulder buttons and the cursor is moved with the left stick while scrolling and camera movement is done with the right. It’s a much slower way to play that really feels inhibited after the freedom afforded by undocked gameplay, but it’s definitely easier to find items on a widescreen HDTV, so there’s at least some bonus to the trade-off.
There’s not a lot of complexity to Hidden Through Time, but that’s what makes it so compelling. It’s an interactive “Where’s Waldo” style game and that’s it. The levels are cute and well-designed, and increase fairly rapidly in complexity. One of the best things about it is that just when you think you’ve got the hang of the puzzles, they get harder. Items or creatures may be almost completely hidden by other objects in the level and extremely difficult to find, or hidden inside other objects. You can open huts, boxes, and crates with a tap and check inside them. Once you realize the level of interactivity, the potential for hiding places is exceptional. Most things are somewhat in plain sight, but definitely not everything!
The sheer size of some of the later levels is almost daunting too. Levels might even have hidden areas you’ll have to scroll down to, such as a secret desert oasis hiding that last item you simply can’t find and that’s simply great in a game like this. You might have to find a single individual person in a group of 30 or more too. Check those loincloths! Fortunately every item has a clue that helps you locate it. Simply tap or click on the item and its vague and cryptic clue shows up, guiding you in a general direction towards it. More often than not, the clue narrows things down just enough to help you progress.
One of the more surprising features included in Hidden Through Time is online compatibility. This was a pleasant surprise, with a variety of player-created levels available through an internet connection, even without Switch Online. Much like Mario Maker 2 for the Switch, there’s a level creator in Hidden Through Time, allowing you to create and share your levels with others and play their levels in return. It’s a completely unexpected level of compatibility allowing for a wide range of creative freedom and some extra value and playtime out of an already fun game.
Hidden Through Time is a well-designed and well-executed game, but it does have a couple of flaws. Firstly, the music is tedious and repetitive. It’s not bad, it’s just not good and it never varies. Having each level have a new theme could have really spiced up the gameplay, as could changing the music as you found more and more items. Secondly, as great as undocked play on the Switch is, it’s still a fairly small screen and even at maximum zoom, it can be very hard to see some of the items. Finally, the difficulty is too hard for younger players (below around 6 or 7) so there’s a loss of family friendly appeal too.
For only $8, you’re getting a fair amount of gameplay with Hidden Through Time. Between the puzzles, some of which may take you considerable time, the level editor, and the online servers accessible to all, this is a well-designed, fun hidden object game that presents a fair bit of challenge. Some of the hiding spots are downright evil and you’ll kick yourself when you do finally manage to locate them, but it’s a great little diversion for almost all ages, especially in these quiet times where everyone is staying home and isolated. Don’t hesitate to pick this one up, as Hidden Through Time will definitely help you while away a few hours with some quiet hidden object fun!
This review was based on a digital copy of Hidden Through Time provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes. Hidden Through Time is also available on Xbox One, PS4, PC, iOS, and Mac. All screenshots are of actual gameplay. It is highly recomme A Hidden Object Extravaganza!nded to play this game on a touchscreen or with a mouse if at all possible!