Hidden Through Time

Note that this game is not from the same devs of the excellent Hidden Folks game. Is this a homage or blatant theft of someone else's art? Uncomfortably, it's too similar. Still, it adds enough to the copy-pasted gameplay that I would consider it a contribution to the formula.

Hidden Through Time is a charming and fun hidden-object game. For the most part it's pure hidden-object scenes, but some of the objects involve simple puzzle solving. Prompts for finding the objects are little hints, riddles, and puns. There is no time limit, so you can take as long as you want. It's perfect for playing at small increments. You can later return to the game exactly where you left it off.

The main source of delight in Hidden Through Time is exploration of every nook and cranny of the scenes. They are teeming with details in the tradition called wimmelbilder, made famous in the English-speaking world as Where's Wally?, renamed to Where's Waldo? in America. Scenes comprise many little stories, presented via element composition and simple animations, which together create a complete little world. There are many jokes, quite a few Easter eggs, and "a ha!" moments as you realize what events came together to cause the current state of the scene.

Also interesting is that you can play user-created maps online and of course create and share your own using a decent map editor. The online collection is, as you would expect, a mixed bag, but the good ones are very good and it's fun to see people get creative and cute with their designs and clues.

Unfortunately, the premise of "traveling through history" is a real let down. The "eras" are just stereotypical, cobbled-together nonsense. It's a real missed opportunity. They could have done something educational, or at the very least tell a story. Alas, "time" is just a source for plundering random ingredients for the wimmelbilder scenes.