Hidden Through Time is a super simple game about finding objects and people in lots of animated scenes. If you've ever looked at the colorful pages of a Where's Waldo book, you'll feel right at home. The difference here is that you're not looking for just one specific character; each level gives you several things to find, and with the help of a vague clue and your observation skills, it's up to you to find them all.
Although extremely simple, there is definitely something about this concept that appeals to you. Whether you're searching for skulls in caveman tribes or roaming pyramids in ancient Egypt, searching high and low for a wide variety of things certainly has an addictive quality. What you will discover with this game, however, is that it is deceptively difficult. The adorable cartoonish visuals make the presentation nice and clean, but some clues aren't helpful at all and some items are nearly impossible to find. Checking off items from the list is satisfying, but sometimes you'll hit a brick wall as you desperately search for an elusive item. There's no time limit, and you don't have to find absolutely everything to progress, but be prepared for fiendishly tricky hideouts – and the music on repeat to slowly drive you insane.
The controls are at least very simple, which means that almost anyone can enjoy the simple pleasures of this game. That being said, the map editor, in which you can build your own hidden object puzzles, is a uncomplicated. It offers you a good amount of flexibility, but its navigation is not very intuitive. Still, it's a neat addition to an otherwise simple package. It's a hidden object puzzler that does exactly what it says on the tin, and you can't argue with that.
- Fun and varied cards
- Extremely accessible
- Beautiful visuals
- repetitive music
- Can be incredibly hard
- Not much replay value
Not bad 6/10
Scoring policy
Review of the copy provided by Crazy Monkey Studios
