This immediately reminded me of my son's reading book in the first grade. What is this about?
It's very simple: the goal is to find a certain number of different objects hidden in the picture.
Starting the game, I notice that there is no tutorial, so you are left to figure out what and how. Fortunately, the controls are basic - unfortunately, touch screen and mouse controls are not enabled, so I'm hoping for a patch on that issue.
Twelve cities are at your disposal, starting from Paris, then Venice, New York and so on around the world. Unfortunately, you can only go to the next city when you finish the previous one.
At the bottom of the screen you will see objects that are hidden somewhere in the picture, sometimes there are several pieces of the same object. However, most of the objects you need to find don't have any particular connection to the city you're looking for, so I might have expected a little more creativity there.
The pictures are very detailed
When you reach a building with the arrow, a magnifying glass will appear and you will be able to see what is inside. However, this is not possible on every building, so some objects will remain hidden behind them. And what then? Well, simply, you move the building. Yes, it is possible to move absolutely every object in the picture, even part of the river.
It is also possible to zoom in a lot, so you should be able to find small objects without much problem.
Can't see what's behind? Simply move the building.
In case you still can't find something, there is also a Help option, which will find the object for you. If there are more than one of the same type, it will switch you from one to the other.
In addition to the standard finding of objects, you also have the task of recreating certain scenes - you simply look at the picture of what you are looking for and then locate the objects you need and put them in the same position.
It is also possible to change the time of day, and thus get different lighting, but apart from the visual impression it has no impact on the game.
Night scene
Finding objects and opening hidden chests will earn you coins. With these coins, you can buy collections in the store, and by completing a task, you will also receive tickets for a gacha machine where you can win collections in capsules. You can use all these collections to make your own Hidden around the World pictures. You simply drag the desired objects to a place that suits you, and mark which objects should be found.
When you finish the picture, you can upload it online for others to play and rate it, and you can also play other people's creations.
The hand-drawn scenes are very detailed and beautiful, and the music is tailored to the city you're searching in, but you'll get bored after a while because it will take a long time to finish the picture, so you'll probably listen to something else while you play.
Nevertheless, I think that with the amount of content and the possibility of making your own and playing other people's creations, the game fully justifies the eshop price of €7.99, and if you catch some discount, this is an absolute no-brainer.
A Nintendo Switch copy of the game was provided for review purposes by publisher Ogre Pixel.
