Overlooked - The Hidden Potential of Hidden Object Games - Extra Credits 

I absolutely love the drawing of James kicking open the door to Daniel's office.

The main reason cyberpunk hidden object games don't exist, is because finding a *quantum resonating flux-capacitor* isn't the easiest thing to do.

"how did we overlooked the hidden-object genre?" "I guess we could say... . . . *puts sun-glasses on* . . . it was very well hidden. . . . YYYEEEEAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"

My mom gets me these every year for Christmas. They are like $5, so I always get 3-5 of them as stocking stuffers basically. I'm pushing 40 and she doesn't know what to buy, but she knows I like computer games, so there you go. Thing is, I actually kinda always look forward to them. I play like one a month when I want something mindless or don't have long to play and want something I can jump in and back out of easily and without fretting over finishing the mission or getting to a save point. And yeah, the new ones really are like old point-and-click adventures. And they were a great way to start showing my 4 year old about gaming on computers. I don't know that I've ever bought one for myself, but I have rather liked receiving them all these years. They do get an unfairly bad rap.

It's like if some explorer found this island in the middle of the pacific inhabited by tons of less advanced people, who had little to no idea about anything NOT on their island. But also they had the cure for cancer.

If you haven't already PLEASE just sit James in front of a camera or something and let him talk about the misuse of Lovecraft in games/modern horror/pop culture etc please I need these feelings to be validated

People call these kinda games "casual" but every woman I know that plays HOs or PACAs is absolutely obsessed with them. Do you how big and devoted the community around the Nancy Drew games are?

is it me, or did they say nothing about hidden object games. i was expecting something...

So basically, hidden object games are like Australia. Isolated from the rest of the world so while all the cheetas and gazzel were focusing on speed and outmenuvering the enemy; the herbivore marsupials just said "Why don't we just grow super sharp claws and slash any predator that comes near us to pieces?"

It should be mentioned that this video is not about hidden object games, it is about how they haven't gotten an episode. I'd be very curious to see a link at the end to the actual hidden object game video, perhaps with a guest that has worked on them. If Europe is too far there are some US teams working on this too?

Hidden object games are so hidden that I never even knew they existed. Seriously, I've looked at many genres and subgenres and never once seen them. 8D

Any one else notice that the outro music is the sims 3 loading screen song and in the sims 3 you have the option to replace the loading screen with hidden object game based on the different packs? Only me, okay.

Thinking on it, I'll admit hidden object games in their current state can be pretty fun. Not the BEST out there but fun. My mother likes them and we sometimes get one, hook up my computer to the tv, and play through it together. And they can be surprisingly engaging. An interesting narrative and some decently fun puzzles there and you'd be amazed at how fun they can be.

How did they manage to go through the entire video without actually explaining what a hidden object game was? I mean, it was a simple google search away, but I am probably not the only one who has no clue what that is, idk

I love these games. They're a pleasant experience: a cross between reading a fantasy story and solving puzzles. The artwork is sometimes amazing as well. The Drawn series are incredibly beautiful games.

Here in Germany we had a famous Let's Player playing one of these games. Since then they kind of are a thing here. One developer alone actually managed to establish the franchise again with well written stories, much humor, lovable characters and gorgeous looks. And they translate theirgames into english. So if you find a game by a company called Daedalic, give it a chance.

I glance by this video and then I realized: I loved the hidden object pages in those Highlights magazines way back when. And now that I think about it now (who is currently pursuing art), the artists had to be pretty clever to make things blend in plain sight.

I didn't even know that this genre existed before now. It's amazing that such a large faction managed to go completely unnoticed. Do they buy advertising at all?

Is this SIMS music?

Hidden objects games have a special place in my heart. When I was younger my mom really loved to play these games and would usually call for my help, as she doesn't understand English and most of them were only in English at the time, we would pay these games together a lot and have a lot of fun together, it's one of the few situations where I had positive experiences with the combination of parents and games.

I don't know if it was made back when this video came out, but have James try the Clockwork Tales hidden object game now....if he loves steampunk type stuff.

I just love the art in these videos.

We have never seen or heard James in any of these episodes and I love the guy. XD

that's the sims 1-4 theme song except a few diff notes!! O:

Thanks for the heads up, I had forgotten about this genre. An episode about the mechanics of a hidden object game would be fascinating.

Have you done an episode on exploration/mystery type games? Firewatch, Dear Esther, sorta The Stanley Parable? I always find myself pulled back to these kind of games because I love the feeling of walking into a world with the potential of hiding many secrets. I have been thinking about making a caving based game like these for a long time and the principles behind them are fascinating. Thanks!

I study games design and I didn't even know this genre existed. Thanks Extra Credits! :)

Three and a half years late on this, but I've been watching this series from episode one over the past few months, and this is the first video I saw that I felt I had to comment on. My first experience with hidden object games was when I was young and looking through the Wal-Mart video game racks for something I could play on the old Windows 98 computer we had at home. There wasn't a lot. And most of what it was were these hidden object games that came in cardboard packages and looked entirely unappealing. I might have gotten and tried one from my local library, but for the most part, it was a genre I completely ignored until some time in the last two to four years. A few years ago, Amazon's app store (which has since been replaced by Amazon Underground) had a deal where they had a free premium application available each day. From the day I found out about it to the day they came out with Underground to replace it, I was there, getting that free application applied to my account. I didn't use most of them. I haven't even installed most of them. But there were several hidden object games included. I've played, eh, about four or five of them. I did find myself oddly drawn into the gameplay of two of them. I dismissed the story, muted my phone, and skipped all the dialogues thinking, "This is a hidden object game. The story is tacked on." After I beat it once, I had the option of playing again with a slightly different story or on a more difficult setting. But I just uninstalled it and said, "Why? What's the point?" I had completely dismissed it as a non-game. Something that was more about selling hints and getting purchased by people who simply saw a cheap game on the shelf and picked it up. It never really occurred to me that they could be good. Of the ones that I played, two were decent, the rest were bad (terrible gameplay, terrible navigation, the hidden object mechanics, the entire point behind the game, didn't work right, the art made some objects impossible to find and others completely stand out, lots of problems), but these were games I got for free. Games that were part of a special promotion. And they're all on mobile, which while a versatile platform, somewhat limiting compared to PC. I hadn't even thought about the fact that I could have missed something in those games or the genre as a whole because of an assumption that I'd carried over with me since I was 10 years old. I'm not in the position to go out and buy new games right now, but I know that I"m going to be keeping an eye out for good quality hidden object games from now on. I don't think they'll ever be my favorite kind of game, but they deserve at least a shot. When the time comes, I'll be searching the highly rated ones, finding one of the best, and trying it out. Maybe I'll hate it. Maybe I really do just not get them and their appeal. But maybe I'll find something that I've been missing throughout all my years of gaming. Thank you for opening my eyes to this. For making me think again about an assumption that I made before I knew any better. For opening an entire avenue of games up for me that I would never have considered before. And of course, for your entire series and the other works you do.

It's been years and I only just now realized that was a sims 3 game music remix at the end

Who else didn't even know this was a genre

Ahem...I'd like to get James started on the misuse of Lovecraft in games. That will be all.

Couldve explained what a hidden object game even IS.

now that it's been a couple years since you talked about it last, would you guys consider doing a follow up episode on if anything has changed in this genre? there were a lot of things you didn't touch on in this episode (presumably for time) that I, and I think probably some others, would be interested in

THIS. this blew my mind! Never did I notice this also. Like in E3, GDC, Tokyo game show, eetc I never saw a hidden object game. And its not that it is invisible, its just ignored completely. There are quite A LOT of hidden objects in the eshop and I completely ignored them, Steam has even more of them and I put zero attention to them...Gotta try one someday soon...

I'd love to see another video on the hidden object genre. It's a genre that no one really talks about and just sorta quietly exists

3:06 - I love you EC... you included my favorite game in there, and for that, I love you.

Before I watched this video, I had never even heard of HOGs outside of those old kid's magazines at the dentist office. Thanks for expanding my horizons!

The outro song struck me as Sims-ish. Am I wrong or was it a revamp of the main Sims background song?

Hm... this actually is very helpful. I've been thinking lately (not that I ever think I could actually make a game) about what gameplay I could add to a visual novel idea I was thinking about. And I think hidden object (combined with a bit of puzzle solving) could really work well in tandem with the story sections.

Honestly, my first exposure to hidden object games wasn't even through these apps (which, by the way, I've been dying to try at some point). It was actually through looking at the Highlights kids' magazines when I was young. That actually leads me to wonder, since I haven't gotten through everything yet: Has there ever been an episode on puzzle books? I'm talking more than crosswords and word searches, though I enjoy those. Like sudokus, kakuros, and other logic puzzles of all sorts. Those are some of the kinds of games I was brought up on.

This one made me smile: I got my mom into strategy games like civ and xcom, and she got me into casual games like hidden objects games and bejeweled, pretty much at the same time.

I would actually love to see a video from you guys on Lovecraft-themed games!

When I think of hidden object games, I think of the ones I picked up during my brief trips through Yahoo games. Cate West was probably the best that I'd played. Had an interesting way of integrating the story and gameplay mechanics, but took FOREVER for me to finish it.

Misuse of Lovecraft in gaming! We need it!

YES! I love Hidden Object games and I'm so glad you guys have finally done one on this.

This is off topic but the music at the end of the video... what is it based off of? For some reason my mind said Chrono Trigger or something from square or square/enix. Anyone know or can help me with identifying this song? Thanks in advance

I love my dose of Extra Credits after school

This is awesome! I'm really glad Artifex Mundi brought the genre to your attention - they're easily one of the best HOG adventure developers out there. I'm also a big fan of Blue Tea Games and ERS Games Studio. I've always been a big fan of old-school point and click adventure games, so when the HOG genre developed into an offshoot of that (but often much easier to figure out, and with a built-in hint system), I got stoked. And I still am. I AM a "traditional" gamer, but I play a LOT of HOGs.

when i read the title, I thought you meant like the collectibles in Donkey Kong. That would be a good video subject.

i was surprised too. i avoided them like the plague at first, but a few years ago i discovered that some of them aren't that bad. good ones can be much more involved and adventurey than what i had imagined were the epitome of the genre. so i do enjoy playing one every now and then.

There was a hidden object game that I used to play with my father as a kid. It absolutely FASCINATED me, and I have looked for it, because it hid items cleverly and had other minigames and, well, was fun, but I have never succeeded, because I could never remember it's name. Only the slightest hint of it being related to ancient Egypt. . .

This video was at once very interesting and terribly frustrating. I've never really thought about hidden object games either, so I'm very interested in them. Kind of odd that you can make a whole video about them and then do exactly what you are talking about the whole world of mainstream games is doing to the genre by literally not mentioning a single one of them. Can we at least get some links in the description guys? I mean, I'm a curious guy, I'm going to go look some up right now, but to talk about a whole genre thats been overlooked and then not mention a single game it the genre? I don't know the term for that, but its something damn close to hypocrisy. Not to shit on you guys. I just found your videos today and I've been loving them. Keep up the good work.

I discovered today's hidden-object games during a Steam sale (can't remember now if it was the Summer Sale or Winter Sale). One of the games listed for under $5 was Eventide: Slavic Fable. I figured "Meh, if I don't like it, I've only wasted a buck or two" and bought it. And loved it. It was short (hence the low price point) but I quickly got emotionally invested in the story and characters. They start you off having to escape from a car that's hanging over a cliff (you have to find your window-bashing tool and a couple things you shouldn't be without) and basically say "Okay, now you're at your mom's culture museum in the Carpathians with only the stuff in your pockets. What do you do next?" Each new puzzle or hidden-object scene made sense based on where you were at the time (if you remember the first couple games in the Kings Quest series, you understand what I mean by "this puzzle makes no sense in context"). It was a very satisfying game, and I know I'm going to buy as many others as I can in the series so I can learn more about the main character and her Slavic background.

whats the picture you see at 4:02?

I'd love to see a new one on Hidden Object games!

I would love to see a more in depth episode on these hidden object games.

Howard Phillips "H. P." Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 - March 15, 1937) was an American author who achieved posthumous fame though his influential works of horror fiction. Virtually unknown and only published in 'pulp' magazines before he died in poverty, he is now widely seen as the most significant 20th century author in his genre.

I played Tiny Bang Story about a year ago. I really enjoyed it. It was easy, but that meant that my niece and nephews could play too, and I think hidden object games are the best gateway drug into point and click adventure games you could have.

Yes, it's a remix of a Sims 3 song, there is a link to a (free) download on OCRemix in the description. OCRemix has a collection of tons of great video game remixes, by the way.

Wow. I love hidden object games. I never really thought of it as a video gaming genre though, more of a casual gaming thing. Kind of like Bejeweled and such. I especially love the horror ones, although you know nothing can really hurt you the atmosphere is still very chilling. Examples of really good ones would have to be Brink of Consciousness:Dorian Gray and Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story.

His horror short stories are quite spectacular, you probably know one of his characters, Cthulhu.

Please do at least one video on the misuse of Lovecraft in games! I would love to see it.

I would love to get James started about the misuse of lovecraft in games

Did you ever do that follow-up episode?

Wow, great video! When i saw Cyberpunk I immediately thought about Deus Ex, Hard Reset, and Ghost in the Shell. Does your channel have any videos on cyberpunk in the genre?

I haven't cared much for hidden object games either, although usually when a game expands on its absolute baseline, it can become stellar. Dream Chronicles and The Tiny Bang story combined it with puzzlesolving, and Forgotten Riddles was incredibly fun to play due to the fact that objects were described in riddles, rather than just flat out laid out for you to find.

HOPAs (hidden object puzzle games) are the most underrated games in my opinion, they offer poin and click puzzles plus hidden object subgames, too - actually it's a mix bag of puzzle goodness :D The ones I recommend for you to try are Awakening and Otherworld

999 was a really fun story to play in, for this genre.

i just want to say i love the end credits background music :)

I... I'm ashamed. After 15 years of gaming, I've never heard of this genre. I didn't know this many games existed! My mind is so blown up.

H.P. Lovecraft was a fantasy author from the early 20th century that wrote horror novels usually surrounding some horror so terrifying as to be beyond the human mind to comprehend, that mere exposure to such a being would lead to mental destabilization, as your mind fails to handle the experience. You may have heard of Cthulhu, that's one of Lovecraft's creations.

So...here's the deal. Having been there at the dawn of the golden age... Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong...and having bested their evolution...Zelda, Ghouls and Ghosts, Chrono Trigger...I have reached a point in my life where, despite still loving games, I no longer have time for them. As a husband and father my priorities have been justifiably shifted. When my passions clash, though, casual games allow me that compromise to keep my gaming side satiated and still be an effective adult. Plus, having been a connoisseur of Highlights magazines, I find a great nostalgia in many hidden object games - they are my "Shovel Knight" light. In short, any game that can offer up 5 to 15 minutes of quality, meaningful gameplay has my attention. At least this is what I tell my Game Design students.

And I still have no clue what the hidden object games are.

i actually love artifex mundi games. i played the first enigmatis game about a year ago and absolutely loved it. it reminded me of older educational kids games like cluefinders and HG games like Pajama Sam and Freddy Fish (who come to think of it, Freddy is a great female character)

I love Artifex Mundi's [POLAND FTW! :D] games, they have usually really hight quality [in puzzles, HOPa scenes and plots]. :D

what's that song at the end?

Have you ever considered doing an episode on glitches and emergent gameplay? For example, it was noticed rather quickly that chamber 14 of portal could be completely skipped, but the developers left it in because it demonstrated a better understanding of gameplay. What do you have to say about this sort of phenomenon? What about more complicated glitches, such as bunny hopping?

When you started about "hidden object" I thought you meant those games where there are two identical images side by side and you need to find the 5 random things out of place or whatever. But you mean point and click adventures, basically the new age of Monkey Island and such... and then watching more of the video you bring that up. Lol. This is why you watch the whole video people!

I would totally love to see an episode on the misuse of lovecraft.

Hidden object games (the more complex ones with stories anyway) are like the Lifetime movies of the games industry in both the good and bad ways. They are pretty basic and cookie cutter in a lot of ways, but can deliver some things people want pretty consistently. There are some features I like when they're included: mini-puzzles you have to solve within the hidden object scenes, maps that let you know when a new scene has opened up and let you jump over there especially in things with a lot of scenes, more than one ending (I saw a big end choice on a sci fi hidden object game that let you choose basically the ending and I was astonished). I have seen at least one steampunk hidden object game that probably came out before this video.

I want both those sreencaps of James kicking the door.

Omg I need to get that remix. Its just amazing.

Wait can I ask why does extra credits get repost from pennyarcadetv? Does penny get the lastest videos?

This the sims song at the end made me so nostalgic.

Could you all do an episode on visual novels and their growing appeal in the western market? It's been really interesting seeing games like Analogue: A Hate Story and Dysfunctional Systems pop up on Steam.

You know, I personally wouldn't mind a month of just expanding on how Lovecraft gets used wrong, if only for information on how to do it right. Even if it does go on for a month, it's really a very interesting topic to get into.

Please do a "games you might not have played: hidden objects edition". I always have difficulty finding games to recommend to my mom, and I know she likes those.

Working on one (cyber object game) now, about half way done!!!! About 12 more months should do it.

I was also oblivious. Figured for sure it was just some Facebook/Social type of game segment. Thanks again and keep it up :)

Had this video not been uploaded already?

I feel like modding should be a topic of discusion in at least one episode in the near future.

my curiosity is peaked...i've heard the name lovecraft and know of things like Cthulhu but beyond that I know nothing about it! I would love to see an episode on it!

Some of the first games I ever played were the Ravenhurst trilogy (while it was still a trilogy). They didn't have the best writing, but Escape from Ravenhurst (the third one) is up there with my favorite games of all time.

That sims 2 music at the end..

I used to play lots of these types of games on my Ipad with my brother and sister

I'd like to see an episode on the misuse of lovecraft in games ^^

I want that Lovecraft rant

I second this! In the late 90s, they were worth every iteration because they always had something grand. Now they're just produced to be produced.

that outro music...i have lost so many hours to sims. please, don't let the green crystal take me.

huh, I haven't played a hidden object game since they were free on my new computer...probably 5 years ago...maybe I should try them again. They were addicting back then, and I can only imagine what changes have been made in that time.