Video Game / Hidden Folks

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Hidden Folks is a Hidden Object Game made by Adriaan de Jongh, with illustrations by Sylvain Tegroeg. It was first released in 2017. Aside from the usual trappings of the genre, it includes extra interactivity in that some objects can be manipulated, allowing for more creativity in how the various target objects are hidden. The game takes advantage of Teogroeg's detailed art style, using it to both hide objects and provide plenty of charming details.

The game is available on both desktop and mobile, across plenty of online stores.

Hidden Folks contains examples of:

• Anachronism Stew: The later beach levels have aspects that are a mix of the modern day, and of the golden age of piracy.
• Antenna Adjusting: In the city levels, satellite dishes can be interacted with by turning them around. This is necessary to find a target in the Suburb level.
• Antepiece: Each area starts off with a small level that shows off the interactions that will be used in the larger ones.
• Beach Bury: One target in the beach-themed levels is someone who's buried up to their head in sand... on two separate occasions.
• Bedsheet Ghost: The haunted house in the Suburb has several resident ghosts, which have the tattered-bedsheet shape.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: In a rather unusual example of the trope, a potted plant destined to be pulverized into fuel in the Factory instead decides to throw itself off of the conveyor belt.
• Beyond the Impossible: The Beach level has someone somehow managing to fly their kite against the wind, which their hint-text outright notes as defying natural law.
• Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: The snow levels have several caves that are home to yetis. One of them is a target object in the Everest level.
• By the Lights of Their Eyes: Bunny hole objects are indicated by them having a dark space with eyes peeking out.
• Circling Vultures: Vultures appear in the (rather sparse and bleak) Desert level. A couple have completely skeletonized one poor sap's corpse, while another is said to have ate everything around it except some bones and the cactus it's sitting on.
• Deliberately Monochrome: The art style of the game is entirely in black and white.
• Desert Skull: Skulls and bones are a common decoration in the Desert level.
• Foreign Queasine: In the Islands, smoked socks are said to be a regional cuisine.
• Hamster-Wheel Power: The Factory has some air vents powered by people walking on treadmill-like structures.
• Humongous Mecha: In the Lab, one engineer is focused on making a giant robot out of spare parts.
• Instant Costume Change: Natalia, one of the targets in the Lab, is somehow able to repeatedly change her outfit within the space of a door being opened and closed.
• Island Help Message: One of the target objects in the Desert level is a lost person who you have to find by following their SOS message and trail made with rocks.
• "King Kong" Climb: In the Big City, Kiki is ready to make their appearance as Kiki Kong, at the top of the Folks TV Tower... if only the clouds weren't obscuring them.
• Mad Scientist: The engineer making a giant robot in the Lab is outright described as "nutty", and their hint description mentions the others being afraid of being crushed by it.
• Matryoshka Object: One of the objects to find in the Islands is a treasure chest. Inside of a chest. Inside of another chest.
• Meaningful Name: Poppy the Clown can only be found by popping the balloons in front of them.
• Missing Reflection: The Recording Studio shows one problem of being a vampire; you can't see if you look good in the mirror when you have no reflection.
• Needle in a Stack of Needles: One target object in the lab is a unique formula... somewhere in a bunch of shelves that are chock-full of similar-looking things.
• Nothing Is Scarier: In the Factory level, there's a box that's constantly shaking, has airholes, and makes a growling noise if clicked on. No explanation is given to what exactly is in there.
• Only Sane Man: Svea, one of the target persons in the Recording Studio, is implied to be like this. Her hint text shows her having clear frustration at the office chair racecourse that's been set up by her coworkers nearby.
• Our Dragons Are Different: The Festival and Parade levels both feature what appears to be an animatronic dragon made of beer kegs and traffic cones.
• Rail Enthusiast: One of the targets in the Factory is a trainspotter. There's also a forkliftspotter.
• Shark Fin of Doom: The Pirate Battle has plenty of shark fins visible in the sea. Some of them are just snorkelers performing a prank... at least until the actual shark showed up.
• Shout-Out:
  • In the Desert, one of the target objects is Aladdin zooming by on his magic carpet.
  • The Recording Studio has a talent judge named Simon, a vampire named Edward, and Tarzan hanging around in the decorative plants.
  • One of the targets in the Pirate Battle is the "I will never let go" scene from Titanic (1997).
• Silly Simian: Monkeys are a common feature in the jungle levels. In particular, one named Kiki is a reoccurring target even outside of the forests, involved in shenanigans from swinging on a disco ball to hiding in a banana-filled crate.
• Siren Song: The Islands feature a collection of shipwrecks, due to a siren that is one of your target objects.
• Ski-Resort Episode: Folk Everest has the amenities for skiing and snowboarding. A good amount of humor in the level is seeing the ways that people have managed to wipe out.
• Swivel-Chair Antics: Swivel chairs first appear in the Recording Studio, and can be clicked to make them roll around. Some people have used a bunch of traffic cones to set up a race course with them.
• Unexpected Gameplay Change:
  • While most of the levels are based around finding hidden objects, a couple instead require you to interact with objects to clear a path for a moving character.
  • The final level is a small puzzle revolving around manipulating conveyor belts to spell the name of the game.