Hidden Object Games

Steve Schulze

I'm doing a little research for a project and need to get my head around the casual gaming phenomenon that is the hidden object game. These things do extremely well with casual audiences and I'd like to understand why so that I can extract that essence and utilise it for the peculiar hybrid game idea that I'm playing with. And then become rich and corrupt and wear a monocle.

Problem is, there is somewhere in the range of 500 hidden object games released every week and I don't really have any idea what to look for. I'd like to get hold of the ubiquitous game. The epitome of the genre. The Halo of Hidden Objects. Does such a thing exist? Has anyone here ever even looked into the genre? Do you have a parent/sibling/grandparent who has a penchant for such things?

Joseph Silverman

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/showthread.php?163-Hidden-object-games

may help!

Artist_in_a_box

I googled this and got a lot of spam stuff. So at the risk of sounding like a Dbag can anyone fill me in on what hidden object games are?

SanderDL

I used to play lots of Hidden object games. I don't think there is a Halo under the HOGs but I guess you could look at a site like:

www.bigfishgames.com

All games should have a 1 hour trial so you can try as many games as you like. If you try a few I think you should get an idea of what's good and what's bad. It's also a good idea to check out the forums on that site for each games. Usually people complain bluntly about what they didn't like in a games.

ericdigital

The current wave of hidden object game is primarily driven by the big dogs (Zynga,EA,Disney) trying to find other mechanics to monetize. The peak of farming/city base games is past us and the larger companies are trying to find unique game types that the general mass may be interested in; hidden object games being one of those. Unfortunately they aren't the next big thing but they are managing to find a good size niche in the casual market. I think we can expect to see companies like Zynga try quite a few of these abnormal game types going forward.

Probably your best bet would be to look at hidden chronicles (zynga's hidden object game) as that probably has the most research poured into it among the genre. Though may not necessarily be the "best" it's been sitting at a 30.7 mil DAU on FB.

Stinger88

Unfortunalely.... My Day job is creating HOG's (hidden object games). Its quite the "soul destroyer". Its not that bad tbh. I get 30 mins of sunlight per day and the family can visit at weekends.

I can hardly understand why they are selling as well as they do tbh. Apparently our biggest market is older women (+35) in middle america that play the games to pass the time rather than watching TV or something. They want a quick game (3-4hrs max) that doesn't require to much thought to play. When done properely though they are quite good. The games we produce are sold through Big Fish games.

http://www.bigfishgames.com/

I only played a few as research but I suggest you check out Drawn. Its got some beautiful art work in it, especially compared to the majority of HOG games. Hence the high price tag. All the games on BIG fish have a 30min to 1hr demo. So try some out. And tbh, alot of them put their best work into the first few scenes to try and get people to buy the full game.

http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/14359/drawn-trail-of-shadows-collectors-edition/index.html

Most of the money at Big Fish comes from subscribers I think. People who pay a monthly fee and get a set amount of games a month. With other special offers, etc.

Zynga do have a facebook version which is more about highscores and beating your friends times. By being the fastest to collect objects on a screen. The difference here is you play the same screens over and over till you memorise them rather than playing through a game casually and for the story.

You're right also. There are ALOT of these games released all the time and we have to pump them out quite fast to get a return. So this is why most have terrible cut and paste artwork. We have a vast archive of ready made cut out objects that we just paste into scenes and then match lighting, etc. So it looks right.

Anyhoo. Its a means to an end till I get my own studio up and running.

Hope that helps a bit.

Fomori

Nothing wrong with hidden object games providing the art and story are up to par. I haven't played a lot but I think they have a lot of potential to create an immersive experience along the lines of a good point and click adventure, which is also an underrated genre in (in my opinion).

mdeforge

Growing up, I remember reading a magazine called Highlights for Kids that always featured a Hidden Object Game. That's where I first saw it, and I enjoyed playing them then. Perhaps that was one of the first ones? HFK goes way back.

rooster

anabela83 wrote: »

Hidden object games are drawing more and more players from any other genre in the gaming world. The main reason for that is simple – they satisfy the basic human need for discovering and exploring new things.

heh, nice try (spammer)