Indie Spotlight – Hidden around the World brings iconic cities to life in a cozy hidden-object adventure

Ogre Pixel, the studio behind Lonesome Village and more, has launched their new casual hidden-object adventure title, Hidden around the World, which is now live on both Android and iOS for a premium. In this cozy title, you can uncover hidden objects and capture small, wholesome snapshots as you explore the world at your own pace.

Game Overview

So, Hidden around the World is a cozy hidden-object adventure set across iconic world cities, where you join Laly and her fairy companion Coronya on a fun adventure around the world. As you explore, you can even settle into each hand-drawn city like Paris, Tokyo, New York, Venice, and Mexico City. 

Beyond exploring, you need to actually find hidden objects and snap photos to complete missions. By clearing them, you earn gacha machine tickets, which can be used to decorate charming locations and make the cities beautiful. Gradually, you unlock new destinations and collect unique souvenirs.

You can also take a break from exploring the cozy homes, bustling cafés, and peaceful parks and actually pet adorable dogs. So, with its hidden-object gameplay, interactive mechanics, 12 iconic cities, 4 hours of core gameplay, level creation, peaceful soundtrack, and cute visuals, Hidden around the world delivers a cozy, enjoyable gaming experience for modern gamers.

Why you should play Hidden around the World

• It offers a cozy, hidden-object gameplay experience with beautifully hand-drawn cities.
• Lets you create your own levels, share them with the world, and try ones made by others.
• Relax with peaceful exploration, petting adorable dogs, and more at your own pace.
• Packed with interactive mechanics, 12 stunning cities, collectibles, a soothing soundtrack, and adorable visuals.

From concept to creation: Developer Insights

In a conversation with GamingonPhone, Ogre Pixel’s dev, Steve Duran, shared valuable details about Hidden around the World. He opened up about the inspiration behind the game, art style, challenges he faced during development, and more.

While talking about the studio and his background, Mr. Duran introduced himself as the dev of Ogre Pixel, a small indie studio from Aguascalientes, Mexico. He described themselves as a “group of passionate guys” focused on turning fantasy ideas into meaninful games. The studio’s goal according to him is to “leave a good mark in the players of our games.“

Beautiful blend of hidden objects with photography

Now, I was curious to know how them came up with the game’s unique concept, so I asked him about it. He explained that the idea started when they “wanted to create a hidden-object adventure with decoration.“

And things really came together when they found an Instax camera nearby, which made them realise how “finding objets to compose a scene and taking a picture would be a good idea.” It’s really cool when you think about the fact how even a small item like an instax camera can lead to such an experience.

Finding its place in the cozy genre for Hidden around the World

When I asked Mr. Duran where he sees Hidden around the World fitting in the increasingly popular cozy game genre, he seemed quite confident actually. He shared that this cozy hidden-object adventure can “find a good place among the rest of cozy games out there” thanks to its adorable aesthetics and unique gameplay twist.

Balancing between relaxation and challenges

So, Mr. Duran made it clear to me that relaxation was the studio’s top priority for the game, adding that “we wanted the player to focus on relaxation.”And it was nice knowning that they actually “added the “help” options to find objects” to support this, which in my opinion keeps the experience stress-free.

How the studio designed the right amount of content

Knowing the game offers around 4 hours of core gameplay and 7+ hours for completionists, I was curious to know how exactly the team decided this. So, Mr. Duran explained that it all comes down to what “will make sense for the game.”

He further pointed to the 12 unique levels, each inspired by real-world cities, along with the sandbox mode, saying these together makes it feel like “a good game for the price.“

Challenges the studio faced behind the scenes

“Creating the real life buildings and monuments for the game,” Mr. Duran said was one of the biggest challenges they faced during development. He revealed how they had to “abstract really big places and buildings into small pieces,” to fit the game.

Not only that, but designing a “placing system for all the objects in the game,” also proved to be quite challenging according to him.

The process of making every city feel unique

When I asked how they made each city feel unique, he explained that they first focused on identifying “identify the most important real world buildings and places from each city” to recreate in-game. At the same time they tried to capture “the bioma of each city to create the level based on this,” he noted.

Real-world inspiration, with a twist

Interestingly, most of the references actually came from online search. He admitted they “googled most of the places” since the team hadn’t visited many of them. And jokingly said that the only “place we all knew was Mexico City, hehe.”

The studio focuses on a rewarding, non-grindy experience

Mr. Duran emphasized how the team worked hard to keep the reward system fair and enjoyable. He explained that by “playing and completing each level,” players can earn “enough coins to gather the all objects for sandbox mode.” This approach, he added, was intentional to make sure the game never ” feel grind-heavy“

The team beautifully added replayability through creativity

Next, we discussed about the replayability factor, and Mr. Duran shared to me how the team approach it. He explained that since each level is static, with the objects always in the same place, they needed to “integrate something to add replayability,” and added that’s the team “worked on the sandbox mode.“

Ideas that missed the final version

Like many indie projects, some ideas didn’t make it to the final version according to Mr. Duran. He revealed their plan to add “more cities like Barcelona, San Francisco, Wellington, etc,.”but they ultimately decided to limit it to “12 to make it in good time and quality.“

A lasting memory for players according to the dev

While reaching the end of our fruitful discussion, I asked him what kind of feeling or memory they hope players fans take away from this new cozy title. And Mr. Duran gave a beautiful response, saying, if players ever visit these cities in real life, the team would “like them to remember them from the game.“

Final Verdict from the Editor

Priced at $2.99, Hidden around the World brings a relaxing experience where you can just sit back and explore iconic hand-drawn cities. And you won’t be bored, since the game keeps you engaged by tasking you to find the hidden objects and also snap beautiful photos.

Overall, with its cozy hidden-object gameplay, 12 iconic cities, engaging sandbox mode, collectibles, adorable visuals, and more, Hidden around the World proves to be a solid pick especially if you want to unwind with a cozy adventure without worrying about grinding and such.

You can experience this adorable yet engaging game, by downloading it via your respective Google Play Store or App Store for $2.99.

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